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© Education Development Center, 2006-2008

Thinking about Mathematics Instruction:
A Study of Leadership Content Knowledge
of Elementary and Middle School Principals

Principal Investigator and Project Director:
Barbara Scott Nelson
Education Development Center, Inc.

in collaboration with

Will Jordan
Department of Education  Temple University

General Description
The Thinking about Mathematics Instruction Project is a large scale longitudinal study of Leadership Content Knowledge (LCK) of elementary and middle school principals. Expanding on previous research, which proposed that LCK includes both knowledge of mathematics and beliefs about mathematics learning and teaching (Stein & Nelson 2003, Nelson & Sassi 2005), this study seeks to develop indicators for various dimensions of LCK, assess the general nature of the LCK of a large number of elementary and middle school principals, and investigate the effect of the various components of LCK, alone and in combination, on principals’ practice of classroom observation and teacher supervision. We are also interested in learning more about the degree of malleability of the dimensions of LCK when principals participate in Lenses on Learning professional development.

Specifically, our major research questions are:

The phases of the work for this project are described below.

Phase I
This five year Research Evaluation and Technical Assistance (RETA) project was originally funded by the National Science Foundation in October 2003 and included three distinct phases of research activity. During Phase I of the project, collaborative relationships with 7 Mathematics and Science Partnerships and one educational collaborative, were established. Graduate students and Lenses on Learning course facilitators at each site were selected for participation in the project and 449 elementary and middle school principals were recruited to participate in the TMI study.

Phase II
During Phase II of the study, principals who agreed to participate in the study responded to a survey that gathered information about their professional history, their understanding of learning and teaching mathematics in classrooms, their beliefs about learning and teaching mathematics and their understanding of mathematics for teaching, including both computational and conceptual problem solving. In conjunction with faculty of the Department of Education at Temple University, these data are being examined with the goal of determining the characteristics and range of LCK that these principals have.

Another aspect of the Phase II work entailed providing a two -week summer Institute for 26 facilitators as they learned the Lenses on Learning curriculum and how to skillfully facilitate it for principals in their home areas. Facilitators were also provided technical support during the time they taught the 30 hour course through two weekend retreats. During these retreats, facilitators were provided opportunities to discuss their classes, the course material and other issues of concern to them.

In all, 257 principals were randomly assigned to attend the Lenses classes and 192 were “controls” in this study. All control principals were offered the opportunity to participate in the Lenses class during the 2006-07 academic year. At the end of the school year, all principals were asked to again respond to the survey. The longitudinal data base encompasses pre and post responses from 311 principals.

Phase II activities yielded a view of the nature of the LCK for mathematics held by this group of principals and diagnostic information that districts and MSPs can use as a needs assessment for future planning for professional development for principals in these areas. Phase II activities also yielded a well-trained team of facilitators whose knowledge can be leveraged for broader exposure of the Lenses on Learning curriculum within districts or other MSP cachement areas.

In collaboration with Temple University Graduate School of Education, we are analyzing the relationship between attending the Lenses on Learning classes and changes in principals’ LCK. The focus of these analyses is to identify aspects of LCK that seem to be more or less malleable when principals experience professional development that focuses on the mathematical ideas that students and teachers work on in mathematics classes. How can LCK be developed and refined so that principals’ classroom observations and teacher supervision support standards-based mathematics instruction in elementary and middle schools? How can principals’ judgments about the quality of mathematics instruction and their own interactions with teachers regarding mathematics instruction be strengthened to create and support active learning communities within schools? What is the impact of participation in a learning community of peers on principals’ beliefs about learning and teaching? Ongoing data analyses will be able to answer many of these questions.

Phase III
During Phase III of the TMI project, intensive case studies in 13 schools, randomly selected from among the study sites, will be completed. As part of this phase of the work, principals will be interviewed and observed at their work. Some teachers and other district administrators with whom they work will also be interviewed. The details are as follows:

We will be selecting principals with various configurations of LCK for participation in these case studies which will make it possible to see the effects of various aspects of LCK on principals’ practice of instructional leadership in their schools.

Using both quantitative and qualitative methods in this research to investigate LCK will provide multiple pathways to access, learn about and understand the ideas principals use as they provide academic leadership for teachers and students in their schools.