Leland S Cogan

Michigan State University, Center for the Study of Curriculum Policy, Senior Researcher

Michigan State University, Center for the Study of Curriculum, Senior Researcher

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Papers by Leland S Cogan

Characterizing Pedagogical Flow: An Investigation of Mathematics and Science Teaching in Six Countries

by Leland S Cogan, Gilbert Valverde, Urs Moser, and Curtis McKnight

Characterizing Pedagogical Flow presents conclusions from a multi-disciplinary, multi-national re... more Characterizing Pedagogical Flow presents conclusions from a multi-disciplinary, multi-national research project blending quantitative and qualitative approaches through a discourse methodology. The work produced portraits of mathematics and science education that were dramatically different for each of the countries involved: France, Japan, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States. To explain these differences, it is proposed that the interaction of curriculum and pedagogy is culturally unique and yields classroom ...

BREAKING THE CYCLE

by Leland S Cogan and William H Schmidt

The Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M) examined teacher preparation ... more The Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M) examined teacher preparation in 16 countries looking at how primary level and middle school level teachers of mathematics were trained. The study examined the course taking and practical experiences provided by teacher preparation programs at colleges, universities and normal schools. Future teachers in the final year of their programs were assessed in their knowledge of mathematics and their knowledge of how to teach mathematics (pedagogical knowledge). TEDS-M revealed that future U.S. elementary teachers were in the middle of the international distribution, along with other countries such as the Russian Federation, Germany and Norway but behind Switzerland, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) and Singapore.
U.S. Middle school teacher preparation is accomplished through three types of certification programs: elementary programs granting K-8 certification; middle school programs, usually providing certification for grades 6-8 or 7-9; and secondary programs certifying future teachers to teach sixth or seventh grade up through twelfth grade. Future teachers prepared in secondary programs outperformed those in the other two programs by a substantial amount – almost by a full standard deviation. Variation in the typical performance of U.S. future middle school teachers spanned the entire international institutional range. The performance in some of the U.S. teacher preparation institutions was about the same as the performance of developing countries such as Botswana, but others were at a level consistent with the performance of some institutions in both Taiwan and the Russian Federation. In fact, those same institutions perform at a level that outperforms the average level of knowledge of the sole institution for the preparation of teachers in Singapore. Similar variation was also found at the elementary level.

format_quoteU.S. middle school teacher preparation is inadequate, leading to a critical choice on educational direction as future teachers are poorly trained mathematically.format_quote

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Preparation Gap.pdf

MT21 was a cross-national study of the preparation of middle school mathematics teachers. Countri... more MT21 was a cross-national study of the preparation of middle school mathematics teachers. Countries participating included Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), South Korea (Korea), Bulgaria, Germany, Mexico and the United States. The preparation of middle school teachers in the US is accomplished through three routes: (a) elementary programs, (b) secondary programs or (c) middle school programs. Data were collected from teachers in their last year of preparation by sampling institutions in each country. Future teachers were questioned on their (1) backgrounds, (2) course taking and other program activities, (3) knowledge relevant to their teaching – mathematical and pedagogical, and (4) beliefs and perspectives on content and pedagogy.

format_quoteFuture mathematics teachers in Taiwan and Korea outperformed US counterparts by nearly three-fourths of a standard deviation in functions, illustrating a significant achievement gap.format_quote

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The Concept of Opportunity to Learn (OTL) in International Comparisons of Education

by Leland S Cogan and William H Schmidt

Assessing Mathematical Literacy, 2014

Relationship of Tracking to Content Coverage and Achievement: A Study of Eighth Grade Mathematics

by Leland S Cogan, Richard T Houang, and William H Schmidt

Society For Research on Educational Effectiveness, 2009

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Facing the Consequences

by Leland S Cogan, Leonard Bianchi, Curtis McKnight, Richard T Houang, and William H Schmidt

Preparing Future Math Teachers

by Leland S Cogan, Richard T Houang, and William H Schmidt

Science, 2011

Poor precollege math abilities, and too little emphasis on college-level math, can reduce the num... more

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?Culture Shock? ? Eighth-Grade Mathematics From an International Perspective

by William H Schmidt and Leland S Cogan

Educational Research and Evaluation, 2002

This article draws upon teacher and curriculum data collected in the Third International Mathemat... more This article draws upon teacher and curriculum data collected in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study to document cultural differences in what constitutes school mathematics. These differences are explored with each curriculum instantiation: the intended curriculum as found in official content standards, the potentially implemented curriculum represented by textbooks, and the implemented curriculum as measured by teachers' reports of the amount of time they taught specific topics. In addition, cultural differences are demonstrated in how curriculum policy, as indicated through official standards and reflected however imperfectly in textbooks, relates to what students are taught in the classroom. Not only does each curriculum instantiation provide an unique profile of school mathematics within a country but the relationships among the three instantiations also demonstrate unique cultural profiles. Although countries may strive to have alignment across the three curricular instantiations, some variation remains in the definition of what constitutes eighth grade mathematics within any one country. The many differences demonstrated make it clear that there is more than one way to do eighth grade mathematics. The authors conclude that reform efforts may profit from thoughtful consideration of the many different cultural approaches to school mathematics.

format_quoteAll but one country intended to teach 'polygons & circles'; 94.4% intended three other key geometry topics.format_quote

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What We've Learned from the TIMSS Middle School Math Reform

