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Annual Report Overviews

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Annual Report Overview

submitter: Creating A Community of Mathematics Learners
published: 02/09/1998
posted to site: 02/09/1998
This progress report covers year one of Creating a Community of Mathematics Learners, a local systemic change project involving six school districts (Bellevue, Lake Washington, Mercer Island, Northshore, Seattle and Shoreline) and the University of Washington. During this year, 283 middle/junior high school teachers of mathematics participated in teacher enhancement activities focused on increasing their understanding of probability and issues related to content, pedagogy, and assessment; preparing them to use exemplary middle school curriculum materials; and fostering a sense of a functioning community. Enhancement activities consisted of a weekend orientation (1.5 days), curriculum workshops featuring five exemplary middle school curriculum projects (2.5 days), and a one-week summer institute (5 days) on probability and curriculum materials for teaching probability. Each enhancement activity was offered twice to accommodate personal schedules and the districts' ability to provide enough substitutes on a given day. Teachers were given an opportunity to earn five University of Washington credits for their participation in the year's activities plus completion of a project. Districts supported one day of substitute costs for each participant and provided facilities for all events except the orientation.

The Co-PI's took the lead responsibility for the development of the enhancement activities. In each case, they invited district representatives and selected middle school teachers to give feedback on a draft of the enhancement activities. The plan was then reworked to reflect their suggestions. Eventually a Project Team was put together consisting of the Co-PI's, four school district representatives, two middle school teachers, one additional faculty member from the College of Education, one faculty member from the Statistics Department, and two graduate students--one from the Mathematics Department and one from the College of Education. During the year, this Project Team met off and on to prepare the exact agenda for each academic year activity and to plan the summer institute. Members of the Project Team served as facilitators for the teacher enhancement events, usually two members for each group of 25-30 teachers.