Teachers' perceptions and use of questions for determining children's mathematical understanding

The problem addressed in this study concerns the questions which teachers who implement the principles of Cognitively Guided Instruction during mathematics instruction view to be important in helping them determine children's mathematical understanding. The study: (a) identified a set of questions that teachers can use to obtain information about children's mathematical understanding; and (b) determined each question's level of usefulness and frequency of use in obtaining assessment information. The teachers' reported usage of each question was examined for any effects due to the number of years of teaching experience, number of years of experience in implementing the principles of Cognitively Guided Instruction during mathematics instruction; educational background; teaching experience at different grade levels; years of teaching experience at current grade level; class size; percent of female students, students with English as a second language, students identified as having special needs, students receiving free and reduced lunch, minority students; and location of the school.; One hundred seventy-one teachers who were participants in the North Carolina Cognitively Guided Instruction Dissemination Project were mailed a packet that included a letter of introduction, a permission form, the Teacher Question Survey, and a stamped and addressed return envelope. A follow-up letter was mailed to those teachers who had not returned their materials within three weeks. A second follow-up letter was mailed to those teachers who had not returned their materials within six weeks. Follow-up telephone calls were made to those who had not responded within ten weeks. Thirty-six teachers, all female, returned completed surveys.; Inter-item correlations for the perceived level of usefulness and the frequency of use of teacher questions were determined. One cluster of three questions with inter-item correlations of .75 or higher was found for the perceived level of usefulness. Seven overlapping groups of questions with inter-item correlations of .75 or higher were found for the frequency of use.; Descriptive statistics for the participants' perceived usefulness of the teacher questions and for the participants' frequency of use of the teacher questions were determined. The same six teacher questions were rated highest for perceived usefulness and frequency of use.; The correlations and p-values for the relationship between participants' perceived usefulness of teacher questions and reported frequencies of use of teacher questions were determined. None of the correlations were significant.; The means and standard deviations for the frequency of use of each teacher question by teachers who implement the principles of Cognitively Guided Instruction by the number of years of teaching experience; number of years of experience in implementing the principles of Cognitively Guided Instruction during mathematics instruction; educational background; teaching experience at different grade levels; years of teaching experience at current grade level; class size; percent of female students, students with English as a second language, students identified as having special needs, students receiving free and reduced lunch, minority students; and location of the school were determined. ANOVAs and t-tests were conducted to determine significant differences in means for participants' reported frequency of use of the different questions for the independent variables. No significant differences were found among or between the means for any of the teacher questions.