489147
research-article2013
EUS47210.1177/0013124513489147Education and Urban SocietyKelly et al.
Article
First-Year Urban
Mathematics and Science
Middle School Teachers:
Classroom Challenges
and Reflective Solutions
Education and Urban Society
2015, Vol. 47(2) 132­–159
© The Author(s) 2013
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DOI: 10.1177/0013124513489147
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Angela M. Kelly1, Serigne M. Gningue2,
and Gaoyin Qian2
Abstract
This study explored the challenges facing 1st-year alternatively certified
teachers of mathematics and science in urban middle schools. Four teachers,
participants in a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Robert Noyce
Scholarship Program, were followed from preservice training through
their 1st year of teaching, having taken part in innovative coursework,
workshops, and internship training. Through focus groups, interviews, and
classroom observations, data were collected to analyze their experiences
in economically disadvantaged settings. The researchers explored key
aspects of the scholars’ experiences, including their struggles with student
performance and motivation, ways in which they developed strategies to
strengthen their self-efficacy and resilience, and how novel strategies for
assessing learning improved their teaching. By examining their perceptions
of classroom situations and cultural contexts, and their emerging coping
mechanisms, others can learn about how novice teachers may be better
prepared to work in challenging environments, and develop recommendations
for enabling teacher-training programs to meet the needs of their students.
1Stony
Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
College, CUNY, Bronx, NY, USA
2Lehman
Corresponding Author:
Angela M. Kelly, Stony Brook University, 092 Life Sciences Building, Stony Brook, NY 117945233, USA.
Email: [email protected]
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Kelly et al.
Keywords
urban education, science education, mathematics education, preservice
training, teacher induction
Introduction
The purpose of this study was to examine the primary challenges facing
newly certified teachers of mathematics and science in urban middle schools
and determine how more mature epistemological thinking emerges from their
experiences. Four 1st-year teachers, who were participants in an National
Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Robert Noyce Scholarship Program at an
urban college in Northeast United States, took part in innovative coursework,
workshops, and internship training during their senior year of college through
their 1st year of teaching. Through focus groups, interviews, and classroom
observations, data were collected to analyze the experiences of these teachers
in economically disadvantaged settings.
The researchers explored key aspects of the scholars’ professional lives,
including their struggles with student performance and motivation, ways in
which they developed strategies to strengthen their self-efficacy and resilience, and how novel strategies for assessing learning improved their teaching. By examining their perceptions of classroom situations and cultural
contexts, and their emerging coping mechanisms, others can learn about
how novice teachers may be better prepared to work in challenging
environments.
This article will first explore the background literature that formed the
theoretical basis for the study, specifically as it relates to teachers’ epistemological beliefs and the challenges of teaching in urban schools. We will then
provide details on the participants, data collection, and qualitative analysis
techniques; this will include information regarding the preservice program
structure. Third, we will present the results and corresponding discussion
points that emanated from the focus groups, interviews, and classroom observations. Finally, conclusions and implications for science and mathematics
teacher education will be proposed, with the goal of highlighting ways in
which urban teachers may be guided to refine their pedagogical practices and
resilience during the critical induction years.
Background
The foundation of this study is based upon the idea that newly trained urban
mathematics and science teachers experience unique difficulties that present
challenges and opportunities for personal and pedagogical growth. These
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Education and Urban Society 47(2)
teachers must cope in the face of adversity to experience self-efficacy and
develop mature beliefs about teaching and learning. Consequently, the background literature will focus on three thematic elements. First, urban mathematics and science teachers tend to work in challenging settings that test their
ability to cope with adversity (Brunetti, 2006; Tschannen-Moran, Hoy, &
Hoy, 1998). Secondly, the relationships that teachers cultivate with their students are often the key to their professional satisfaction (Malow-Iroff,
O’Connor, & Bisland, 2004; Patterson, Collins, & Abbott, 2004). Third, the
epistemological beliefs of teachers, or their teaching and learning philosophies, often shift as they are immersed in academic settings (Kang, 2008).
Teachers’ challenges were examined within this framework.
Issues for Urban Teachers
Research has examined persistent issues facing teachers in urban secondary
schools (Cook, 2009; Stanford, 2001). Teachers have been typically more
frustrated with more poor and underrepresented students (Gomez, 1993;
Strunk & Robinson, 2006), and have sometimes felt as though they have little
understanding of their home life or culture (Olmedo, 1997). Teachers need to
be aware of their own cultural beliefs, values, and advantages (Bianchini &
Cavazos, 2007; Gay, 2001), which is essential for maintaining a culture of
respect in the classroom (Ng & Thomas, 2007). Everyday logistical conflicts
have also been common for urban mathematics and science teachers while
they simultaneously struggle with developing deep content knowledge
(Adams & Krockover, 1997; Park, 2003). Persistent issues with student attendance and punctuality have sometimes exacerbated classroom tensions
(Tobin, Seiler, & Walls, 1997); recently it was reported that 34% of city secondary school students typically missed at least 1 month of school (Otterman,
2011). However, the contextual challenges of urban schools can often be
mitigated when teachers work with strong leadership, a collegial atmosphere,
and adequate resources (Humphrey, Wechsler, & Hough, 2008).
Motivating Factors
Other studies have revealed the complexities of what motivates teachers to
work in urban schools and develop productive teaching practices (Carter &
Keiler, 2009; Olsen & Anderson, 2007). The vast majority of teachers have
chosen this career for altruistic reasons, where they sought to make a difference in the lives of their students (Chong & Low, 2009; Freedman &
Appleman, 2009; LaTurner, 2002; Tamir, 2009). Mutual respect between
teachers and students has often been the key to a positive classroom
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Kelly et al.
environment (Malow-Iroff et al., 2004; Watson, 2006). Because of the effort
put into establishing these relationships, and the shared rewards that come
from them, teachers often cite the students as the main reason they remain in
the profession (Moran, Kilpatrick, Abbot, Dallat, & McClune, 2001).
Teachers have been particularly motivated when they have evidence of their
impact on student learning and attitudes (Hebert & Worthy, 2001; Rinke,
2009; Stotko, Ingram, & Beaty-O’Ferrall, 2007).
