Research-to-Practice Summary What do we know? Reflecting on changes in knowledge of mathematical development in preand in-service early childhood teachers

This study examines whether students in early childhoodteacher education programs gained moreknowledge of early math development in 2017-2018when compared to 2008. I compare data from eachperiod on pre- and in-service teachers’ knowledgeof mathematical development as measured by theKnowledge of Mathematical Development Survey(KMDS). I found that the KMDS mean scores ofstudents in each of the education groups (beginningversus seniors versus math course) differedwithin each collection year. In a statistical comparisonbetween the two collection periods, there wasno significant difference between the mean scoresfrom 2008 and 2017-2018 for the beginning group.However, there was a significant difference between2008 and 2017-2018 in mean scores in the seniors andmath course groups. Overall, all mean KMDS scoreswere lower in 2017-2018 when compared to 2008.