Claims, Evidence, and Implications: Crafting a Great Mathematics Teacher Educator Manuscript

Mathematics Teacher Educator fills an important role for the AMTE community and for mathematics teacher educators in general. The journal is a home for mathematics teacher educators to document research-based tools, interventions, and innovations that support preservice and practicing mathematics teachers. This is work that we all do on a daily basis, so chances are you have something interesting that you do in a content course, methods class, or professional development relationship that would be a good fit for MTE.

When talking with potential MTE authors, we often hear that hesitation because mathematics teacher educators are not sure what level of evidence they need for a successful MTE submission. Looking across the canon of MTE publications can be daunting! Some articles describe a single activity in the context of a broader course, with fine-grained analysis of the outcomes of that activity. Others look at the level of a course or professional development program and speak broadly about the nature of the evidence in terms of changes in teacher thinking, beliefs, and/or practices. And some zoom out even farther at the scope of a program, discussing design principles or framing constructs that relate to a long-term collection of learning opportunities.

Our most recent editorial in the February 2023 issue takes on this issue of evidence, how it relates to the innovation and claims one would make about it, and how the claims and evidence relate to the implications for the field. The editorial illustrates the different levels at which our claims, evidence, and implications might operate with examples of manuscripts that have addressed those levels from the MTE archives. We strongly suggest engaging with the editorial as a first step in considering how the data you likely already have might form the foundation for a new MTE manuscript.

As always, the MTE editorial team is excited to meet with you about your ideas for a manuscript at any stage of the work, from initial conception to almost-ready-to-submit. Please reach out to Mike Steele (mike@steelemathed.com) or Kate Johnson (johnson@mathed.byu.edu) to schedule a chat about an idea.