Leading for Educational Equity in a Context of Accountability: A Research Study on Teachers' Understanding of Mathematical Pedagogy and Willingness to Utilize Interactive Whiteboard Software to Enhance Mathematics Instruction at the K-8 Level

The purpose of this mixed methods study is to test teachers' capacity towards understanding of mathematical pedagogy and their willingness to utilize interactive whiteboard software to provide visual representations through virtual manipulatives and to understand how teachers are using interactive whiteboard software during instruction. Based Upon Linda Lambert's Capacity Theory and Michelle Hodara's five strands of Math Pedagogy, this study attempted to answer how we can improve mathematics instruction through implementing interactive whiteboards. This study looked at the relationship between teachers' understanding of math pedagogy and their willingness to implement interactive whiteboards to enhance and engage instruction at the kindergarten through eighth grade. Included in this study is the role administrators play in improving mathematics instruction. Additionally, attitudes towards engaging instruction in both teachers and administrators were analyzed. The findings and discussions led to the adaptation of Linda Lambert's 4-quadrant matrix to a new Improving Capacity to Teach Math matrix.