Training Teachers of Young Children

in Mathematics:

The Whole Teacher Approach

Jennifer S. McCray

Erikson Institute, Chicago

Webinar – Numeracy for Development Community of Practice

August 6, 2014

Today’s Discussion of the Whole

Teacher Approach

Introduce “Whole Teacher Approach” as a

conceptual framework for PD

Demonstrate its application to an early

math intervention

Address some specific questions around

early math PD and teaching

The Early Math Collaborative

(the Collaborative) at Erikson Institute

Erikson is a graduate school in child

development in Chicago

The Collaborative is one of many community

intervention programs at Erikson, focused on

teacher training, research, and dissemination in

early math education

Development of the Whole Child

Physical

Development

Teacher

Focus

The Whole Teacher Approach to

Professional Development

Classroom

Practice

Teacher

Educator

Focus

Applying the Whole Teacher Approach to

Early Mathematics Teaching

Attitudes Focus

Practices

Knowledge

Early

Mathematics

Teaching

Why is Teacher Attitude Important?

Teacher attitudes closely related to

knowledge acquisition and classroom

practices (Chen & Chang, 2007; Pajares,

1992.1996; Vartuli, 2005)

Attitude predicts effort and positive

mindset of teachers

Attitudes Focus

Practices

Knowledge

Early Mathematics and Teacher

ATTITUDE

“There’s just a stigma in this country about

math being really hard and feared, and

people who do it being strange” --Melanie Wood,

U.S. Team Member, International Mathematics Olympiad

“…the culture in American society

today…doesn’t really seem to encourage

men or women in mathematics” –Michael Sipser,

head of MIT’s Math Department

Attitudes Focus

Practices

Knowledge

Early Childhood teaching as a way to

“escape” mathematics

Idea that mathematics is developmentally

inappropriate for early childhood

General lack of confidence among many

early childhood educators

Early Mathematics and Teacher

ATTITUDE

Attitudes Focus

Practices

Knowledge

We Incorporate Great Children’s

Literature

Attitudes

Sessions are Interactive and

Hands-On

Attitudes

Cohorts Meet Repeatedly Over

an Entire School Year

Attitudes

Why is Attention to Practice

Important?

Presents new challenges requiring adaptation

Provokes both knowledge internationalization

and knowledge construction

Time and support for practice is key to whether

professional development succeeds or fails (Borko,

2004; Elmore & Burney, 1999)

Attitudes Focus

Practices

Knowledge

Early Mathematics and Teaching

PRACTICE

Support for practice extremely rare

Teachers often work in isolation

Monitoring available is primarily focused

on cleanliness, organization of the

classroom environment, behavior

management Attitudes

Focus

Practices

Knowledge

38

11

6

21

90

0 20 40 60 80 100

At Least One Instance

Mathematics activities take place in only 21 percent

of CPS early childhood classrooms on a given day

Language Arts or

Literature

MATHEMATICS

ACTIVITY Social Studies

Science

Art or Music

Activity

(Chicago Program Evaluation Project, 2007)

Early Childhood Mathematics in Chicago Public

Schools

We Spend Workshop Time on

Group study of a research lesson

Planning to tailor the lesson to your

classroom

Discussion of how the last research lesson

went, including the use of documentation,

such as photos, children’s work, or quotes

of children’s speech

Practices

Provide a Mathematics Instruction

Coach

Coaches…

•attend workshops

with teachers

•observe classroom

instruction

•meet to reflect on

instruction

Practices

Why do we need to improve how we

address teacher knowledge?

Basic skills tests and bachelor’s degrees

rarely predict teaching success

Only subject knowledge with specific

implications for teaching is associated with

better learning outcomes for children (Hill,

Rowan, & Ball, 2005)

Attitudes Focus

Practices

Knowledge

Early Mathematics and Teaching

KNOWLEDGE

Many early childhood teachers think early

mathematics is simply

Counting and

Shapes

Attitudes

Focus

Practices

Knowledge

Example Big Ideas: Algebraic thinking

Topic Big Ideas Examples

Sets Attributes can be used

to sort collections into

sets.

The same collection

can be sorted in

different ways.

Sets can be compared

and ordered.

Color, size, number,

shape, type of object,

etc.

A single set of autumn

leaves can be sorted by

type of tree or by color or

by shape.

There are 2 more red

bears than blue bears.

Early Math Collaborative’s Work with

Chicago Public Schools Early

Childhood Program

Served 80 CPS preschool and kindergarten teachers per year

Served the 2,500 children they teach each year

Worked in approximately 151 schools across the city over a 4 year period

Evaluation Results

• Children whose teachers

participated in our project learned

significantly more math over the

school year – almost 3 months

worth – than children whose

teachers did not participate

(Coefficient = 2.74, p <.008)

Effect on Children Behind the Norm

The program effect

was even more

pronounced among

children who

scored behind

national norms at

Time 1. Among

this group,

participating

children pulled

ahead by almost 5

months.

Effect of Program on

Children Behind National Norms in the Fall

(p < .008)

38

43

48

53

58

63

Fall Spring

Ag

e E

sti

ma

te i

n M

on

ths

No Intervention Group

Early Math Group

National Norms

What are other effective intervention

components in early math PD?

Instructional Leadership Academy

Grade Level Meetings/ Group Coaching

Common Assessment Protocols

How should teachers be selected

for PD?

Volunteering/being “volunteered”

Create public accountability for

implementation

Build a critical mass within a school

Important Materials for Early

Childhood Classrooms

Great children’s literature

Opportunities to manipulate materials and

surfaces and containers that make it

possible

Tools that build on visual number sense

Variety of writing materials for teachers

and students

Additional questions or comments?

THANK YOU

Jennifer S. McCray, Ph.D.

Director, Early Math Collaborative

jmccray@erikson.edu