Contextual essay: Professional development curriculum for secondary mathematics teachers in a multicultural community

The purpose of this study is to formulate a professional development curriculum for secondary mathematics teachers in a multicultural community. The study is comprised of a contextual essay and a social action project which is the curriculum itself. The Territory of Guam was used as the research laboratory for this study. The focus of inquiry is to determine whether the Guam Department of Education's requirements are sufficient for re-certifying secondary mathematics teachers. The qualitative research method used is a hybrid approach based on both formative evaluation and grounded theory. Secondary mathematics teachers from the public schools were selected as subjects to afford them the opportunity to acquire a substantial degree of ownership in the new curriculum. Thirteen out of 65 middle school mathematics teachers and 20 out of 61 high school mathematics teachers responded to interview questions. The program that emerged from the data included: objectives; curriculum content; multicultural education and diversity training; alignment with national standards; and additional training for current mathematics teachers. The results also indicated that the curriculum should pertain solely to high school mathematics teachers. The resultant curriculum is a practice-oriented master's degree program that includes: core courses; elective courses; specialization courses in mathematics; and either an action research project or a portfolio as the culminating experience. This study contributes to educational research as it formulates a curriculum for the development of secondary mathematics teachers in public schools in a multicultural community. This professional development curriculum can also be used to re-certify secondary mathematics teachers. Additionally, it is aligned with standards promulgated by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics as well as those issued by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. It is proposed that a secondary mathematics teacher who successfully completes the program be designated "Professional Teacher."...