Professional Development with Performance Feedback to Improve Special Education Teachers’ Mathematics Vocabulary Instruction

Research supports the positive association between mathematics vocabulary knowledge and mathematics procedural and conceptual knowledge. Students, especially those with mathematics difficulty, may require explicit mathematics vocabulary instruction. However, many special education teachers do not receive adequate preparation to provide explicit mathematics vocabulary instruction. In the current study, we employed a nonconcurrent multiple baseline design across four special education teachers to examine special education teachers’ implementation of a mathematics vocabulary routine after receiving an initial professional development (PD) session and ongoing performance feedback (PF). Results demonstrated a functional relation between the PD with PF and an immediate increase in teachers’ implementation of the mathematics vocabulary practices. This study provides initial support the PD package has the potential to improve teachers’ implementation of mathematics vocabulary practices. Future research might examine the amount and type of PF needed as well as the collateral effect of teachers’ improved instruction on student outcomes.