Ms. Taylor’s Choice - An Instructional Minicase on Selecting Examples to Support Student Understanding of the Associative and Commutative Properties

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jacob

There is a broad consensus that beginning teachers of mathematics need a strong foundation in mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT), defined as the mathematical knowledge required to recognize, understand, and respond to students’ mathematical work. A recurring challenge in teacher education is supporting preservice teachers (PSTs) to develop these competencies. “Ms. Taylor’s Choice” is an abbreviated instructional minicase grounded in an assessment scenario where PSTs select an example to focus students’ attention on the associative and commutative properties, considering instructional goals, student motivation, and mathematical difficulty to further strengthen their MKT.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages29

Reading Time1 h 13 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

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Acknowledgments

Research Memorandum ETS RM–20-04 Ms. Taylor’s Choice: An Instructional Minicase on Selecting Examples to Support Student Understanding of the Associative and Commutative Properties Leslie Nabors Oláh Heather Howell Yvonne Lai Maria DeLucia Eun Mi Kim May 2020 ETS Research Memorandum Series INTERIM EIGNOR EXECUTIVE EDITOR John Mazzeo Distinguished Presidential Appointee ASSOCIATE EDITORS Malcolm Bauer Senior Research Scientist Beata Beigman Klebanov Senior Research Scientist Brent Bridgeman Distinguished Presidential Appointee Heather Buzick Senior Research Scientist Keelan Evanini Research Director Marna Golub-Smith Principal Psychometrician Priya Kannan Managing Research Scientist Sooyeon Kim Principal Psychometrician Anastassia Loukina Research Scientist Donald Powers Principal Research Scientist Gautam Puhan Principal Psychometrician Jesse Sparks Research Scientist Elizabeth Stone Research Scientist Rebecca Zwick Distinguished Presidential Appointee PRODUCTION EDITORS Kim Fryer Manager, Editing Services Ariela Katz Proofreader Ayleen Gontz Senior Editor Since its 1947 founding, ETS has conducted and disseminated scientific research to support its products and services, and to advance the measurement and education fields. In keeping with these goals, ETS is committed to making its research freely available to the professional community and to the general public. Published accounts of ETS research, including papers in the ETS Research Memorandum series, undergo a formal peer-review process by ETS staff to ensure that they meet established scientific and professional standards. All such ETS-conducted peer reviews are in addition to any reviews that outside organizations may provide as part of their own publication processes. Peer review notwithstanding, the positions expressed in the ETS Research Memorandum series and other published accounts of ETS research are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Officers and Trustees of Educational Testing Service. The Daniel Eignor Editorship is named in honor of Dr. Daniel R. Eignor, who from 2001 until 2011 served the Research and Development division as Editor for the ETS Research Report series. The Eignor Editorship has been created to recognize the pivotal leadership role that Dr. Eignor played in the research publication process at ETS. Ms. Taylor’s Choice: An Instructional Minicase on Selecting Examples to Support Student Understanding of the Associative and Commutative Properties Leslie Nabors Oláh and Heather Howell Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey Yvonne Lai University of Nebraska Maria DeLucia Middlesex County College Eun Mi Kim Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey May 2020 Corresponding author: L. Nabors Oláh, E-mail: [lnaborsolah@ets.org](lnaborsolah@ets.org) Suggested citation: Nabors Oláh, L., Howell, H.,Lai, Y., DeLucia, M., & Kim, E. M. (2020) . Ms. Taylor’s choice: An instructional minicase on selecting examples to support student understanding of the associative and commutative properties (Research Memorandum No. RM-20-04). Educational Testing Service. Find other ETS-published reports by searching the ETS ReSEARCHER database at [http://search.ets.org/researcher/](http://search.ets.org/researcher/) To obtain a copy of an ETS research report, please visit [http://www.ets.org/research/contact.html](http://www.ets.org/research/contact.html) Action Editor: Heather Buzick Reviewers: Courtney Bell and Cara Laitusis Copyright © 2020 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS and the ETS logo are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS). All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Abstract There is a broad consensus that beginning teachers of mathematics need a strong foundation in mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT), defined as the mathematical knowledge r

FAQs

What is the core learning focus of “Ms. Taylor’s Choice”?

PSTs select an example that helps students evaluate expressions using the associative and commutative properties.

What competencies does the document connect to practice-based teacher education?

It emphasizes developing mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) so teachers can recognize, understand, and respond to students’ mathematical work.

What factors are PSTs asked to consider when choosing examples?

They consider instructional goals, students’ motivations, and the difficulty of the mathematics when selecting among candidate examples.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jacob