Semester of Graduation
Spring 2026
Degree Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Degree Name
Secondary and Middle Grades Education
Department
Education
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Dr. David Glassmeyer
Second Advisor
Dr. Rachel Gaines
Third Advisor
Dr. Tiffany Roman
Abstract
Collaborative Learning (CL) – an instructional approach in which students work interdependently in groups to achieve shared academic goals through mutual engagement – has gained remarkable attention in high school mathematics classrooms; yet research examining the pedagogical competencies teachers need to effectively plan, implement, and reflect on CL remains limited. Pedagogical competencies, as defined by Kaendler et al. (2015), refer to the observable teaching behaviors that support student collaboration throughout an instructional cycle. This case study examined how seven high school mathematics teachers demonstrated five competencies – planning, monitoring, supporting, consolidating, and reflecting – using the Implementing Collaborative Learning in the Classroom (ICLC) framework (Kaendler et al., 2015). Using observation protocols developed from the ICLC framework, data were collected through the Professional Learning Community (PLC) and classroom observations, analyzed using qualitative coding and thematic analysis.
Findings revealed that teachers demonstrated strong knowledge of content and pedagogy during planning but had limited attention to designing coherent instruction for CL; encouraged collaboration during monitoring but focused less on quality of discussion; intervened and explained during supporting but provided limited opportunities for productive struggle; acknowledged group products and solutions during consolidation but rarely used comparative analysis; and discussed general areas of improvement and effectiveness of support during reflection but excluded emotional responses and conflict resolution. This uneven distribution of competencies led to a surface-level implementation that lacked depth and specificity to collaborative structure and processes. Implications of this study suggest supporting teacher reflection and self-assessment by incorporating observation frameworks within the PLCs, with specific focus on planning, consolidating, and reflecting competencies. This study supports administrators with a common competency-based framework to anchor observations, eliminate subjectivity and provide specific competency-based feedback with consistency. Using this framework district leaders can design professional development that targets consolidating and reflecting competencies that need to be developed among teachers while facilitating CL in classrooms.