Project Activities
The team formed a Coordinating Council (five ISU and five DMPS representatives) with responsibility for direction and decision-making within the project. Across all years of the project (extended due to the pandemic), ISU faculty engaged with DMPS teachers and instructional leaders to establish trusting, collaborative relationships. By partnering with DMPS, ISU researchers gained a deeper understanding of the complexities of implementing mathematics curriculum, instruction, and assessment in a district. DMPS leaders and teachers gained access to additional data about their students and programs, as well as a greater understanding of the research process.
Structured Abstract
Setting
This project took place in the Des Moines Public Schools, the largest school district in Iowa.
Sample
The participant sample included six DMPS instructional leaders, 25 Algebra 1 teachers, and 696 currently enrolled Algebra 1 students. Existing district data on mathematics courses represented nearly 30,000 DMPS students enrolled between 2011-12 and 2021-22.
ISU and DMPS examined the implementation of Student-Centered, Equity-Focused Education (SCEFE) to enhance classroom instruction and increase pass rates in Algebra 1 classrooms. DMPS identified key aspects of SCEFE as implementing a high-quality Algebra 1 curriculum with fidelity, increasing access to Algebra 1 for all students, and attending to social emotional learning practices to create welcoming and engaging classroom environments.
Initial research
The team gained access to some of the existing district data and analyzed course-taking data to create a profile of secondary mathematics pathways. The goal was to explore how student achievement was associated with demographic characteristics, attendance, and course-taking pathways. The researchers conducted interviews and surveys with students, teachers, and instructional leaders to better understand their perceptions of SCEFE and teaching and learning within the district.
The team refined a classroom observation tool for SCEFE implementation and used it to identify a subgroup of teachers with High Implementation scores, as well as a subgroup with Low Implementation scores. The team explored the effects of SCEFE by comparing student and teachers perceptions and classroom instruction in High and Low Implementation classrooms by gathering data through observations, surveys, and interviews. The researchers summarized course-taking pathways to identify differences by racial/ethnic groups and engaged with DMPS instructional leaders to jointly interpret the data. The researchers will continue beyond the end of the project to work with DMPS to further mine existing district data related to course-taking pathways and factors that influence student achievement in mathematics.
Key measures
Key measures included district administrative data including student course-taking pathways, attendance, grades, and achievement scores.
Data analytic strategy
The research team used descriptive and inferential statistics (ANOVA) to analyze quantitative data from the surveys, observations, and course-taking pathways data. The team also used qualitative methods, including thematic coding, member checking, and triangulation to analyze focus group and interview data.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Project contributors
Partner institutions
Des Moines Public Schools
Products and publications
Publications:
Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Appelgate, M. H., Foegen, A., I, J., & Araujo Grando, B. (2022). How algebra teachers’ perceptions of the Illustrative Mathematics curriculum evolved over three years. In A. E. Lischka, E. B. Dyer, R. S. Jones, J. Lovett, J. Strayer, & S. Drown. (Eds.). Proceedings of the forty-fourth annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 247-248). Nashville, TN: Middle Tennessee State University.
Additional project information
There was a change in Principal Investgator from Anne Foegen to Mollie Appelgate in 2023.
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
