Administrator Learning

School and district administrators can play a key role as leaders to promote high-quality mathematics instruction. Our research shows that administrators' understanding of mathematics instruction, and their ideas about how they can support it, are significantly influenced by their own ideas about teaching, learning, and the nature of mathematics. If they are to support NCTM Standards-based instruction, administrators need the opportunity to explore new ideas and to think critically about the nature of mathematics learning and teaching, and to think through the implications of these ideas for their own practices.

Our work at EDC focuses on:

• Research on the connection between administrators' ideas about teaching, learning, leadership, and mathematics and how they apply these ideas to their administrative practice;

• Courses and workshops to inform administrators about the nature of Standards-based instruction and how to apply this knowledge to administrative functions, such as curriculum selection, professional development for teachers, and assessment of student outcomes;

• Networking for administrators to develop both the leadership skills that support educational change in their districts and the collegial support to continue their own learning.