Teacher pedagogical content knowledge, practice, and student achievement^†

† This manuscript is based on material previously reported in the following presentation: Gess-Newsome, J., Carlson, J., Gardner, A. L., Taylor, J. A., Wilson, C., Stuhlsatz, M. (2012, March). Promoting reform through instructional materials that educate. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Indianapolis, IN.

ABSTRACT

In this exploratory study, we attempted to measure potential changes in teacher knowledge and practice as a result of an intervention, as well as trace such changes through a theoretical path of influence that could inform a model of teacher professional knowledge. We created an instrument to measure pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), studied the impact of a two-year professional development intervention, explored the relationships among teacher variables to attempt to validate a model of teacher professional knowledge, and examined the relationship of teacher professional knowledge and classroom practice on student achievement. Teacher professional knowledge and skill was measured in terms of academic content knowledge (ACK), general pedagogical knowledge (GenPK), PCK and teacher practice. Our PCK instrument identified two factors within PCK: PCK-content knowledge and PCK-pedagogical knowledge. Teacher gains existed for all variables. Only GenPK had a significant relationship to teacher practice. ACK was the only variable that explained a substantial portion of student achievement. Our findings provide empirical evidence that we interpret through the lens of the model of teacher professional knowledge and skill, including PCK [Gess-Newsome, J. (2015). A model of teacher professional knowledge and skill including PCK: Results of the thinking from the PCK summit. In A. Berry, P. Friedrichsen, & J. Loughran (Eds.), Re-examining pedagogical content knowledge in science education (pp. 28–42). London: Routledge Press], highlighting the complexity of measuring teacher professional knowledge and skill.

KEYWORDS:

• Pedagogical content knowledge
• teacher knowledge

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

† This manuscript is based on material previously reported in the following presentation: Gess-Newsome, J., Carlson, J., Gardner, A. L., Taylor, J. A., Wilson, C., Stuhlsatz, M. (2012, March). Promoting reform through instructional materials that educate. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Indianapolis, IN.

1. In the US, science teachers in some states are often endorsed to teach all science courses regardless of their science background. For example, a teacher with a background in geology could be assigned to teach biology despite limited content preparation. This lack of preparation in biology content was evident in a number of our participants. For the sake of comparison, 18 semester credits is the typical minimum for a minor in a subject area.

2. For more information about EDC, see http://www.edc.org/. For more information about BSCS, see www.bscs.org.

3. For more information, see www.ets.org/MFT/faq

4. We interviewed the 19 teachers several months after the completion of the intervention. This is the total number of participants who responded to multiple invitations to participate in an interview.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [grant number ESI-0455846] and Division of Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education.