Greater Expectations in Lower Secondary Mathematics Teacher Preparation: An Examination of Future Teachers’ Opportunity to Learn Profiles

Advances in Mathematics Education, 2014

ABSTRACT The Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M) tested students in t... more ABSTRACT The Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M) tested students in their final year of teacher preparation on their knowledge of mathematics undergirding secondary school mathematics (MCK). Several articles have explored the relationship between students exposure to specific opportunities to learn (OTL) in their programs to their knowledge as demonstrated on the TEDS-M assessment. Here we sought to identify the courses that virtually all future teachers took in the top-achieving (A+) TEDS-M programs. Despite the fact that the top-achieving programs came from four countries on three continents, a set of nine courses that nearly every future teacher in these programs had taken was readily evident. Requirements had a strong emphasis on calculus with a majority of the nine courses, six, being university mathematics courses. This set of courses differed dramatically in number and focus from the set of empirically identified required courses among the international bottom 25 percent of programs or the set identified among the top-achieving programs in the U.S. The relatively large number of A+ requirements and electives demonstrated a greater consistent vision for teacher preparation than the few standards identified among the international bottom 25 percent of programs. This observation led to the hypothesis that excellence, at least as its measured by the TEDS-M MCK, may have very few paths leading to it but conversely many ways to arrive at much less impressive performance.

Emphasis and Balance among the Components of Teacher Preparation: The Case of Lower-Secondary Mathematics Teacher Education

by Leland S Cogan and Richard T Houang

Advances in Mathematics Education, 2014

Primary Teacher Preparation in the United States: What We Have Learned

by Leland S Cogan and Richard T Houang

Advances in Mathematics Education, 2014

ABSTRACT Motivating the recently conducted Teacher Education and Development Study – Mathematics ... more ABSTRACT Motivating the recently conducted Teacher Education and Development Study – Mathematics (TEDS-M) was the question of how high performing countries prepare their teachers to teach their challenging curriculum to primary and lower secondary students? The study found that countries prepared teachers in substantially different types of programs. These differences are reflected in the many different teacher preparation approaches available in the United States. Although U.S. private institutions of higher learning attract stronger students on average than their public counterparts, performance of their future teachers on the TEDS-M mathematics knowledge and mathematics pedagogy knowledge scaled scores did not significantly differ. In addition, the balance among the three types of teacher preparation courses, i.e., formal mathematics, mathematics pedagogy, and general pedagogy, was nearly the same in the U.S. and in the top achieving TEDS-M countries. Differences seen in international assessments at eighth grade may indicate that the pool of teacher preparation students also differs among these countries; differences which may affect what is studied and learned in teacher preparation.

Are College Rankings an Indicator of Quality Education? Comparing Barron’s and TEDS-M

by Richard T Houang and Leland S Cogan

Advances in Mathematics Education, 2014

ABSTRACT Although students at more selective schools generally demonstrate greater academic perfo... more ABSTRACT Although students at more selective schools generally demonstrate greater academic performance, it is unclear whether the gains from attending an elite postsecondary institution are due to the quality of educational services provided, or merely from peer and/or selection effects. Employing data drawn from the U.S.-TEDS study, we assess the relationship between college selectivity and the mathematics learning of future teachers controlling for previous SAT scores using two different models. In an institution-level analysis, gains in student knowledge are measured by the difference between standardized SAT scores and standardized mathematics content knowledge (MCK) scores. In a multi-level model institutional and student-level data are used to examine the effects of selectivity on MCK scores, including measures of course-taking and prior achievement. In both analyses we find that college selectivity has little relationship with added mathematics knowledge.

Inequality for All: Identifying and Addressing Curricular Policies Supporting Systemic Inequality in Mathematics

by Leland S Cogan and Richard T Houang

This paper uses data from all 50 state standards, over 100 district standards, as well as survey ... more This paper uses data from all 50 state standards, over 100 district standards, as well as survey results from teachers in 61 school districts to examine Opportunity to Learn (OTL) in elementary, middle and high school mathematics, identifying how variations in the organization of content coverage (length, sequence, topic) indicates substantial inequalities in learning opportunities across and among states, districts, schools and classrooms. The role of socioeconomic status (SES) and minority status are also examined.

A coherent curriculum: The case of mathematics

by Leland S Cogan and Richard T Houang

Implementing the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics: What We Know About Teachers of Mathematics in 40 States

by Leland S Cogan and Richard T Houang

Michigan State University provides non--partisan policy research and analysis on current educatio... more Michigan State University provides non--partisan policy research and analysis on current educational issues to legislative and executive branches of state and federal governments. The Center's outreach activities aim to improve the quality of education for students across the nation, from early childhood through post--secondary education. The Center for the Study of Curriculum at Michigan State University focuses on research related to curricular issues. A special focus concerns the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Send inquiries to: William Schmidt, Center for the Study of Curriculum 620 Farm Lane, 236 Erickson Hall Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 48824--1034 517.353.7755 phone, 517.432.0132 fax, [email protected]

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International studies of education: Why should we care?

Characterizing Pedagogical Flow: An Investigation of Mathematics and Science Teaching in Six Countries

by Leland S Cogan, Curtis McKnight, and Gilbert Valverde

An examination of instructional practices in six countries

Development of the TIMSS Context Questionnaires

... Hosted by Neville Postlethwaite and chaired by William Schmidt, the working group included Mi... more

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