The mathematics district leader research group : building the capacity of mathematics district leaders to engage with educational research

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Franklin Paul Wonsavage Jr. (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Peter Holt Wilson

Abstract: One requirement put forth by national and state-level policy (e.g., Every Student Succeeds Act) is that practitioners use educational research to inform their decisions and instruction. Mathematics district leaders have been identified as pivotal individuals for enacting change within school districts. Using a design-based research approach, an intervention meant to build the capacity of mathematics district leaders to engage with research was designed and implemented with four mathematics district leaders from four different school districts from across one southeastern state in the United States. Findings indicated that mathematics district leaders’ initial conceptualizations of research were varied as they tended to describe research in terms of their past experiences and beliefs. There were a number of different barriers that prevented them from accessing and using research. As the mathematics district leaders participated in the intervention, they became more discerning in the way they defined educational research, determined what makes it credible, and made their criteria explicit as they chose research or research-based articles to be credible. An outcome of the intervention was a co-designed tool to help facilitate the process of making sense of research. I share this tool and illustrate its potential for providing an opportunity for district-level leaders to examine research critically.

Additional Information

Publication
Dissertation
Language: English
Date: 2021
Keywords
Mathematics district leader research group, Mathematics district leaders, Research practice gap, Sensemaking
Subjects
Mathematics $x Study and teaching $x Research
Education $x Research $x Evaluation
Education and state

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