Focusing on Mathematical Knowledge: The Impact of Content-Intensive Teacher Professional Development

Title:	Focusing on Mathematical Knowledge: The Impact of Content-Intensive Teacher Professional Development
Description:	A popular strategy for improving student achievement in math is to provide teachers with professional development (PD) that deepens their conceptual understanding of math. This report examines the effectiveness of such a PD program. The PD program included an 80-hour summer workshop (Intel Math) that focused on grades K-8 math, as well as 13 additional hours of collaborative meetings focused on analyzing student work and one-on-one coaching based on observations of teachers' lessons. More than 200 4th-grade teachers from six districts in five states were randomly assigned to either a treatment group that received the study PD or a control group that did not. The study PD had a positive impact on teachers' math knowledge and on their use and quality of mathematical explanations in class. However, the study PD did not have a positive impact on student achievement.
Online Availability:	Download, view and print the report as a pdf file. (3.5MB) Download, view and print the Executive Summary as a pdf file. (602KB) Download, view and print the Study Snapshot as a pdf file. (506KB) View Video Recap of the Study
Cover Date:	September 2016
Web Release:	September 28, 2016
Print Release:	September 28, 2016
Publication #:	NCEE 20164010 General Ordering Information
Center/Program:	NCEE
Authors:	Michael S. Garet, Jessica B. Heppen, Kirk Walters Julia Parkinson, Toni M. Smith, Mengli Song, Rachel Garrett, and Rui Yang: American Institutes for Research; Geoffrey D. Borman: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Type of Product:	Evaluation Report
Keywords:	Mathematics Teachers • education/preparation • professional development
Questions:	For questions about the content of this Evaluation Report, please contact: Thomas Wei.