Transforming Teaching in Math and Science : How Schools and Districts Can Support Change

Teachers often want to learn new ideas and approaches to improve their teaching, but their efforts are often blocked by structural constraints in their districts and schools. How can schools overcome these barriers to provide more supportive environments for change? The authors answer this question through the study of six cases of schools and districts where teachers and researchers collaborated to develop teaching for understanding in math and science. This new book features:

• A new conceptual model of how school resources relate to teaching and learning, focusing not only on material resources such as time and money but also on human and social resources
• Methods that administrators can use to support teachers who want to improve their teaching of math and science
• Elements that professional developers should look for in a school environment when they are considering working with staff on teaching improvements
• Answers to important questions, including how schools operate as organizations, how they control work, how they respond to changes in their environment, and how they improve classroom teaching and learning

Adam Gamoran is Professor of Sociology and Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Charles W. Anderson is a Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University. Pamela Anne Quiroz is Associate Professor of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Walter G. Secada is Professor of Curriculum and Instruction in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Tona Williams is a doctoral candidate in sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Scott Ashmann is Assistant Professor of Science Education at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.