Annual Report Overviews

Changing the High School System Annual Overview

AZ IMP² was funded in the fall of 1996 by the National Science Foundation as a Local Systemic Change Project. It is a collaboration of fourteen schools from the following school districts: Chandler Unified School District, Sunnyside Unified School District, Sedona-Oak Creek Unified District, and Mingus Unified High School District. A new addition in 1999 to this collaboration is the Alchesay High School, Whiteriver School District in Navajo County. The LSC was awarded to the Maricopa Community College District who works closely with Arizona State University to meet the goals of the project. Participating schools are those who have chosen the Interactive Mathematics Program as a curriculum program for their students.

AZ IMP² consists of various integrated components: professional development activities on both the mathematics and pedagogy of the Interactive Mathematics Program, on-going support activities for teachers which focus on teaching, learning, and managing reformed classrooms, building capacity for leadership and professional developers at each school; the inclusion of teachers who are seriously considering implementing IMP in their schools and need in-depth experiences with the curriculum; articulation and activities with feeder middle schools to ensure understanding and alignment; and collaboration with university mathematics and educators as a means to impact teacher preservice education.

Professional development activities are primarily held in the summer where teachers attend sessions aimed at the mathematics of the IMP curriculum. Included in these sessions are pedagogical topics such as, discourse, integrating technology, cooperative learning, assessment, and writing in a mathematics classroom. Outside speakers from both the university and industry are a part of the sessions.

School year professional development sessions include activities for all participants, district participants, or school participants. Activities focus on improving pedagogical skills, gaining a deeper understanding of the curriculum program, and alignment of the curriculum program to the district/state curriculum and national and state tests.

Since 1996 there has been 121 teacher participants that have accumulated a total of 8091 hours of professional development, averaging 67 hours each. To date, 13% of the teachers have participated in 130 hours or more with a total of 58% participating in 65 hours or more.

While the first two years of the project were primarily aimed as curriculum implementation, the third year began the process of developing teacher leaders and professional developers for the districts, thus, seven potential teacher leaders were identified. Others will be identified in coming years. These teachers attended various additional activities aimed at leadership development. Teacher leaders are at various stages of growth and are utilized by the project and district in many ways. While some have begun to plan and implement professional development activities for their schools and districts, others have become part of a district math cadre which addresses various issues related to the district. All are involved in determining and planning the professional development needs of the project.

AZ IMP² has collaborated with various other education projects including the Phoenix Urban Systemic Initiative, the Arizona Collaborative for Excellence in the Preparation of Teachers (ACEPT), the Women in Science and Engineering(WISE) Project at Arizona State University(ASU), two Arizona Board of Regents Eisenhower projects, WestEd's Math Cases Project, the National IMP Implementation & Dissemination Project, the Equity in Mathematics Education Leadership Institute(EMELI) and the NSF funded Math and Parent Partnerships in the Southwest(MAPPS) Project. In addition, AZ IMP² has worked closely with ASU to restructure high school preservice courses, offer graduate level courses for high school teachers, and design and implement professional development sessions for ASU lecturers.