Abstract as included in conference program:
Research indicates that a lack of success in some efforts to implement standards-based mathematics learning environments may be due to the fact that teachers generally have not been prepared for this endeavor. How might we educate teachers for this paradigmatic shift? In this presentation/discussion we will examine how learning communities have been created within and among schools in a successful model for professional development, the coding scheme and rubric that was used to assess teacher change, and the changes in the teachers' practice that was coupled with increased percentages of students meeting the state learning standards for mathematics. Data is presented for participants' examination, and discussion will focus on how the development of the teacher is related to the components of the in-service program, the critical tools that impact both classroom practice and teachers' ideas about the teaching and learning of mathematics, and the implications for teacher educators.
