Mathematics teacher specialization in elementary schools

This study explores elementary teacher and administrator perspectives related to mathematics specialty teachers in elementary schools, in a jurisdiction, where such roles were known by researchers to not be used. Mathematics specialty teachers are those teachers that have specialized training in both mathematics content and pedagogy. Online surveys were administered and completed by teachers and administrators in one school district in Ontario, Canada. The surveys included open- and closed -ended questions. The results of both the teacher and the administrator survey show that most participants were in favor of a mathematics teacher specialization model in elementary schools. Our findings contribute to the ongoing debate on the need for mathematics specialist teachers. While our findings are small and preliminary in nature, they represent a great interest amongst teachers and administrators on this school board in implementing such a model. These findings will have implications for policy makers both in the province of Ontario, but also in other regions looking to understand international models of mathematics education.