Epistemological Development of New Teachers
When exploring the experiences of these early career teachers, it is important
to examine the development of their epistemological beliefs about science
and mathematics. First, science and mathematics are often considered to be
challenging disciplines. It is important that science and mathematics teachers
develop mature epistemological beliefs about teaching and learning difficult
subjects so they can help their students face academic challenges (Dweck &
Leggett, 1988; Qian & Alvermann, 1995; Schommer, 1993).
Secondly, research has documented that teachers’ epistemological beliefs
inform their instructional strategies and actions in teaching science in secondary schools (Chan & Sachs, 2001) and their ways of using lab activities
and other pedagogical tools to promote student engagement (Uekawa,
Borman, & Lee, 2007). However, there is a need for research on the relationship between science and mathematics teachers’ epistemological beliefs and
their instructional practices. Research has suggested that such changes require
personal reflection, support from other colleagues, opportunities to experiment with new instructional ideas, personal commitment to addressing individual students’ needs, and community efforts (Hollingsworth & Teel, 1991;
Stephens et al., 2000).
Third, aspiring teachers’ mature epistemological beliefs can contribute to
the use of more desirable instructional strategies to nurture their students’
mature beliefs, which will in turn help them understand the complexity of
science and mathematics. Teachers with more mature epistemological beliefs
tend to adopt instructional strategies that facilitate students’ understanding of
complex science concepts (Qian & Alvermann, 2000). Instead of teaching
complex concepts in traditional and oversimplified ways, teachers should
explore multiple representations (Spiro, Vispoel, Schmitz, Samarapungavan,
& Boerger, 1987).
The present study examines how the four novice teachers confronted
urban classroom issues that influenced the development of desirable beliefs
about teaching and learning. Their reflections of 1st-year classroom interactions will reveal their greatest challenges and how they managed to develop
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Education and Urban Society 47(2)
and implement proactive solutions. By exploring contextual factors in the
process, their experiences may inform efforts to prepare qualified mathematics and science teachers for high-needs urban middle schools.
Research Questions
The main research question addressed in this study was: What are some of the
primary challenges faced by novice science and mathematics middle school
teachers in their 1st year of teaching? From this overarching question, two
subquestions emerged: (a) In what ways do newly trained alternatively certified Noyce Scholars respond to these challenges? (b) What are the implications of the Noyce Scholars’ experiences for other alternative and/or
traditional teacher certification programs?
Method
Participants and Context
The four participants in this study were awarded Noyce scholarship grants
that paid the full tuition of their senior year of college and a 2-year master’s
degree in mathematics or science education. The purpose of the NSF-funded
Robert Noyce Scholarship Program is to encourage talented science technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) majors to pursue careers in teaching science and mathematics in disadvantaged schools (NSF, 2011). The
college in this study required these students to teach in middle schools, since
most mathematics or science majors who enter the teaching profession are
generally geared toward high school, therefore denying students at the middle grade levels the opportunity to benefit from their ability and understanding of the subject. An additional requirement is that they teach in high-needs
schools for a minimum of 6 years, or 2 years of teaching for every 1 year of
full scholarship.
The local program was designed with innovative coursework and professional development experiences that have been shown to improve student
achievement, motivation, and self-efficacy (Tschannen-Moran et al., 1998).
During their senior year at the college, the prospective teachers completed
their respective undergraduate STEM major requirements and enrolled in
additional coursework in education. The coursework, designed specifically
for the Noyce Program, included courses cotaught by faculty in science,
mathematics, and education. Coursework on the social and historical foundations of education provided background on teaching in a variety of socioeconomic contexts. An internship in urban middle schools, where they spent at
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Kelly et al.
least 60 hr per semester and 80 hr in the summer observing master teachers
and planning and implementing lessons, along with a bimonthly 2-hr seminar
to discuss and reflect on their experiences, were also part of the program.
One of the goals of the program was to prepare reflective middle school
educators who were highly skilled in educational technology, utilizing local
informal science resources, and proficient in managing their classrooms.
During the summers of 2009 and 2010, the scholars participated in weeklong workshops that focused on designing inquiry-based instruction at a
local zoo, and on how to use SmartBoard technology in the mathematics or
science classroom. For the first workshop, they learned to conduct scientific field studies within the confines of the zoo guided by science education
specialists and zoologists. In this way, they learned how to turn a science
class into a research center and their future students into scientists who
actually do science. For the second workshop, which enabled them to earn
SmartBoard certification, they used a video from a local botanical garden
to create SmartBoard presentations that incorporated middle school mathematics and science standards. These learning experiences were meant to
help them develop more mature epistemological thinking about how students learn mathematics and science. Fortunately, all Noyce Scholars in the
study had SmartBoards in their classrooms when hired, which they typically used every day.
The four Noyce scholars became full-time teachers of mathematics or science in public middle schools in fall 2010, while they continued as Noyce
scholars in their respective master’s degree programs. Table 1 (below) summarizes the characteristics of the four teachers and their respective middle
schools. All of the teachers had spent considerable time in urban schools and
environments before entering the program, though there was some variation
in their backgrounds.
Design
The framework for this study was designed to elicit novice STEM teachers’
personal experiences and their solutions for managing personal and classroom-related tensions. Their stories reflected similar experiences in their
respective schools with varied personalized interpretations. Consequently, a
phenomenological approach was employed for data analysis. This approach
examines experiences from the perspectives of research participants, searching for “units of meaning,” or common themes, in qualitative data (Hycner,
1985). This particular process involved elements of grounded theory, identifying significant statements through open coding and connecting thematic
elements through axial coding (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin,
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Jessica
37
Female
Hispanic
Mathematics
GPA: 3.6
Dominican Republic
Moved to United States at
age of 16; has lived in same
urban area since then.
Bilingual
(Spanish & English)
8, Mathematics
70% free lunch
7% LEP*
41% Hispanic
57% Black
Single parent
Note. LEP = Limited English Proficient.
Language proficiency
Grade taught, subject
School demographics
Family status
Age
Gender
Ethnicity
Undergraduate degree
Birthplace
Background
Subject
25
Male
Hispanic
Geology
GPA: 3.4
Dominican Republic
Moved to United States at
age of 8; has lived in same
urban area since then.
