Rama Menon
October 2004
Standardized Assessment and Constructivist-based
Teacher Preparation:
Strange Bedfellows?
Many math educators follow
constructivist principles and encourage their pre-service teachers to
apply such principles to the teaching of math in schools. But when
these pre-service teachers reach schools, they find it a struggle to
adapt constructivist principles to teach mathematics, and say they are
constrained by the standardized exams their students have to be
prepared for. Frequently, they cite lack of time in schools as the
reason for not implementing what they have learned about the teaching
of math. They quickly become disillusioned with what they have learned
about the teaching of math during their college coursework, and believe
that it is unrealistic to apply constructivist principles to teaching
math in schools. Very soon, they become enculturated to the
algorithmic, worksheet oriented practice of teaching mathematics.
One of the many reasons why
these new teachers may not be able to implement what they were taught
could be a lack of confidence and a lack of pedagogical and content
knowledge of math. Another reason could be the myriad challenges faced
by a beginning teacher just to survive the first few years of
teaching—which oftentimes has little to do with the teaching of math
perse (for example, classroom management might be a problem). Yet
another reason could be the school climate, and the expectations of
accountability as assessed by scores in standardized math exams.
What can be done to address this seeming
incompatibility between what was learned in preservice mathematics
courses in college and what is happening in the “real” world of
schools? I suggest it would be a great help to such teachers if some,
or all of the following were available:
1. Credible research (read
“scientifically based” research in the current ethos of NCLB and the
Department of Education’s guidelines fo research funds) that
shows constructivist-based approaches do lead to better performance in
standardized math exams. Of late, detractors of the constructivist
approach have been vociferous in their complaints that no credible
research supports the constructivist approach, and that such approaches
have not resulted in stellar performances in standardized math exams.
(Of course, the detractors seldom have any research support for their
claims either!) Much as we would not like to subscribe to the
much-vaunted “scientifically based” research as the only credible
research, we do need to take the initiative to use such “scientifically
based” research to support our claims.
2. Ongoing professional development
courses that focus on using the principles learned in college
preservice courses in actual classroom situations. Such professional
courses have to be ongoing, so as to cover a variety of school math
topics, and give greater confidence to the teachers of the efficacy of
such approaches.
3. Videotapes or DVDs of
actual teachers successfully implementing the principles of effective
math teaching learned during pre-service courses. On witnessing actual
teachers implementing such approaches, the new teachers can gain more
awareness, knowledge, and confidence that such approaches do work in
the real world.
4. Resources such as lesson plans that
show how constructivist based lessons might be combined with
standardized type of evaluation/assessment items. Since beginning
teachers need a lot of guidance and support, such resources should be
very helpful to them.
5. Mentor teachers and a collegial
network that are supportive of the new teachers trying out some of the
teaching principles they have learned in pre-service courses. Such
sharing will improve professionalism and collegiality, and serve to
ameliorate the sense of isolation and lack of support many beginning
teachers might feel.
6. A specific time for new teachers to meet colleagues and
discuss difficulties they have faced or are facing, and also to discuss
teaching strategies that have worked. Such consistent, sustained, and
hopefully immediate feedback will go a long way to minimize the feeling
of helplessness and frustration that beginning teachers might feel.
I have given a few suggestions that I believe might
alleviate the seeming incompatibility between what we “preach” in
pre-service courses at college, and what our new teachers “practice” in
schools. I am sure there are many more suggestions that might be
offered, and such suggestions would certainly be more than welcome
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