THE EXTENT TO WHICH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MATHEMATICS TEACHERS IN TABUK CITY ARE AWARE OF AND USE PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS IN MATHEMATCS

Author

ALI ALSHAHRI, Southern Illinois University CarbondaleFollow

Date of Award

8-1-2016

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Curriculum and Instruction

First Advisor

McIntyre, John

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the awareness and use of professional standards in mathematics by elementary mathematics teachers in Tabuk City, Saudi Arabia. The researcher used a mixed-method (survey and focus group discussion), which consisted of three main questions for the survey and eleven questions for the focus group. The group sampling consisted of 137 male elementary math teachers in Tabuk City for the survey and 10 male elementary math teachers in Tabuk City for the focus group discussion. The research focused on eight professional standards in the study: lesson planning, teaching, learning environment, assessment, interaction, enrichment, innovation, and creativity. In addition, the researcher looked at 31 sub-standards of the general eight standards. The survey results showed that the elementary mathematics teachers in Tabuk City ranked quite low in all eight standards. In addition, the focus group discussions revealed that the elementary mathematics teachers lacked an awareness of the importance of using professional standards and that they did not use the standards in their teaching. There were no statistical significant differences among the responses of the teachers based on their years of experience in the classroom. There were also no significant statistical differences among the responses of the teachers based on their educational levels.