Bilingual
(Spanish & English)
6, Science
75% free lunch
9% LEP*
67% Hispanic
31% Black
Single
Ramon
Table 1. Subject Descriptions and Respective School Characteristics.
24
Female
Hispanic
Mathematics
GPA: 2.9
U.S. city
Born and raised in
urban area; still lived
there at time of study.
Bilingual
(Spanish & English)
7, Mathematics
70% free lunch
7% LEP*
41% Hispanic
57% Black
Single
Natalie
22
Female
White
Mathematics
GPA: 3.9
Suburban United States
Born and raised in
suburban area; still lived
there at time of study.
Monolingual, reading
knowledge of Spanish 6, Mathematics
90% free lunch
29% LEP*
71% Hispanic
27% Black
Single
Karen
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Kelly et al.
1994). The transcriptions from the focus groups were analyzed to compile
“textural” and “structural” descriptions (Creswell, 2007). The textural
descriptions include examples of the teachers’ experiences with students in
the classroom. The structural descriptions incorporated the school settings
and administrative policies; these reflections provided a richer context for
understanding their challenges. A composite description combined the textural and structural to relate what the teachers experienced and how the setting and their personal identities may have influenced their perceptions.
Method
Data Analysis
The qualitative data, collected during the four Noyce teachers’ 1st year of
teaching in high needs urban middle schools came from three different
sources: (a) written reflections from their 1st-year journals; (b) observation
and follow-up discussion notes taken by college mathematics and/or science
professors during site visits when they observed scholars teach their own
classrooms; and, (c) two focus group meetings followed by individual interviews designed to help elicit and understand their challenges and explore the
development of their epistemological beliefs about teaching mathematics or
science.
A key consideration in phenomenological research is the need for the
researcher to strive for objectivity when collecting and interpreting data.
Personal experiences must be “bracketed,” or held in check, so the focus of
the study remains on the participants (Richardson, 1999). Consequently, the
focus group discussions were designed to minimize undue researcher influence. Transcripts were coded by identifying predominant themes and shared
experiences of the four subjects. Interrater reliability was obtained by comparing coding schemes and resolving the differences among three researchers
through discussion, a strategy of investigator triangulation (Denzin, 1989).
As a final measure of reliability and validity, interpretations were shared with
the study participants—a form of member checking (Morse, Barrett, Mayan,
Olson, & Spiers, 2002); their constructive comments were used to refine the
researchers’ analysis. As a result, the iterative interpretation of teachers’
statements from these semistructured sessions led to emerging theoretical
understandings regarding the issue of teaching mathematics and science in
challenging environments. This qualitative method was chosen over quantitative analysis to provide the most meaningful insights into the Noyce
Scholars’ professional growth, similar to other studies in the field (Kagan,
1990; Patterson, Collins & Abbott, 2004).
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Education and Urban Society 47(2)
Results and Discussion
Two major thematic elements emerged from the analysis of the data. The first
relates to the magnitude of the complexities that surround the teaching in
urban schools where teachers have to deal with poverty-related and classroom-management issues, and the chaotic nature of administrative directives.
The second relates to teachers’ belief changes and epistemological growth as
evidenced by how they described their efforts to address students’ needs with
more sophisticated pedagogical strategies and better personal relationships.
These themes are summarized in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Thematic elements of Noyce Scholars’ experiences.
Complexity of Teaching in Urban Schools
Data from interviews and focus groups revealed the four Noyce teachers recognized a complex fabric that underlies a student’s learning in high needs
urban schools. The support of the school administration, parental involvement, and students’ readiness for school on a daily basis are necessary conditions that lead to success in teaching and learning in the classroom, which has
been consistent with existing research (Hollingsworth & Teel, 1991; Stephens
et al., 2000). The teachers shared their frustrations as they reflected on their
greatest challenges during their 1st year.
Poverty-Related Issues. When asked about their daily classroom tensions, most
of the teachers were not prepared for the level of poverty they encountered in
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Kelly et al.
their schools. In each of the schools, at least 70% of the students were eligible
for free lunch (see Table 1). Sometimes students came to school without
breakfast, and/or they did not have enough sleep. The Noyce teachers helped
their students manage these difficulties and meet their basic needs so that
they could concentrate and learn.
Jessica related how teaching sometimes takes a back seat to the more
immediate physical needs of her students. Although she began the year by
focusing on her lesson planning and instruction, she soon learned that more
pressing concerns often needed her intervention. This was something she did
not expect. She said some students came to school tired and/or hungry, and
others lived in the fear of getting hurt on their way home:
Jessica: But, let me tell you, it’s teaching them the area of a circle. It’s more than
just teaching them that. You know you have to be—are you—did you eat today?
You know, did you sleep? Were you able to find your shoes this morning? Before
you can teach them the area of a circle because otherwise they won’t care. They
could care less. They want food. They want to sleep well. They want—you know
I got home without being jumped yesterday. That’s a big deal . . . You know, you
can’t ignore that; you can’t.
Karen concurred with Jessica, and she addressed the problem by keeping
food in her desk to keep her students alert. She expressed more frustration,
wondering about the lack of parental support and questioning why students
were leaving their homes hungry:
Karen: It’s more than teaching them, like she said. It is—they’re hungry. They
didn’t eat breakfast. I have snacks; that is what is behind my desk, not papers. I
have snacks . . . I have granola bars, I have chips, I have the stuff that they like
because, when they’re hungry and they can’t concentrate, you give them food
and then they concentrate. And it’s ridiculous that it’s like that. I know that they
have cell phones, so they should be able to afford food. I get that. But that’s what
it is . . . They leave the house. Their parents don’t support them. The lack of
parent involvement is tough because I just know from when I was growing up,
the teacher never called my house. But I can only imagine what would happen if
they did.
Karen had difficulty relating to the priorities of her students’ parents.
