Abstract
An in-service teacher development program currently underway in Carinthia, Austria, is aiming at offering participants well-founded suggestions on how to promote non-counting strategies for solving basic addition and subtraction problems. The concept of the program comprises five theoretical input sessions followed by weekly counseling visits by an expert teacher throughout the following year. We report on eight attendees, four of whom did receive the counseling. Drawing upon semi-structured interviews, a content-analytical evaluation of teaching materials, and visits to their classes, we try to establish whether and to what extent the teachers did implement targeted measures to overcome calculating by counting. The strategies their pupils (N = 117) used to solve basic tasks by the end of first grade are documented based upon qualitative interviews. Our study clearly indicates that while the elaboration of derived-facts strategies was key to each of the eight teachers’ classroom activities, there were distinct differences in the ways they pursued this goal. Students in accompanied classes used counting strategies significantly less often than in unaccompanied classes. We discuss the impact of arithmetic instruction on the development of calculation strategies as well as implications for the implementation of teacher development programs.