This document summarizes a professional learning task case study about a 7th grade teacher, Ron Castleman. The case study depicts Ron facilitating a task where students use visual representations to determine the percent, fraction, and decimal for a shaded portion of a grid. It shows Ron attempting to support students' work without directly telling them how to solve it, maintaining a high level of cognitive demand. The case study also depicts Ron using the same task twice with different groups, allowing readers to see how a teacher's instructional decisions impact student learning opportunities. Facilitators can use "dual cases" to prompt discussions on how evidence in the narrative relates to maintaining high levels of cognitive demand.

1. 2.01.00_PLT
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING TASK
Professional learning tasks (PLTs) are activities that are designed to engage teachers in authentic
aspects of instructional practice. These activities allow teachers “to access, utilize, and develop
knowledge of mathematics content, pedagogy, and student learning simultaneously” (Ball & Cohen,
1999; Silver, 2008).
The Case of Ron Castleman
This case portrays a seventh grade teacher (Ron) as he facilitates students’ engagement with a task
that requires them to use visual representations to determine the percent, fraction, and decimal
corresponding to a portion of a shaded area of a 4-by-10 rectangular grid. The case depicts Ron’s
attempts to support his students’ work without telling them precisely how to solve the problem,
thereby keeping the enactment of the task at a high level of cognitive demand. This case also offers
readers a dichotomous situation in that it depicts Ron using the same task twice, with different groups
of students. The dual enactments sharpen a reader’s attention to the MTF, by making visible the
relationship between a teacher’s instructional decisions and students’ opportunities to learn.
Facilitators can use “dual cases” to press even MTF novices to make relevant observations that can be
supported by evidence in the narrative. (Silver et al., 2008)
Implementing Standards-based Mathematics Instruction
Stein, Smith, Henningsen, & Silver (2000, 1st edition & 2009, 2nd edition)