Although she reached out to some of them via phone calls and messages, she
initially did not see any discernable effect. It was a challenge for her to understand the culture of her students when she viewed her own upbringing as
being so decidedly different, a common concern for urban teachers (Rodriguez
& Kitchen, 2005; Smith & Smith, 2009). She reflected upon the strong sense
of family in her own life, characterized by stability and expectations for
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Education and Urban Society 47(2)
personal responsibility, and found it hard to understand how parents could
not know their children were hungry when they arrived at school. Her frustration was magnified by the logistical difficulties of planning her instruction. It
took her some time to realize that her own experiences were not an adequate
barometer for measuring the motivation and achievement of her students nor
the concern of their parents, and she eventually channeled her frustration into
more productive approaches. She had many pedagogical tools (use of manipulatives, problem solving approaches, formative assessments procedures
such as exit cards, use of technology) to implement and tried repeatedly until
she found strategies that worked. Her feelings of success enabled her to confront poverty-related issues, deal with them quickly, and continue with her
planned instruction.
Some of Ramon’s students also came to school hungry, and arrived too
late after free breakfast was served. The teachers and administrators addressed
this problem by coming up with the idea of “breakfast baggies,” which students could bring to class with them. Although attendance was an issue for
Jessica and Karen, it was not for Ramon, perhaps because parents were called
right away if students did not show up for school. His administration was
consistently more supportive when it came to facilitating contacts with parents and maintaining an orderly building environment. For the three other
Noyce teachers, it was up to them to call parents if students did not show up
for school.
Classroom Management. Like many 1st-year teachers, classroom management was a pressing concern for the Noyce Scholars. They began the year
believing that their kindness and good intentions would be sufficient tools for
constructing a peaceful and mutually respectful classroom, an altruistic strategy that frequently fails. Two of them, Natalie and Karen, regretted their
initial approach and felt they had been far too permissive. Natalie felt that she
should have been stricter from day one:
Natalie: I’m kind of needing help with my kids . . . The other sixth grade math
teacher is a new teacher also and we both kind of said we made the same mistakes.
We thought that we were gonna change these kids and be the loving figure in their
life that they had never had before and we were gonna be sweet and then they took
advantage in the beginning.
Karen shared Natalie’s regrets regarding classroom management, though
she took some comfort in her confidence that she could teach the mathematics content well. She felt unprepared for how quickly the tensions escalated
inside and outside of her classroom:
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Kelly et al.
Karen: My management wasn’t under control. I’m very comfortable with the
content and I think I understand math in a deep way, but I’m able to break it down
and know like the reason for things . . . But the management was kind of a mess.
The first two weeks it was fine ‘cause the kids were all new and nervous. I’m sixth
grade, so they were brand new to the school. They’re kind of like feeling themselves
out and then they got awful; fights every day, every day; in my classroom, outside
of my classroom trying to stop that, you know a student trying to attack a teacher,
me holding him back. Like really like intense stuff.
Karen learned quickly that her “soft” approach was inadequate. She gradually
gained tighter control of the behavior in her classroom and planning became
easier. Toward the end of her 1st year, she was remarkably more confident and
proud of her teaching. She shared that, “. . . last week I was gone for three days
for professional development and without the stability of my presence, they
missed out academically and socially; I help get my kids off on the right foot
each day.” When asked about reasons behind her persistence and resilience,
she suggested two things. First, she wanted to replicate the nurturing she felt
in her own family for her students in the classroom. Secondly, the clinically
rich preparation she experienced in the Noyce Program’s summer internship
and mathematics methods classes gave her the confidence that experimenting
with a variety of approaches would eventually lead to success.
Jessica concurred with Natalie and Karen in the need to be stern, simply as
the means for exerting necessary control over her students’ behavior. She
commented, “You got to get mean. And mean doesn’t mean you don’t have a
heart—no. It’s a psychological war.” She was consistent in her insistence of
good behavior from her students, and through classroom observations it was
clear that she challenged inappropriate behavior immediately. Ramon’s classroom environment was somewhat different, in that he had fewer problem
students, but his philosophy was similar to Jessica’s. He emphasized routines
and procedures from the 1st day, anticipating that this strategy would be
essential for maintaining control. This seemed to have worked as he intended.
He credited his prior work with children as a swim instructor in understanding the need to implement clear boundaries from the start:
Ramon: Something that has helped also in my year is that I’ve been able to build a
really close relationship with my students and it doesn’t take as much work to kind
of get them involved and get them organized or—it’s just simple. It’s easier to kind
of get to them or interact. Our interactions are just flowing. It’s not like traveling
hard to get to them. It’s very simple. We have like cycles of routines that we kind
of built. I think that I took those skills and I learned like communication or teaching
skills [when he was a swim instructor]. I took them and I brought it into the
classroom. And that is helping me a lot.
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Education and Urban Society 47(2)
Ramon described his prior experience by saying “the swimming pool was my
classroom.” It was there he learned to manage fifth and sixth grade children,
set rules, practice his timing, and plan lessons. He felt intimidated by timing
his lessons when he started academic teaching but was confident that he
would soon strengthen this aspect of his planning, which he did.
All of the Noyce Scholars recognized the necessity of tight classroom control, though Natalie and Karen started off with the wrong approach. Jessica
and Ramon were far more successful since they had implemented their strategies consistently from the 1st day. Natalie and Karen did change their
approaches, though they both felt they would be more effective in their 2nd
year when it came to classroom management. The difference in approaches
and in the results, at least for the 1st year, seemed to be due to two things:
prior experience and personality. First, Jessica and Ramon had worked with
children extensively and had developed some form of management structure
in different settings. Their prior experiences made them understand the necessity of developing rules and management structures at the beginning of the
year and sticking to them. Secondly, Jessica and Ramon were much more
assertive in nature and less soft than Karen and Natalie. Through observations, it was clear that Jessica and Ramon used a much tougher language and
were quick to reply to any students’ misbehavior without hesitation. They had
also faced more challenges growing up than Karen and Natalie, having immigrated to the United States as children.
Jessica and Karen suggested that the internship component of the preservice program be adjusted to better prepare the next cohort of teachers. They
felt that it would benefit the new teachers to spend more time in highly challenging schools, where they were more likely to witness the types of problems they would face in their 1st year. The schools where they had interned
were specifically chosen because of their progressive teaching practices and
effective administrative structures. However, from their point of view, a less
structured environment may have been better exposure, at least for part of
the internship experience. Still, Karen felt that the clinical internship was the
most valuable preparation she received for teaching in a high needs environment. She had taught 2-hr classes and had learned assessment techniques to
recognize student gains, which was empowering and strengthened her
commitment.
