Ideas that Work

Effective Professional Development for Teachers of Mathematics

By Susan Loucks-Horsley

Professional development plays an essential role in successful education reform. Professional development serves as the bridge between where prospective and experienced educators are now and where they will need to be to meet the new challenges of guiding all students in achieving to higher standards of learning and development (U.S. Department of Education, 1995, p. 2).

The image of a bridge is useful for those who provide professional learning opportunities for mathematics teachers and others responsible for helping young people to learn the mathematics they will need for the 21st century. A bridge, like professional development, is a critical link between where one is and where one wants to be. A bridge that works in one place almost never works in another. Each bridge requires careful design that considers its purpose, who will use it, the conditions that exist at its anchor points (beginning, midway, and end), and the resources required to construct it. Similarly, each professional development program or initiative requires a careful and unique design to best meet the needs of the teachers and the students to be served.

The current scene in professional development in no way resembles the ideal of a sturdy bridge to the future -- a critical link that is carefully and uniquely designed to meet particular needs. Instead, the professional development teachers experience is typically weak, limited, and fragmented, incapable of supporting them as they carry the weight of adequately preparing future citizens. Programs fall far short of helping teachers develop the depth of understanding they must have of mathematics content, as well as how best to help their students learn it.

This weakness in current professional development programs for mathematics teachers is particularly serious because, unfortunately, many teachers enter the classroom unprepared to teach challenging mathematics. The average teacher of grades K-6 takes three or fewer mathematics or mathematics education classes in college, and 20% of high school math teachers do not have a major or minor in mathematics (U.S. Department of Education, ).

Teachers' lack of preparation becomes even more critical in light of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 1989 Curriculum and Evaluation Standards, as well as many recent state mathematics standards, which call for the teaching of more challenging mathematics. In the future, students will be expected to become mathematical thinkers and problem solvers and to learn fundamental concepts of algebra, geometry, probability, and statistics in elementary school.

Recent US. and comparative international data show that American students should be learning more challenging mathematics. The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) compared the mathematics and science achievement of a half-million students from 41 countries at the fourth, eighth, and twelfth grades. In mathematics, U.S. fourth graders performed above the international average, U.S. eighth graders performed slightly below the international average, and U.S. twelfth graders preformed significantly below the international average. One reason for this pattern of decline is that the content of U.S. curriculum is less demanding beginning around fourth grade and continuing through high school.

The need for more challenging mathematics content for students means that their teachers will also have to learn more challenging mathematics content and how to teach it. The purpose of this publication is to suggest new ways of designing and implementing effective professional development to reach these goals.

The publication is for those who have some responsibility for designing or conducting professional development programs or initiatives. They can be teacher leaders, school or district administrators, university mathematics educators or mathematicians, curriculum developers, trainers, or consultants. They can be designing long-term, whole-district initiatives, courses for high school teachers, teacher enhancement projects drawing teachers from across a state or the nation -- just about any opportunity formulated to support teacher learning. This publication may also be of interest to teachers selecting their own learning opportunities, evaluators interested in what to look for in effective programs, and funders who appreciate guidance about the kinds of programs that have the greatest likelihood of success. First and foremost, this publication is for anyone interested in "breaking set" with traditional schemes for professional development and exploring new designs for learning.

This publication can be used by any of the above audiences for identifying what works in professional development. While the strategies contained in Section II will help designers of professional development opportunities, they are included also so that educators can identify elements of programs that will lead to new ways of teacher and student learning and improved student achievement. The strategies, the additional resources, and the example programs all provide educators with a grounding in how to select programs and where to go for additional information.

Strategies, Summaries of 15 Strategies for Professional Development, provides a description of each strategy including the elements necessary for design and implementation, along with issues for educators to consider. The discussion of each strategy concludes with a real-life example of the strategy in action. Readers may contact the programs for more information about these particular projects or for assistance in developing or adapting their own programs.

Resources, Provide information about Successful programs which features longer descriptions of existing programs that effectively combine several of the Strategies for Professional Development, including programs honored in the U.S. Department of Education's National Awards Program for Model Professional Development. It also identifies Technical Assistance Providers and Additional Programs, and provides brief descriptive and contact information for organizations and professional development projects that are working to offer educators training and information.

Principles of Professional Development

Knowledge from research, theory, and the "wisdom" of experienced, practicing professional developers suggests five principles of effective professional development:

1. Professional development experiences must have students and their learning at the core -- and that means all students.

   Mathematics education reforms and the national, state, and local standards on which they are based, share a common commitment to high standards of achievement for all students and not just the few who are talented or privileged. This implies a different perspective on the content students should learn and the teaching strategies that should be used by their teachers. To meet this challenge, all professional development resources, including teacher time, must be focused on rigorous content and the best ways to reach all students.

2. Excellent mathematics teachers have a very special and unique kind of knowledge that must be developed through their professional learning experiences.

   Pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman, 1987) involves knowing how to teach specific mathematical concepts and principles to young people at different developmental levels. This kind of knowledge and skill is the unique province of teachers and distinguishes what they know from what mathematicians know. Knowledge of mathematics content, although critical, is not enough, just as knowledge of general pedagogy is not enough. The goal of developing pedagogical content knowledge must be the focus of professional development opportunities for teachers.

3. Principles that guide the improvement of student learning should also guide professional learning for teachers and other educators.

   Professional developers must "walk their talk" because people can only teach in ways in which they have learned. Engaging in active learning, focusing on fewer ideas more deeply, and learning collaboratively are all principles that must characterize learning for teachers if they in turn will apply these to helping their students learn.

4. The content of professional learning must come from both inside and outside the learner and from both research and practice.

   Professional development opportunities must honor the knowledge of the practicing teacher as well as draw on research and other sources of expertise outside schools and classrooms. Artful professional development design effectively combines theory and practice.

5. Professional development must both align with and support system-based changes that promote student learning.

   Professional development has long suffered because of its separation from other critical elements of the education system, with the result that new ideas and strategies are not implemented. Although professional development is not a panacea, it can support changes in such areas as standards, assessment, and curriculum, creating the culture and capacity for continuous improvement that is so critical for educators facing current and future challenges.

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