Funded under the guidelines for "Local Systemic Change through Teacher Enhancement in Mathematics, Grades 7-12 (LSCM)," this 38-month project is a partnership of fourteen Delaware school districts, the University of Delaware, and the Delaware Department of Education. The Delaware 6-12 Exemplary Mathematics Curriculum Implementation (DEMCI) project seeks to substantially scale up from existing pilot projects to the implementation of research-based, standards-driven mathematics curricula in middle- and high-school programs throughout the state. Over the life of the project, 300 middle- and high-school mathematics teachers -- nearly two-thirds of all secondary mathematics teachers in Delaware -- engage in a substantial program of professional development that exceeds 150 hours for all teachers, and may well approach 200 hours for many.
Schools/districts have selected or will select instructional materials from among the middle- and high-school NSF-supported, comprehensive instructional materials (primarily Mathematics in Context and Connected Mathematics for the middle grades, and Contemporary Mathematics in Context and MATH Connections for the high school grades). Professional development is keyed, but not limited, to the chosen instructional materials. Each teacher participates in three summer institutes: new project teachers in a two-week (eight-day) institute, and veteran teachers in one-week (four-day) institutes. Collaborative work at the school sites adds at least another 40 hours of professional development per year. Central to the infrastructure of this LSCM are six Secondary Mathematics Specialists who work as a team to offer instructional support and mentoring to teachers in participating schools.
In addition to the required LSC core evaluation, the project's evaluation includes a student outcome component: (a) learning gains using data from the Delaware Student Testing Program at grades 8 and 10, and (b) student attitudes. Furthermore, there is a project-specific evaluation component that monitors gains in teacher content knowledge.
Auditable cost sharing is derived from the University of Delaware, the Delaware Department of Education, and partnering school districts.