Chaotic Nature of Administration’s Priorities/Directives. The ability to maintain
control of the class and teach a mathematics or science unit may be complicated by another common factor of urban school life—multiple and at times
conflicting administrative directives. Two aspects of this issue came up during the focus group discussions. First, Jessica related how she had received
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inconsistent directives from different administrators during the first 6 months
of her job. She felt that some of the new curricular efforts had individual
merit, but there was no central vision to establish priorities:
Jessica: But, as an administration, it doesn’t commit to anything. Like this month
it will be one thing and they don’t let it mature, they don’t let it develop to decide
whether it’s working or not, they just come up with something totally different the
next month and at the next month. And, at some point, you have five and six
different plans and you can’t possibly do any one of them and you have to have
five supervisors, all five of them are asking you for five different things. And it’s
like—you guys should meet. You should talk to each other ‘cause you’re asking
me to do this one way and then the other asking—if it was supposed to be all the
same thing, aren’t we—don’t we have the same vision?
The competing “innovative” programs left her confused about her professional goals. In some cases, the teaching practices she had learned in her
preservice courses were at odds with what the school was requiring. She suggested that the college faculty meet with her administrators to resolve differences in instructional approaches.
Natalie, who taught in the same building, commented on a second suggested reform—tracking. The school was proposing to establish differentiated levels of students in mathematics. She questioned the wisdom of doing
this and expressed her fear that tracking decisions would be made based on
behavior:
Natalie: Also, in this environment that is not so structured, I’m afraid that they
wouldn’t be based solely on ability but on behavior. Like the [honors] class that we
have now is not based on performance, it’s based on whether they’re well behaved
or not. I’m afraid that that could happen.
These two teachers were frustrated with two sets of directives in which
they seemed to have no input. Such top-down initiatives left them questioning the decision making process, and wondering whether student learning
could be improved as intended. They expressed their desire to speak with
their administrators about communicating goals and involving teachers in
decisions about new curricular structures.
Epistemological Growth
The interview data revealed marked changes in these Noyce teachers’ understanding of teaching and learning after they taught in their own classrooms
for almost a year. The results indicated that these Noyce teachers gained a
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deeper understanding of the challenges they were facing and the complexity
of teaching at the urban high-need middle schools. These enhanced understandings may be related to their epistemological sophistication and maturity
as demonstrated in their teaching and decision-making in daily classroom
interactions. They tended to evaluate education methods courses critically,
recognized the importance of the support provided by the school administrators and parents, and escalated their efforts to adopt sophisticated strategies
to meet teaching challenges.
Escalating Efforts With Sophisticated Strategies for Improving Teaching. Jessica
often commented that her experiences in the Noyce Program helped her
establish a higher professional standard. Her coursework in mathematics
teaching methods was particularly useful in developing her pedagogical content knowledge, and she was able to assess student learning to gauge her own
effectiveness. This greater self-awareness prompted her to question her
planned strategies and reflect on ways of improving on a daily basis:
Jessica: As much as I thought that my game was polished, it wasn’t. I had to redo
a lot of things . . . I don’t know how to say it, but I just feel like there’s more things
that I should be paying attention to and taking care of than I did before, that I didn’t
feel like I needed to. And so I’m constantly thinking, “I didn’t deal with that
yesterday the proper way. How am I going to deal with that tomorrow? That
specific child, I didn’t reach him. How can I do that differently?” I find myself
thinking a lot about that than I did before. I think pacing and understanding
students’ prior knowledge are the hardest things.
Her reflective approach was consistent with the type of thinking that would
contribute to her success, particularly with problem students. She had learned
many new strategies in her graduate coursework that led her to refine her
initial ideas and experiment with new pedagogical strategies.
Unlike, Jessica, Ramon felt quite comfortable with his teaching strategies,
though he credited feedback from the principal and staff as essential in his
professional development. His school was an open community of reflective
educators with a shared commitment to excellence. The principal and vice
principal regularly visited his classroom (formally and informally), and he
was free to observe other teachers during his planning periods. He recognized
that this type of continued “internship” expanded his teaching repertoire. His
personal belief that he held the responsibility for reaching all of his students
inspired him to seek new ways to teach:
Ramon: The principal is welcoming, open, always giving feedback, always trying
to make you better and I really love feedback. I mean that is the only way that you
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can actually get better. There has to be constant self-assessment in order for you to
get better or to get to where you want to be . . . And the freedom that they give me,
that I can just walk into any room at any period at any time and observe their
strategies and the teaching styles, and from those experiences that I’ve had, I’ve
kind of taken things that I like from each teacher and kind of made a conglomerate
and made it my own . . . You have to have a goal. You have to be able to work with
your students, your team and, if you’re not reaching them, you’re doing something
wrong. If they’re not understanding, although the concepts might be a little bit
difficult, but there has to be a way that you can get to them.
Ramon was also excited about learning differentiated instruction by coteaching with a special education teacher. He had experienced very little differentiation when he was young, which was particularly challenging since he was
an English as a second language (ESL) student placed in a monolingual classroom when he came to the United States. He did not feel as though he
belonged until he was moved to a bilingual classroom to accommodate his
needs. This experience inspired him to do whatever it took to make his students feel as though they were part of a cohesive classroom community. His
desire to differentiate instruction effectively was an outgrowth of this personal objective.
Natalie shared Ramon’s sense of responsibility toward her students’ learning,
though she talked about her realization that flexibility is key. She started the
academic year somewhat rigid in her adherence to her written plans. However,
as the year progressed, she learned to respond to her assessments in ways that
informed her teaching. She was able to accept that differentiated strategies were
sometimes necessary for students to master the mathematical concepts:
Natalie: But sometimes I’ll plan something and then I will think—like last week
we were doing finding diameter if we know the circumference. So then they had
to divide using decimals. And I just assumed that they would know dividing
decimals, and then the first day I was like, “Oh my God, what did I do?” So what
I thought was only going to take three periods ending up taking six periods because
I had to re-teach it, go back to dividing decimals, and take it a step back . . . I
wasn’t comfortable with that before. I had a plan, I had to get that plan done no
matter what, and they’ve taught me that that’s not the case. If we’re not there,
we’re not there. You have to learn how to be flexible and be okay with that.
