In the recent issue of Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, two interesting articles about teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching are published. One of these articles, “The nature and predictors of elementary teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching“, was written by Heather C. Hill. Here is the abstract of her article:

This article explores elementary school teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching and the relationship between such knowledge and teacher characteristics. There were few substantively significant relationships between mathematical knowledge for teaching and teacher characteristics, including leadership activities and self-reported college-level mathematics preparation. Implications for current policies aimed at improving teacher quality are addressed.

The other article was written by Courtney A. Bell, Suzanne Wilson, Traci Higgins and D. Betsy McCoach, and this article is entitled “Measuring the effects of professional development on teacher knowledge: the case of developing mathematical ideas“. The abstract of their article can be found below:

This study examines the impact of a nationally disseminated professional development program, Developing Mathematical Ideas (DMI), on teachers’ specialized knowledge for teaching mathematics and illustrates how such research could be conducted. This study adds to our understanding of the ways in which professional development program features, facilitators, and issues of scale interact in the development of teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching. Study limitations and challenges are discussed.