MuM-Pro-Lesen: Professional development of teachers for language-responsive mathematics classrooms – Implementation research on reading word problems

• Applicants: Dr. Jennifer Dröse; Professorin Dr. Susanne Prediger
• Subject Area: General and Domain-Specific Teaching and Learning
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 470321607

For successfully implementing language-responsive teaching, mathematics teachers must develop professional competence to monitor and foster students’ language proficiency in a targeted way. For enhancing teachers’ professional competencies in targeted ways, we need to empirically specify how PD programs and support by curriculum materials have to be focused. So far, a research gap exists about (F1) which professional competencies teachers already master regarding formative assessment and fostering of language aspects in subject-matter classrooms and (F2) in how far PD courses and support materials with different thematic focus can lead to an increase in teachers’ diagnostic and fostering-related competencies and (F3) to an increase in students’ achievement.The project MuM-Pro-reading pursues these questions for the exemplary PD content “fostering reading comprehension for mathematical word problems” in an implementation research study (with variation the thematic focus of PD courses and support material) with n = 4 x 25 teachers. For F1, teachers’ state of professional diagnostic and fostering-related competencies is assessed in four components (diagnostic knowledge, fostering-related knowledge, orientations and hypothetical instructional practices, all for mathematic-related reading comprehension in word problems). For F2, the development of those four components is compared in three interventions DTDu, DFTDU, DFTDFU and a control group KG: Thematic condition DT treats only diagnostic aspects in the PD course, condition DFT also treats instructional approaches for fostering students‘ mathematic-related reading comprehension, the support condition DFU integrates these instructional approaches also in the classroom material, condition DU offers classroom material with the same word problems, but teachers are asked to integrate the instructional approaches for fostering reading comprehension themselves. For F3, the efficacy of the four interventions on reading comprehension and self-efficacy beliefs for mastering word problems are compared for n = ca. 4 x 500 fifth graders. The study generates theoretical contributions to content-related implementation research for language-related subject-matter teaching approaches, in particular explanative knowledge on relevance and relationships among components of professional competencies (e.g., between diagnostic and fostering-related competencies) as well as innovative knowledge on conditions of success and further development of professional competencies though PD courses and support by curriculum material. The project is of high practical relevance as it provides an empirical base for transfer of language-responsive subject-matter teaching approaches. In addition, it provides structural insights beyond the chosen PD content. Their transferability to other components of teachers’ professional competence could be investigated in further steps.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants