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Preparing Primary Mathematics Teachers to Learn to Work with Students from Diverse Backgrounds

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Exploring the Mathematical Education of Teachers Using TEDS-M Data

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Abstract

This study investigates how teacher education prepares primary teachers to teach mathematics to students from diverse backgrounds. Hierarchical linear modeling is used to investigate the relationship between opportunities to learn to teach students from diverse backgrounds during teacher preparation and teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching using the TEDS-M international dataset. In general, primary mathematics specialist teachers with more opportunities to learn to teach students from diverse backgrounds had lower levels of mathematical knowledge for teaching. Primary generalist teachers do not consistently show the same results across all countries, with some showing higher and other showing lower levels of mathematical knowledge for teaching. These results suggest that teachers who are better prepared for the mathematical aspects of teaching tend to be less prepared for addressing the needs of diverse learners.

TEDS-M and the study contained in this chapter were supported by funding provided by a grant from the National Science Foundation Award No. REC – 0514431 (M.T. Tatto, PI). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported in part, by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. DGE-0824162, and the NAEd/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship Program. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of the previous organizations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. STEM Program, WestEd, Redwood City, CA, USA

    Elizabeth B. Dyer

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  1. Elizabeth B. Dyer
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Correspondence to Elizabeth B. Dyer .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA

    Maria Teresa Tatto

  2. Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    Michael C. Rodriguez

  3. Center for Science, Mathematics & Computer Education, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

    Wendy M. Smith

  4. Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA

    Mark D. Reckase

  5. Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Kiril Bankov

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Dyer, E.B. (2018). Preparing Primary Mathematics Teachers to Learn to Work with Students from Diverse Backgrounds. In: Tatto, M., Rodriguez, M., Smith, W., Reckase, M., Bankov, K. (eds) Exploring the Mathematical Education of Teachers Using TEDS-M Data. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92144-0_11

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