Interestingly, Natalie felt empowered from her coursework in mathematical teaching methods—not only in setting a high professional standard for
herself (as Jessica had), but she was also motivated to sharing her knowledge
with her colleagues as a teacher-leader. She wanted to develop a site-based
workshop in algebraic methods where she could illustrate the use of analogies in teaching mathematics:
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Natalie: I make them do a river, I called it the river when I taught it. Solving
equations, that took forever to do. I had so many analogies, like the equal sign is a
bridge, you want the people on one side of the bridge, the animals on the other side
of the bridge, a whole bunch of stuff . . . Maybe I could do like a math methods
[workshop] next year.
Karen also felt a sense of empowerment by experimenting with different
forms of teaching and assessment. It was interesting to observe her willingness to try new strategies when she initially expressed considerable confidence in her standard practices. Although resistant to changing her routine at
first, she recognized the promise of using new formative assessment techniques to improve her instruction and create an attendance check to monitor
absences. She reflected upon her experiences in her teaching journal:
Karen: Another result of the exit card activity, which I didn’t expect, was an
attendance check. I can see how many times students were absent and how it
affected their grades. Some students are out between two and four times a week
and it adversely affects their scores . . . I can use this for a re-teach plan or have the
student after school and work on that topic. One of my goals is to perform better
formative assessments in the classroom and I think that this is a good strategy to
utilize.
Karen had learned about the use of exit cards in her teaching methods coursework. Each card would have one to two assessment questions that the students had to complete in the last 5 min of class. She aligned the assessment
scores with attendance data so she could target individual students for instructional intervention. She also recognized when certain strategies were more
effective than others (e.g., extra time spent on the subtraction of integers).
Developing Relationships With Students. Although the Noyce teachers had to
face many challenges on a daily basis, they were committed to enacting the
curriculum effectively. One thing that kept them motivated to persist was
their strong disposition toward making a difference in their students’ lives.
They cared about their students. They strongly believed that teaching is not
just a job that ends at 3:00 p.m. Instead, teaching is a profession and a career
that they enjoyed pursuing and where they could take a pride in their students’ accomplishments. This motivation has been reported in much of the
existing research (Brunetti, 2006; Darling-Hammond, 1990; Rinke, 2009).
Ramon was deeply committed to developing mutually respectful relationships with his students. Through classroom observations, it was evident that
he had strong control yet it appeared to be a relaxed, welcoming, learning
environment. Students eagerly participated, remained on task for the duration
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of the science lessons, and seemed anxious to elicit positive responses from
their teacher. Ramon shared his philosophy regarding the need for a personal
connection with his students:
Ramon: I’m a nice teacher. But I also enforce my authority kind of. They get a
sense from me that, just because you’re a teacher doesn’t mean that you can’t be
too close to them. I mean we have the student/teacher relationship, but you need to
understand how they live, their background, and try to understand where they
come from in order to get maximum learning . . . You have to show them that
you’re actually a human being that can relate to them on more than one level.
That’s being a teacher. They come to you for help. They have a personal issue; they
can talk to you and you can get help for them. So you have to show them multiple
sides of you, not just teaching.
When asked about his ability to connect with students, Ramon attributed
this to his background in working with children, which facilitated the development of his communication and teaching skills. Jessica experienced greater
difficulty with establishing this type of atmosphere, though she persevered in
a tough environment to create connections with her students. She related the
story of a particularly difficult student, Jerome, who had spent some time in
a juvenile detention center before coming to her classroom. Other teachers
had warned her about his lack of support at home and his tendency to be verbally abusive. Once she took the time to speak with him and show that she
cared about him, he warmed up to her and accepted her offers of academic
support:
Jessica: And I really feel like he has a good heart. He means well. He just—there’s
something—he’s tough. And I asked him. I had a conversation with him. I said,
“Why is it that you’re always so defensive?” He said, “Ms. Jessica, do you know
where I live? If I’m not like this, they’ll eat me out there.” I said, “But in here you
don’t have to be. That’s the beauty of this classroom. In here you leave the tough
men outside because in here you’re safe . . . no one’s gonna hurt you.” And he just
smiled at me and said, “Ms. Jessica, you know I never saw it that way.” Jerome,
just this day, I said, “Jerome, you need to be in my tutoring program, my piloting
program because you’re failing. You’re not gonna graduate.” “I don’t want to do
this. I know this stuff. This is silly. This is baby stuff.” I said, “Okay, let’s cut a
deal. The unit test is coming up in two weeks. If you pass it, you don’t have to be
here. You fail it, your butt is mine.” He failed it with a 53. I said, “What’s gonna
be?” He’s been in my tutoring class every single day.
Jessica had also reached out to Jerome’s mother in her attempts to help him
progress academically, socially, and behaviorally. Although he initially
resented her for doing this, she believed that he subconsciously appreciated
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that she took the time to intervene. She was persistent in trying to communicate with parents, something that was not evident with the other Noyce teachers. This may have been because she was a parent herself and understood the
importance of reaching out to coordinate intervention.
Jessica’s commitment to Jerome was also an outgrowth of her belief in the
potential of every student. She often expressed how she became more attached
to the difficult students, because their aggression usually masked deep-seated
vulnerability: “I mean I love the kids, I really, really do. I thought I wasn’t
going to love somebody who was telling me F.U. you B-itch, but those are the
kids that I love the most.” She embraced the challenge to break through the
tough exterior and establish a trusting relationship:
Jessica: You see that after so if you could set up something where you get them
after school, you know, to be there, to do one-on-one, you’re gonna win from it.
You know, they will get to respect you more and to like you more and to learn that
you will care for them. You have some kind of service after school, whether it’s
tutoring or it’s just talking; make a tutoring and then take advantage of the tutoring
to talk to them on a one-on-one basis.
