Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Billie Andersson

Abstract

Standardized testing results in fourth-grade math have shown that students in the United States continually score below students in many other nations, despite funding education at levels well above the global average. The problem addressed in this study was that fourth-grade math students in the United States were not performing as well on standardized tests as students of other nations and international cities. Guided by Vygotsky’s social learning theory, the purpose of this qualitative, exploratory case study was to investigate the perceptions of teachers from U.S. and international settings about different approaches to effective fourth-grade math instruction, inherent obstacles to sound instruction, their college training, and professional development (PD). Purposeful sampling was used to identify 4 teachers in New York State and 8 teachers in Singapore and Shanghai who completed semistructured interviews for this study. Interview data were analyzed across teachers’ responses using inductive, open coding to identify themes. Key findings indicated that New York State participants reported a lack of adequate timeframes for teaching collaborative math activities, a prevalence of low expectations connected to ability grouping, the absence of specialized math instructors, a dearth of math courses in pre-service education, as well as the unavailability of ongoing, relevant PD as compared to teachers in Singapore and Shanghai. In light of these findings, any successful effort to create positive social change and bring U.S. students’ math performance into line with international students’ performance should include enhancements in these practices, resources, and supports across the U.S. education sector.

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