Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Middle and Secondary Education Dissertations Department of Middle and Secondary Education 5-11-2018 Navigating Reform in Mathematics Teacher Education: Teacher Educators' Responses to edTPA and Professional Organizations' Initiatives Alesia Mickle Moldavan Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/mse_diss Recommended Citation Moldavan, Alesia Mickle, "Navigating Reform in Mathematics Teacher Education: Teacher Educators' Responses to edTPA and Professional Organizations' Initiatives." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2018. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/mse_diss/59 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Middle and Secondary Education at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Middle and Secondary Education Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ACCEPTANCE This dissertation, NAVIGATING REFORM IN MATHEMATICS TEACHER EDUCATION: TEACHER EDUCATORS’ RESPONSES TO EDTPA AND PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS’ INITIATIVES, by ALESIA MICKLE MOLDAVAN, was prepared under the direction of the candidate’s Dissertation Advisory Committee. It is accepted by the committee members in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree, Doctor of Philosophy, in the College of Education and Human Development, Georgia State University. The Dissertation Advisory Committee and the student’s Department Chairperson, as representatives of the faculty, certify that this dissertation has met all standards of excellence and scholarship as determined by the faculty. _________________________________ David W. Stinson, Ph.D. Committee Chair _________________________________ _________________________________ Janice B. Fournillier, Ph.D. Pier A. Junor Clarke, Ph.D. Committee Member Committee Member _________________________________ Joyce E. Many, Ph.D. Committee Member _________________________________ Date _________________________________ Gertrude Tinker Sachs, Ph.D. Chairperson, Department of Middle and Secondary Education _________________________________ Paul A. Alberto, Ph.D. Dean, College of Education and Human Development AUTHOR’S STATEMENT By presenting this dissertation as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the advanced degree from Georgia State University, I agree that the library of Georgia State University shall make it available for inspection and circulation in accordance with its regulations governing materials of this type. I agree that permission to quote, to copy from, or to publish this dissertation may be granted by the professor under whose direction it was written, by the College of Education and Human Development’s Director of Graduate Studies, or by me. Such quoting, copying, or publishing must be solely for scholarly purposes and will not involve potential financial gain. It is understood that any copying from or publication of this dissertation which involves potential financial gain will not be allowed without my written permission. ALESIA MICKLE MOLDAVAN NOTICE TO BORROWERS All dissertations deposited in the Georgia State University library must be used in accordance with the stipulations prescribed by the author in the preceding statement. The author of this dissertation is: Alesia Mickle Moldavan 106 Brickworks Circle NE Atlanta, GA 30307 The director of this dissertation is: David W. Stinson, Ph.D. Department of Middle and Secondary Education College of Education and Human Development Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 30303 CURRICULUM VITAE Alesia Mickle Moldavan ADDRESS: 106 Brickworks Circle NE Atlanta, GA 30307 EDUCATION: Ph.D. 2018 Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA Teaching and Learning – Mathematics Education Certificate 2018 Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA Qualitative Research Certificate 2016 Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA International Education M.Ed. 2014 Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA Mathematics Education B.S.Ed. 2011 University of Georgia, Athens, GA Mathematics Education PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 2014–2018 Graduate Research Assistant Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 2015–2016 University Supervisor Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 2015 Graduate Teaching Assistant Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 2011–2014 Mathematics Instructor Rockdale Magnet School for Science and Technology, Conyers, GA 2014 STEM Saturday Enrichment Program Instructor Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 2011 Summer School Mathematics Instructor Centennial High School, Roswell, GA 2011 Pathways Credit Recovery Mathematics Instructor Clarke Central High School, Athens, GA PUBLICATIONS (selected): Junor Clarke, P. A., Moldavan, A. M., & Porter, E., II. (in press). Exploring co-planning and co-teaching strategies in preservice secondary mathematics teachers’ clinical experiences. Proceedings of the 11th annual meeting of the Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators. Eatonton, GA. Moldavan, A. M. (in press). Unraveling the mathematics of Ndebele beadwork: Transformations on an indigenous Cartesian plane. In I. C. Chahine & J. De Beer (Eds.), Evidence-based inquiries in ethno-STEM research: Embodied, situated and distributed knowledge systems. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. Emerson, J. M., Junor Clarke, P., & Moldavan, A. M. (2018). Bridging pedagogy and practice: From coursework to field experiences in a teacher preparation program. Georgia Educational Researcher, 14(2), 24–35. Junor Clarke, P. A., Mickle, A. D., & Porter, E., II. (2016). Modeling co-teaching approaches to enhance preservice mathematics teachers’ knowledge and skills for teaching. In M. B. Wood, E. E. Turner, M. Civil, & J. A. Eli (Eds.), Proceedings of the 38th annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (p. 943). Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona. Mickle, A., & Junor Clarke, P. (2015). Using TI-Nspire to engage preservice mathematics teachers in an exploratory geometry module. Proceedings of the 9th annual meeting of the Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (pp. 13–40). Eatonton, GA. PRESENTATIONS (selected): Moldavan, A. M. (2018, April). (Re)defining access and equity in preparing for the edTPA. Paper presented at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Research Conference, Washington, D.C. Junor Clarke, P., & Moldavan, A. M. (2018, February). Preservice secondary mathematics teachers exploring a co-teaching model during their clinical experiences. Paper presented at the 22nd annual meeting of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, Houston, TX. Junor Clarke, P., Mickle, A., & Calder, E. (2016, October). A MUST in your toolbox: Exploring geometry classroom-based situations. Presentation conducted at the 58th annual meeting of the Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Eatonton, GA. Junor Clarke, P., & Mickle, A. (2016, April). Promoting proactive preparation and learning of the edTPA’s assessment task across the curriculum. Presentation conducted at the National edTPA Implementation Conference, Savannah, GA. Alexander, M., & Mickle, A. (2016, March). Introduction to ethnomathematics. Presentation conducted at the 28th International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics (ICTCM), Atlanta, GA. Mickle, A. (2015, October). STEM project-based learning: Increasing students’ motivation and academic achievements. Presentation conducted at the 9th annual meeting of the Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, Eatonton, GA. Mickle, A., Holihan, J., & Junor Clarke, P. (2015, October). Prove it: Using TI-Nspire in geometry problem-solving tasks. Presentation conducted at the 57th annual meeting of the Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Eatonton, GA. Chahine, I., & Mickle, A. (2013, April). Integrating ethnomathematics in mathematics teaching. Presentation conducted at The University System of Georgia Teaching and Learning Conference, Athens, GA. PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES AND ORGANIZATIONS (selected): American Educational Research Association Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics National Council of Teachers of Mathematics NAVIGATING REFORM IN MATHEMATICS TEACHER EDUCATION: TEACHER EDUCATORS’ RESPONSES TO EDTPA AND PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS’ INITIATIVES by ALESIA MICKLE MOLDAVAN Under the Direction of Dr. David W. Stinson ABSTRACT Teacher education reform is a controversial and highly politicized issue, especially when addressing ways to improve teacher quality, performance, and accountability (Cochran-Smith, Piazza, & Power, 2013). With national efforts to adopt more rigorous standards and comprehensive assessments (e.g., National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983; U.S. Department of Education, 2011), teacher performance assessments and other reform recommendations from professional organizations (e.g., Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators [AMTE], National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM]) have caught the attention of stakeholders and policymakers. This study reports on the various reform initiatives in mathematics teacher education and the first nationally available, educator-designed teacher performance assessment known as the edTPA® (SCALE, 2014a). In September 2015, the state of Georgia mandated that all prospective teachers attempt