MyTeachingPartner - Mathematics/Science Curricula and Implementation Support System
MyTeachingPartner is a curriculum for at-risk four-year-olds and just-in-time support system for their teachers. For more information, visit http://www.mtpmathscience.net.
Results:
- Teachers observed to:
- Provide students with higher quality instructional support
- Provide students with higher facilitation of mathematics and scientific thinking
- Children demonstrated greater learning gains across the year and higher end-of-year performance
How we did it...
Design thinking and systematic design methods:
- Met with users and stakeholders, analyzed needs, brainstormed solutions, rapid prototyping of solutions, extensive testing from small pilot to large scale efficacy trial in 140 classrooms
Problem:
- Young children’s math and science knowledge/skills are most important predictors of academic success but relatively little time is spent on this in the early childhood classroom
- Teachers are not confident as facilitators of math and science learning
- Traditional professional development is expensive, time-consuming, distant from practice
Product:
- Yearlong curricula for prekindergarten mathematics and science provide engaging, cognitively demanding inquiry activities, scaffolding students' deep knowledge and skill development
- Support children’s emerging development across the year
- Are appealing and fun, balancing child-directed explorations with teacher guidance
- Easy for teachers to implement
- Embed teacher professional development in bite-sized chunks, more likely to be transferred to practice
- We brought teachers a laser focus in limited time: In 10 minutes a day, learn how to implement an entire year’s curricula in math and in science:
- Rich teaching tips embedded within the curricula: Bite-sized teaching tips, recommendations for differentiated instruction, and extensions across the school day and at home
- Online just-in-time demonstrations of high quality, high fidelity teaching practice are authentic, from at-risk classrooms like teachers’ own
Why online delivery matters:
- Scaled professional development meets needs of many teachers inexpensively
- Reduction in time away from classroom for training
- Available everywhere, via computer or mobile device, via an attractive user interface
Project Status: 2007 - Present
Funding Source: Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Grant R305A120631
Principal Investigator: Jessica Whittaker
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- Vick Whittaker, J., Kinzie, M.B., Williford, A., & DeCoster, J. (in press). Mathematics and Science Curricula and Professional Development: Effects of MyTeachingPartner-Math/Science on Teacher-Child Interactions in Prekindergarten Classrooms. Early Education and Development.
- McGuire, P., Kinzie, M.B., Thunder, K., & Berry, R. (in press). Methods of Analysis and Overall Teaching Quality in Pre-K Mathematics. Early Education and Development.
- Kinzie, M. B., Vick Whittaker, J., McGuire, P., Lee, Y., & Kilday, C.R. (2015). Research on curricular development for pre-kindergarten mathematics & science. Teachers College Record, 117 (7).
- Kinzie, M.B., Vick Whittaker, J., Williford, A., Maier, M., McGuire, P., Lee, Y., & Kilday, C.R. (2014). MyTeachingPartner-Math/Science pre-kindergarten curricula and teacher supports: Associations with children's math and science learning. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 29(4), 586-599. doi: 10.1016/ j.ecresq.2014.06.007
- McGuire, P. R., & Kinzie, M. B. (2013). Analysis of place value instruction and development in pre-k mathematics. Early Childhood Education Journal, 41, 355-364. doi: 10.1007/s10643-013-0580-y
- Lee, Y., & Kinzie, M. B. (2012). Teacher questioning and student responses with regard to cognition and language use. Instructional Science, 40, 857-874. doi: 10.1007/s11251-011-9193-2.
- Kilday, C.R., Kinzie, M.B., Mashburn, A.J., & Whittaker, J.V. (2012). Accuracy of teacher judgments of preschoolers' math skills. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 30(2), 148-159. doi:10.1177/0734282911412722
- Lee, Y., Kinzie, M. B., Whittaker, J. V. (2012). Impact of online support for teachers’ open-ended questioning. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28, 568-577. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2012.01.002
- McGuire, P., Kinzie, M.B., & Berch, D.B. (2012). Developing number sense in pre-k using five-frames. Early Childhood Education Journal, 40(),213-222. doi:10.1007/s10643-011-0479-4
- Wang, F., Kinzie, M. B., McGuire, P., & Pan, E. (2010). Applying technology to inquiry-based Learning in early childhood education. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37(5), 381-389. doi:10.1007/s10643-009-0364-6
- Kilday, C. R., & Kinzie, M. B. (2009). An analysis of instruments that measure the quality of mathematics teaching in early childhood. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36, 365-372. doi:10.1007/s10643-008-0286-8
- Vick Whittaker, J., Kinzie, M.B., Williford, A., & DeCoster, J. (in press). Mathematics and Science Curricula and Professional Development: Effects of MyTeachingPartner-Math/Science on Teacher-Child Interactions in Prekindergarten Classrooms. Early Education and Development.
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Robert C. Pianta Dean , Novartis Professor of Education, Founding Director, Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and LearningJessica E. Whittaker Research Associate ProfessorAmanda P. Williford Research Associate Professor, Associate Director for Early Childhood Education, CASTLKathy Neesen Research Scientist, Instructional Technology DirectorMatthew C. Semanik Multimedia/Web DeveloperVirginia E. Vitiello Assistant Professor, Research Faculty