The purpose of this mixed method study is to evaluate the effectiveness of three-year implementation of the Mentoring
Mathematical Minds (M3) curriculum on math creative problem solving of mathematically promising ELL students (MPELLs) in the 5th grade. In addition, the impact of the role of the teacher as a facilitator was examined with focus group discussions and “Teacher as a Facilitator Survey”, a revised version of Flanders’ Interaction Analysis. A sample of 122 fifth-grade MPELLS from four NYC public schools were identified, and randomly assigned to the treatment and comparison groups as well as five teachers. The treatment groups received the M3 curriculum for three years, while the comparison groups did not receive the M3 curriculum. The Math Creative Problem Solving (MCPS) Test was administered before and after program implementation every year, to gather information on the gains in MCPS. The data is analyzed using independent t-tests and MANOVA to determine if there is any difference in MCPS between the treatment and comparison groups of MPELLs. The Teacher as a Facilitator Survey is used to assess the effect of the teachers’ perceived self-concept as a facilitator (high versus low) on the students’ learning outcomes of MCPS. An independent t-test showed that there is significant difference in students’ gains in MCPS between the teachers with high perception of the role as a facilitator and those with low perception. The focus group discussions and the survey revealed effective facilitator teachers engaged in positive classroom activities, such as accepting students’ feelings, praises or encourages students, accepts or uses students’ ideas, ask questions, demonstrates knowledge through lecture, gives detailed directions, uses their authority to give constructive criticism, has time management, demonstrates flexibility in their actions and verbal cues, maintains a sense of humor, and demonstrates resourcefulness and creativity.

Author(s): Marcella Mandracchia (St. John's University, USA), Seokhee Cho (St. John's University, USA)