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With evidence mounting on the benefits of equity-minded and active mathematics instruction, increasing numbers of mathematics faculty members are seeking to transform their instruction. Yet, many lack the skills and/or confidence to make the transition. To support faculty in meaningful instructional improvement, the authors of this paper facilitate frequent and innovative professional development (PD) guided by a community of practice framework. PD is intentionally designed to be incremental and supportive. Using one-on-one interview data from ten faculty participants who participated in PD on equity-minded and active mathematics instruction, we report on three crucial characteristics of a community of practice: the domain, the community, and the practice. Findings have implications for mathematics departments that aspire to support instructors to transform their teaching. Incremental PD guided by a community of practice framework could support faculty through the challenges of instructional transformation.
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This content will become publicly available on December 27, 2025
Teacher Growth Through Professional Development Centered on the Teaching for Robust Understanding Framework
Research on teacher learning has continually defined tenants of effective professional development. However, sweeping overhauls and mandates have not yielded the intended results. Instead, transforming approaches to teaching can and should be achieved through innovative and incremental changes that build upon teachers’ existing expertise. Informed by Communities of Practice theory, we employed case study methodology to describe, explain, and assess the experiences of one middle school mathematics teacher’s longitudinal participation in an innovative and incremental continuous PD model focused on the Teaching for Robust Understanding (TRU) framework. Based on classroom observations and interview data, our findings show evidence of TRU-aligned changes in teaching practice as a result of years of participation in the PD model. These findings strengthen the call for innovative and incremental PD programs.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1908319
- PAR ID:
- 10611312
- Publisher / Repository:
- MDPI
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Education Sciences
- Volume:
- 15
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2227-7102
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 18
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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