ABSTRACT
Eleven K–4 elementary teachers’ beliefs and instructional practices, both before and after they had access to research-based knowledge about children’s mathematical processes, were analyzed. All teachers from one rural midwestern elementary school and their principal volunteered to attend 12 in-service sessions involving 34 hours over a 9-month period. The focus of the intervention was on developing students’ understanding of mathematics by using teachers’ knowledge of students’ thinking processes. Comparisons made between baseline and summative data, spanning a calendar year, indicated that teachers’ beliefs and instructional practices were changing. These changes reflect the degree to which each teacher internalized a theoretical perspective that embodied the belief that instructional decisions need to be based on a consideration of students’ thinking. Teacher collaboration and administrative support facilitated the change process. Examples from videotapes of both first- and fourth-grade teachers are discussed in detail to illustrate specific areas of change.
