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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.
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