{"id":513,"date":"2019-11-25T19:00:40","date_gmt":"2019-11-25T19:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.soe.umich.edu\/o2lp\/?page_id=513"},"modified":"2020-04-14T10:53:07","modified_gmt":"2020-04-14T15:53:07","slug":"research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.marsal.umich.edu\/o2lp\/research\/","title":{"rendered":"Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

Research Focus<\/h2>\n

The Organizing to Learn Practice (O2LP) project was designed to support teachers to improve their practice by participating in collective teaching practice and engaging in approximations of teaching practice. The project builds on and combines models that have been established in the field including lesson study, teacher noticing, and practice-based methods for supporting teaching.<\/p>\n

This practice-centered professional development is situated within a summer mathematics program for fifth graders. The class comprises primarily Black youth, along with a small number of Hispanic and white children, mostly from low-income families. The teacher is an experienced teacher, comfortable with making her practice visible and open to others. Teachers\u2019 engagement approximates a form of \u201clegitimate peripheral participation,\u201d through structured conversations about the lesson plans, close observation, mathematical analysis of student tasks, and examination of records of teaching and learning practice.<\/p>\n

The project explores the impact of the professional development on teachers\u2019 practice, as well as on their knowledge and dispositions, from participating in these structured ways. We investigate two variations on the basic approach: (1) whether there are differences between participating onsite, in person, or remotely, online, and (2) the addition of supplementary practice-focused professional development.<\/p>\n

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    1. Learning from structured peripheral participation in \u201clive practice\u201d<\/em>: What do teachers learn from structured participation in the class? Does their participation impact their own teaching practice, and if so, in what ways?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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        1. Learning from structured peripheral participation in \u201clive practice\u201d in person as part of a group versus online and on one\u2019s own<\/em>. Does the setting of the peripheral participation matter? Does this form of participation impact their own teaching practice, and if so, in what ways?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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          1. Impact of supplementary practice-focused professional development<\/em>: Does the addition of professional development focused on a particular teaching practice impact teachers\u2019 own practice, and if so, in what ways?\u00a0 How does the addition of professional development focused on a specific instructional practice compare across the in-person and online forms of participation in terms of impact on teachers\u2019 own practice?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            The Professional Development Approach<\/h2>\n

            Since 2007, we have conducted a summer mathematics program, the EML, for rising fifth graders at the University of Michigan. The program enrolls approximately 28 students each summer. The children are recruited with the assistance of the partner school district. For more information about the program, visit teachingworks.org<\/a> or watch the video below.<\/p>\n