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Educational Policy
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Teachers' Mathematics Knowledge for Teaching and School Context

A Study of California Teachers

Heather C. Hill

Harvard University

Sarah Theule Lubienski

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

This article examines the relationship between the mathematical knowledge of 438 K-8 California teachers and the demographics of the schools in which they work. To measure mathematical knowledge, we used a series of multiple-choice problems meant to represent both the content teachers teach and the specialized knowledge of mathematics that teachers might possess. Teachers in schools with higher proportions of low-SES and Hispanic students performed more poorly on these measures than did teachers from other schools. Implications for policy and for further research are discussed.

Key Words: teacher knowledge • student demographics

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This version was published on November 1, 2007

Educational Policy, Vol. 21, No. 5, 747-768 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0895904807307061


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This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
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Citing Articles
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Right arrow Articles by Hill, H. C.
Right arrow Articles by Lubienski, S. T.
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What's this?