This paper examines how 17 secondary mathematics teacher candidates (TCs) in four university teacher preparation programs implemented technology in their classrooms to teach for conceptual understanding in online, hybrid, and face to face classes during COVID-19. Using the Professional Development: Research, Implementation, and Evaluation (PrimeD) framework, TCs, classroom mentor teachers, field experience supervisors, and university faculty formed a Networked Improvement Community (NIC) to discuss a commonly agreed upon problem of practice and a change idea to implement in the classroom. Through Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles, participants documented their improvement efforts and refinements to the change idea and then reported back to the NIC at the subsequent monthly meeting. The Technology Pedagogical Content Knowledge framework (TPACK) and the TPACK levels rubric were used to examine how teacher candidates implemented technology for Mathematics conceptual understanding. The Mathematics Classroom Observation Protocol for Practices (MCOP²) was used to further examine how effective mathematics teaching practices (e.g., student engagement) were implemented by TCs. MCOP² results indicated that TCs increased their use of effective mathematics teaching practices. However, growth in TPACK was not significant. A relationship between TPACK and MCOP² was not evident, indicating a potential need for explicit focus on using technology for mathematics conceptual understanding.

Meaningful discourse in the mathematics classroom involves creating a learning community that empowers students to articulate their reasoning and make sense of the contributions of their peers while advancing the learning of mathematics for the entire class. This study assessed the degree to which secondary mathematics (Grades 7–12) teacher candidates incorporated discourse into their lessons and the factors influencing their decisions. An explanatory mixed methods design was used, in which data were collected sequentially. Lesson videos were analyzed, followed by interviews of teacher candidates with high-discourse lessons. This study found that participants showed significant growth in their use of effective teaching practices from the beginning of the semester to the end of the semester, including mathematics discourse. The interviews revealed four contributing factors: intentional effort, learning experiences, professional relationships, and pedagogical knowledge. Understanding the experiences of teacher candidates during their own learning of mathematics, their mathematical identities, and beliefs about mathematics could help generate knowledge regarding the implementation of mathematics discourse and other reform-based practices in teacher instruction.

Families have largely been excluded from the implementation of the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSSM), reducing their ability to extend their child’s mathematics learning. CCSSM emphasizes different instructional elements (e.g., pictorial representations, problem solving, multiple strategies for solving) that may differ greatly from how parents learned mathematics. In addition, many school officials have ineffectively engaged parents in the changes, further diminishing their capacity to participate in their child’s learning. This case study examined parent mathematics self-efficacy and parent mathematics knowledge for teaching, factors that influence the effectiveness of their engagement in their child’s mathematics learning. This study was also implemented to identify elements that the parent participant found helpful for their child’s mathematics learning. A thematic analysis was performed on the data sources, the interactive homework assignments, a survey, observations, a researcher’s journal, and an interview to conclude that the interactive homework assignments improved parent mathematics self-efficacy and parent mathematics knowledge for teaching. The parent participant also identified the assignments’ side-by-side examples, additional practice, and the easy access of the assignments as features of the intervention that enhanced her ability to support her child.

This paper clarifies and expands the definition of teacher professional practice, grounded in the commonplaces of professionalism outlined by Lee Shulman. We present the Professional Development: Research, Implementation, and Evaluation (PrimeD) framework as a lens for transforming professional development into a practice that engages teachers as professionals. This discussion explores teachers’ roles in both their classrooms and the profession. The inclusion of PrimeD evaluation and research in the development and practice of mathematics teachers addresses Shulman’s professionalism commonplaces. PrimeD was tested as a lens for professionalism in mathematics teacher education programs at four universities. In the study, teachers collaborated as professionals on developing and testing novel ways to approach mathematics lessons. In general, teachers’ efforts to conduct structured experimentation in their lessons were disconnected from traditional views of the role of a teacher. As a result, teachers who did develop and test lesson trials in this PD program did not frequently continue experimentation. Typically, teachers wanted to collaborate on testing classroom activities but did not have resources to do so (e.g., time, collaborative planning). Systemic changes are needed to promote sustainable change, allowing teachers to collaborate and share the results of classroom research.