Collaborative to Develop Early Math Research Tool
The Institute for Education Sciences (IES) awarded the Collaborative and SRI Education a four-year, $1.4 million-dollar federal grant to study interactions between teachers and children around math in early childhood classrooms. The Measuring Math research study is developing and validating a new observation tool for preschool, EQUIP-M (Evaluating Quality Interactions around Preschool Math). The tool is meant to help in multiple ways: while it will contribute to early math research by documenting teaching quality, it will also be adapted to directly support teaching practice. After we have demonstrated that its standards and items are reliable indicators of high-quality teaching, we will use them to inform both professional development and coaching in early math.
The Collaborative is proud to be conducting this research in partnership with the Greater Chicago early childhood community. With the help of hundreds of teachers, administrators, parents, and children from northern Illinois, we are creating a tool that will promote excellence in early math education across the United States. We are already learning from the process of developing the tool, and when its validity and reliability are established we will be able to use EQUIP-M to learn even more about early math teaching and learning.
Recruitment for the 2022-23 school year is now complete. Thank you to participating teachers who have volunteered to share their classrooms with our researchers.
What Will Participation Involve?
For center administrators:
- Assist in sharing information about Measuring Math with your teachers & families.
- Help with distributing and collecting consent forms beginning in fall of 2022.
- Work with Measuring Math project staff to determine a research schedule that fits your center’s routine in the fall of 2022 and spring of 2023.
For participating teachers:
- Allow videographers to record teachers and children working around math once in fall 2022 and twice in spring 2023 (including set-up, about 30 minutes per session).
- Complete a brief online survey in fall of 2022 (about 20 minutes).
For participating children:
- Work one-on-one with a researcher in fall of 2022 and spring 2023 (about 30 minutes each time).
What Will Participants Receive?
Participating teachers will receive:
- Access to Early Math professional development (up to 4 Gateways credit hours)
- A $25 gift card for completing the online survey.
Participating children will receive:
- A storybook each time they meet with a researcher.
