The Impact of a Professional Development Model on ABE Teachers' Instructional Practice: Teachers Investigating Adult Numeracy

• Published in: Adult learning (Washington, D.C.) Vol. 19; no. 3-4; pp. 27 - 33
• Main Authors: Bingman, Mary Beth, Schmitt, Mary Jane
• Format: Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-06-2008; American Association for Adult and Continuing Education; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Adult Basic Education; Adult Education; Adult students; Arizona; Cooperation; Educational Practices; Educational Strategies; Kansas; Labeling; Learning; Louisiana; Massachusetts; Mathematics Education; Mathematics Instruction; Mathematics teachers; Numeracy; Ohio; Partnerships in Education; Problem solving; Professional Development; Questionnaires; Teachers; Teaching Methods; Technical Education; Tennessee; Louisiana; Ohio; Kansas; Massachusetts; Tennessee; Arizona
• ISSN: 1045-1595; 2162-4070
• DOI: 10.1177/104515950801900306

The authors present the National Science Foundation project, Teachers Investigating Adult Numeracy (TIAN), a collaborative project of the Center for Literacy Studies at the University of Tennessee and the Technical Education Research Centers, Inc. (TERC) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The project has developed and tested a model for inservice professional learning that engages adult education teachers in considering how to implement purposeful and effective mathematics instructional approaches. In this article the authors explain the project's perspective on sound mathematics learning and teaching, describe the professional development model created to support teachers' growth in that arena, and finally present some data about teacher-participants indicating positive shifts in instructional practice. (Contains 5 tables.)