Impact of Lesson Study and Fractions Resources on Instruction and Student Learning

Abstract

Lesson study, especially when conducted with support from targeted resources, is often identified as a potentially effective means to support teacher learning. In this study, 80 school-based teams of educators, representing 80 classrooms of third- or fourth-grade students in the US, were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: lesson study supported by fractions resources, lesson study only, fractions resources only, or a comparison group. Fractions instruction was improved in the two conditions that received the fractions resources. Average student performance on a fractions test did not increase relative to the comparison group in any of the three intervention conditions. However, moderation analyses suggest that lesson study, both with and without fractions resources, may have improved student performance in one state, which represented half of the sample.

Keywords:

• Elementary school
• mathematics
• experimental design
• hierarchical linear models
• fractions

Disclosure statement

The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available via ICPSR at https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR119304.v1 [ICPSR 37080].

Notes

1 While no research lessons were taught in sites assigned to the FR or C conditions we still refer to teachers performing the tasks described in the next sentences as “RLTs.”

Additional information

Funding

The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant # R305A150043 to Mills College.