CAN A TEACHER INTERVENTION IMPROVE CLASSROOM PRACTICES AND STUDENT MOTIVATION IN MATHEMATICS

Classroom practices believed to affect student motivation were assesse d for 24 upper elementary school teachers during a unit on fractions. Two groups of mathematics ''reform-minded'' teachers participated in p rofessional development programs-in either an intensive intervention o r an intervention involving primarily teacher support. A 3rd group of teachers implemented traditional, text-based instruction and was not i nvolved in any intervention. For most practices assessed, the 2 reform -minded groups of teachers did not differ significantly from each othe r, but both differed from the traditional teachers. The reform-minded teachers emphasized effort, mastery, and understanding more; encourage d student autonomy more; and created a psychologically safer environme nt than the traditional teachers did. The teachers in the intensive in tervention, which included training in motivation, made more accurate judgments of students' motivation than the other reform-minded teacher s did. There was modest evidence that the teachers who had had only mi nimal training in reform-minded practices had negative effects on stud ents' motivation (e.g., lower self-confidence and increased concerns a bout performance).