Jessica and Ramon had made great strides in developing student relationships. It is possible that they were both skilled in recognizing small successes
and gaining satisfaction from these accomplishments. One way that Karen
later connected with her students was by attempting to learn their primary
language (70% of her students had limited English proficiency, see Table 1).
She felt that her students seemed to appreciate her efforts. She shared her
own vulnerability in not knowing Spanish, but the students saw her rudimentary language skills as something they could help with in the classroom:
Karen: It’s gotten a lot better [speaking in Spanish] and then, with using the
SmartBoard, I type everything and I put it up. My writing and my reading of
Spanish, my literacy is good in Spanish. But speaking it, I sound ridiculous. So I
put everything up and then I have the kids help translate and say it because they
just start to giggle when I speak it.
It seemed that Karen’s students started to feel more invested in math class
when they saw that their teacher was willing to not only learn their language,
but also to expose her lack of proficiency in the process. This experience was
empowering to her students since they could contribute to a collective sense
of responsibility and mutual benefit in the classroom. They could feel the
satisfaction of having valuable skills to share with the authority figure.
When asked about the value of coursework in the social and historical
foundations of education in developing positive student–teacher relationships,
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the Scholars felt that their subject-specific teaching methods courses were
more important. Their persistence was facilitated to a greater degree by their
confidence in their science and mathematics teaching skills, since they had
many pedagogical tools with which to differentiate their instruction. They did
not feel that a strong academic background in sociocultural issues was an
essential part of their success. Rather, it was their ability and willingness to try
new methods with their specific students that allowed them to improve
professionally.
Summary of Findings
Table 2 (below) summarizes the thematic elements of the teachers’ experiences, reflections, and strategies for improvement. Although they shared
some common challenges, each teacher was unique in her perceptions of
classroom problems and how solutions might be implemented. The complexities of teaching in urban schools were manifested in their experiences with
the immediate physical needs of their students (hunger, need for rest), inadequate classroom management strategies, conflicting administrative initiatives, and problem students. Their personal epistemological growth was
evidenced by their efforts to improve instruction, implement better means of
assessment, and demonstrate flexibility. Next, ways in which their backgrounds and professional training contributed to their ability to develop their
teaching practice will be discussed.
Conclusions and Implications for Mathematics and
Science Teacher Education
The present study explored the experiences of 1st-year science and mathematics teachers in order to understand their challenges, analyze their reflections and emerging beliefs, and recognize ways in which they redirected their
efforts toward improving their pedagogy and practice. Effective teacher education programs place teachers in schools with adequate support while providing valued coursework (Humphrey et al., 2008; Tschannen-Moran et al.,
1998). The context for this study provided a glimpse at the interaction
between theory, practice, and teachers’ personal backgrounds in challenging
settings. By engaging in this investigation, the researchers hoped to understand how preservice and in-service mathematics and science teachers might
be better prepared for urban middle schools.
What can be learned from the experiences and reflections of science and
mathematics teachers in high-needs middle schools? And how might this
inform science and mathematics teacher education? Several conclusions can
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Complexities of teaching in urban
schools
•• Students immediate physical needs
(food, clothing, rest)
•• Not prepared for high needs school
environment
•• Conflicting administrative directives
Epistemological growth
•• Need to refine pedagogical content
knowledge (PCK)
•• Challenging the behavior of problem
students
Complexities of teaching in urban
schools
•• Students immediate physical needs
(food, clothing, rest)
Epistemological growth
•• Need to refine pedagogical content
knowledge (PCK)
•• Developing a nurturing learning
environment
Complexities of teaching in urban
schools
•• Not strict enough nor consistent
with discipline from 1st day
Jessica
Natalie
Ramon
Primary challenges
Subject
“Breakfast baggies”
Observing other teachers in building
Asking for feedback from administrators
Encouraging mutually respectful
interactions
•• Working on time management strategies
••
••
••
••
•• Suggested future internships in more
challenging middle schools
•• Persistently communicating with parents
•• Reaching out to troubled students
•• Afterschool tutoring
•• Recommending to administrators that
they focus on common vision when
choosing reform efforts
•• Implementing strategies learned in
graduate coursework
Strategies for improvement
(continued)
She felt secure in changing her
•• Trying a more focused, consistently
planned instruction to meet
implemented discipline strategy
the demonstrated needs of her •• Discussing tracking plan with
students. She was empowered
administrators to discern placement plan
He felt confident in his
instruction, but continued
to seek out new strategies
from other teachers and
administrators. He put
consistent effort into creating
a cohesive, socially secure
classroom.
She felt the need to “up
her game” pedagogically,
addressing misconceptions
and incorporating
prior knowledge. She
sympathized with the most
troubled students and felt
a responsibility toward
intervention.
Perceptions/reflections
Table 2. Teachers’ Challenges, Perceptions and Reflections, and Strategies for Improvement.
153
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Karen
Subject
Perceptions/reflections
to share her algebra
strategies with co-workers
by initiating her own
professional development.
She felt the need to change
her demeanor to gain better
control of the classroom.
She tried to learn Spanish
to communicate more
effectively and engage
the students in learning
from the SmartBoard. She
experimented with formative
assessment to inform her
instruction and address
chronic absenteeism.
Primary challenges
• Conflicting administrative directives
Epistemological growth
• Need to be flexible when
implementing plans
Complexities of teaching in urban
schools
•• Students immediate physical needs
(food, clothing, rest)
•• Not strict enough nor consistent
with discipline from 1st day
•• Needed to adjust to high needs
school environment
Epistemological growth
•• Need to utilize better and more
frequent formative assessments
•• Developing a more controlled
learning environment
Table 2. (continued)
• Adopting a willingness to reteach based
on student assessment
• Planning to design and implement algebra
workshop
•• Keeping snacks in her desk
•• Trying a more focused, consistently
implemented discipline strategy
•• Suggested future internships in more
challenging middle schools
•• Learning Spanish and applying it in
SmartBoard lessons; allowing students to
coach her in language acquisition
•• Using exit card strategy as assessment
tool and attendance check
•• Afterschool tutoring
Strategies for improvement
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Education and Urban Society 47(2)
be drawn from the data. First, even though the teachers were familiar with the
communities they served, the challenges were intense and at times overwhelming. The Noyce Scholars learned that the problems they faced required
immediate, consistent responses. The physical neediness of their students
was not something they thought they would need to address, yet, they showed
resilience in shifting their routines. These types of difficulties, though commonplace, had nothing to do with their understanding of or ability to teach
content during their 1st years (see Pedder, 2006, Grayson, & Martin, 2001).
