The relationship between the Missouri Mathematics Academy and teachers' content knowledge, teaching style, and anxiety with regard to understanding and teaching mathematics

In answer to the call for reform in mathematics education, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education established the Missouri Mathematics Academy. This Academy was a statewide professional development initiative established to provide teachers with in-depth mathematics content, promote and model student-centered learning environments, build a community of learners in which mentors provided support and coaching throughout the school year, and provide experiences that stimulated leadership in mathematics education.;It was the purpose of this program evaluation study to examine the relationship between the Missouri Mathematics Academy program and the following characteristics of middle school teachers: (1) the teachers' mathematical content knowledge, (2) the teachers' instructional style, and (3) the teachers' perceived level of anxiety with regard to understanding and teaching mathematics. The sample for this study consisted of 72 teachers representing 28 schools during 2002 and 82 teachers from 40 schools in 2003.;Content focused pre- and post-tests found statistical significance in measuring the change in teachers' mathematical content knowledge with regard specifically to geometry and algebraic thinking. Instructional style surveys given before and after the Academy experience, found statistical significance on student-centeredness and teacher-centeredness factors. A third factor emerged from the data and was identified by the researcher as a fear-centered instructional style. Although significance was not found, additional research is merited. The survey used before and after the Academy found no significant change in the level of anxiety in understanding mathematics, but a significant change in the anxiety felt when teaching mathematics, indicating that although the teachers continued to experience anxiety about their own understanding, they did feel less anxiety about their ability to teach mathematics. Participants' journals provided additional qualitative data that supported the quantitative finding and were used to address the two research questions which indicated a renewed enthusiasm for mathematics education.;The researcher attributes the success of the Missouri Mathematics Academy to three critical characteristics: the learning community, the lesson development process, and the instructional style modeled. This replicable content-focused professional development opportunity has implications for programs, Kindergarten through Collegiate level, for development of leaders in math education, and for future research opportunities.