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Using a peer supervision model to implement recommendations of the NCTM standards in algebra classes in an urban school system
Abstract
The NCTM Standards have established new directions for math teaching and learning. The problem of implementation, particularly in urban school systems remains. This study focuses on an urban school system in Western Massachusetts. Of particular interest to the researcher is the lack of success of students in Algebra I. This particular course has traditionally been the pivotal course that determines if a student gets into and remains in the "College Preparatory" sequence. The fact that too many minority and women students are left out of these choices due to lack of mathematics preparation can be traced back to being left out of algebra in high school. What happened to these students? Why were they left out? Why is the failure rate nearly 45 percent in Algebra I in this public school system? Teachers working in the traditional classroom structure of the current school setting are isolated without opportunities to work in cooperation with other teachers. Without a process for sharing ideas and a method to support new teaching strategies, it will not be possible for the vision of the Standards to become a reality. The challenge for a supervisor is to bring the message of the Standards to the secondary mathematics teachers in an urban school system. This study develops and tests a supervision model, based on peer supervision, for the implementation of teaching strategies recommended in the Standards. The findings of this study show that peer supervision can help school systems bring new teaching strategies, like cooperative learning and hands-on activities, into its Algebra I classrooms.
Subject Area
Mathematics education|Secondary education|Teacher education
Recommended Citation
Abbott, Linda Yager, "Using a peer supervision model to implement recommendations of the NCTM standards in algebra classes in an urban school system" (1992). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9305800.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9305800