Novice urban teachers are now being asked to learn to identify and enact
solutions, not only the cognitively related learning issues they will face, but
also the associated socioeconomic problems (Rogers & Hamil, 2008). At
times, scholars attributed their ability to overcome these challenges to their
personal resilience. Their family lives, prior experience in working with children and sense of responsibility to become master teachers helped them enact
positive solutions. Although this persistence could not be taught directly, the
skills they developed from their coursework and meaningful internships
(where they had primary responsibility for instruction) could be leveraged as
they sought the best strategies for their students.
Secondly, the preservice internship and graduate coursework were instrumental in modeling innovations that would develop their classroom teaching.
To what extent were they prepared for such tasks? The qualitative data suggest that the formation of Noyce scholars’ more mature epistemological
thinking took time, required a variety of academic experiences and professional development opportunities, and originated in their reflections on their
own teaching. They reflected upon their need to improve classroom management and instruction, trying new approaches that they learned from colleagues or their graduate education coursework. Noyce scholars spent well
over 200 hr in schools prior to their 1st year of teaching. They observed
teachers, worked with students, attended seminars, discussed strategies for
teaching and classroom management, and mentally prepared themselves to
face these situations. They were confident in their ability to handle the uncertainties of the 1st year of teaching. This belief was rooted in several experiences: attending similar schools or having similar experiences as children,
gaining valuable knowledge from internships, professional reflection, and
mastering the content and pedagogy of teaching mathematics or science.
Yet, at times they struggled and experienced moments of confusion. Their
suggestion to seek internship placements in highly challenging schools is the
result of their desire to channel frustration into practical solutions. A 1st-year
teacher’s struggle begins as soon as that classroom door is closed for the first
time without a mentor or supervisor standing by. Many uncertainties, questions, and doubts will arise behind those doors. Research has found that
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beginning teachers that leave the teaching field find themselves unprepared
for these uncertainties, and they are almost three times more likely to leave
the profession than their more experienced counterparts (Croasmun,
Hampton, & Herrmann, 1999). However, these teachers demonstrated that
the difference between those who stay and those who go may be found at the
intersection of professional training and personal histories. All teachers have
lived experiences that shape their perceptions of how to confront classroom
tensions. Through their clinically rich training with professors, mentors, and
principals, the Noyce Scholars could strive for their personal and professional ideals by testing a variety of pedagogical tools and interventions to
find what worked best.
Finally, the Noyce teachers demonstrated their capacity as teacher-leaders
in many aspects of their professional lives. They recognized the inconsistencies with school-based policy reforms and initiatives, and concluded that they
must take a greater role in communicating with administrators and developing curricular vision. The role of an effective master mentor/teacher system
could be a determining factor in preparing preservice teachers for these types
of experiences. For Rogers and Hamil (2008), it was necessary that new
teachers implement research-based strategies that may facilitate the learning
of the subject area. It is, however, imperative that education institutions and
schools alike facilitate better and more structured collaborations between
new and experienced teachers. The use of the “exit cards” assessment system
by Noyce Scholars is a prime example of how novice teachers can benefit
from innovative practices when they are modeled. Similarly, their mastery of
the SmartBoard learning system was a source of motivation for their students. Following and mentoring novice teachers should be done for at least an
entire year as was done with these Noyce. Such actions need to be coordinated, however, to avoid what was described by Noyce scholars as the inconsistencies and lack of clarity in the directives they received from different
sources. Formal structures such as professional development schools (PDS)
can facilitate such types of collaborations. In such structures, differences in
approaches as described by Jessica can be resolved and mentoring and directives given to teachers made more uniform.
What has sustained the Noyce Scholars, so far, has been their strong commitment and the manner in which the program supported them due perhaps
to the limited and manageable size of the group. The support could have
been less personalized if the group was much larger as it was the case for
other alternative certification programs. The Noyce Scholars’ preparation
did not stop after they started teaching. They received personalized mentoring in the form of classroom visits, seminars to troubleshoot issues, and
constant online communication that addressed a variety of issues, from
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classroom management to curriculum. In an alternative program like Noyce,
many innovative teaching strategies cannot be implemented prior to fulltime teaching. Indeed, experience matters, as seen in how Jessica and Ramon
immediately took over their classroom because of their prior experience
dealing with children. Teaching 2 hr per day during the summer was also
instrumental to Karen’s sustainability.
As urban teacher educators, training and working with teachers of all
backgrounds, we have witnessed high attrition, having seen many give up
after a few weeks regardless of the incentives offered, others at the end of 1
or 2 years. These short-term teachers were unable and perhaps unwilling to
cope with students’ behavior and their lack of motivation, with the minimal
or nonexistent parental and administrative support, and the lack of sufficient
teaching materials. However, we have also seen a large number of new teachers stay and become successful. So far, the Noyce Scholars of this study fit
the profile of those who stayed. They are determined, love and believe in the
children with whom they work, understand their students’ needs and backgrounds, and internalize rewarding experiences while continuously searching
for new strategies. Commitment to teaching, especially in urban schools, is at
that price. Such a high level of commitment often makes the difference
between those who stay and those who leave.
Author’s Note
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National
Science Foundation.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The research for this article was partially supported by the National Science
Foundation award #0833317.
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Author Biographies
Angela Kelly is Assistant Professor of Physics & Astronomy at Stony Brook
University, and Associate Director of the Doctoral Program in Science Education at
the Center for Science and Mathematics Education (CESAME).
Serigne Gningue is Associate Professor of Mathematics Education in the School of
Education at Lehman College, City University of New York.
Gaoyin Qian is Associate Dean of the School of Education and Professor of Literacy
Studies at Lehman College, City University of New York.
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