Annual Report Overviews

Communities of Learners—Our decision to take whole schools into the project instead of grade level spans has proved to be very beneficial. We have witnessed the development of communities of learners to an extent that we had not anticipated. The dialogue about mathematics has significantly changed on each of the respective campuses. Administrators have been impressed with their staff's new discussions and emphasis on mathematics instruction and meeting children's individual needs. Another important factor in this building of communities of learners is the master's programs with a K-6 mathematics emphasis offered by our university partners (California State University, Fresno and Fresno Pacific University). Over eighty teachers from eighteen of the twenty elementary schools in Visalia Unified School District are enrolled one of the specially-designed master's cohorts at these two campuses. An outcome of this broad participation is that other teachers see the their peers discussing and working on homework related to mathematics in the teachers' lounges. It has created an interest among other teachers to be enrolled in the same programs. Fresno Pacific University is planning to start another cadre of teachers in a master's program this coming spring. Nearly twenty teachers at CSUF who have been taking at least two courses per semester are planning to graduate in May, 2000. These teachers are currently working on their research projects or theses, which will be reported on in next year's annual report.

*1999/2000 - Twenty Visalia Unified teachers received their masters' degree from California State University, Fresno in May of 2000. Additionally there are now approximately 130 K-6 teachers now enrolled in a master's program between the two university partners as a result of the STEPSS project. Fifty Visalia Unified K-6 teachers are scheduled to graduate with a master's degree from Fresno Pacific University in May 2001.

Attacking 'Illusions of Learning'—We have found that project teachers are focusing on individual student's knowledge of mathematical concepts as a result of the Teacher Institutes provided by our consultants Kathy Richardson and Deborah Kitchens. This has created disequilibrium for many teachers because of their assumptions of what they thought children knew by the time they enter their classrooms. There have been many aha's from teachers across the grade levels about children's understanding of mathematics concepts. Kathy Richardson talks about a dangerous 'illusion of learning' that teachers can help dissipate through careful and skillful assessment. The Project Director and Math Coaches have said, 'Together we will replace 'illusions of learning' with conceptual understanding built upon real experiences.' The STEPSS project has been a powerful factor in helping teachers to look at children in a different way and challenging them to provide meaningful instruction in their classrooms. An important component to support that change is the Math Coaches and the site Teacher Leaders and administrators. The Math Coaches have become active partners in the teacher's classrooms.

Although our Project is off to a highly successful start, we have experienced great challenges this year with our evaluation component. Several months into the project, our Lead Evaluator accepted a lucrative job offer outside the area and severed ties with the project; the Project Director had to step in and write the initial Evaluator's Report. The District's Evaluator was assigned to perform the evaluation for STEPSS and continually assured the Project Director that all reports were being submitted in a timely fashion. In fact, reports had apparently not been submitted. With assistance from the Project Director the District's Evaluator completed the Core Evaluation Report and has submitted it to Horizon in late November. The Co-PIs had not been apprised of the situation as they had not been part of the email distribution of Horizon. This situation has been ameliorated. In addition, we are going to be interviewing two dependable, experienced evaluators who are interested in serving as the Project's new Evaluator.

*1999/2000 - The project was fortunate to add Phil White as our Lead Evaluator this year. He is to be commended for his professional approach in carrying out all his responsibilities to the project. His team has met all the required HRI deadlines. His insight on staff development and classroom instruction has been a valuable asset to the project.

The Visalia Unified School District has been undergoing considerable changes under the leadership of the new Superintendent. This year, most of the principals were reassigned to other school sites or to other positions, the position of an original STEPSS Co-PI was eliminated. He took a position in another district and was replaced this year as Co-PI by John Stockton, the District's Director of Curriculum. In addition to this change, the superintendent has limited the number of substitute teachers available during the week and discouraged teachers from being out of their classes. Last year, teachers who were on-track (teaching) during the dates that the Teacher Institute was being offered could take off the five days to attend the Institute. This year, the teachers had to attend the Institute during their off-track time, and since there are multiple tracks in the district, scheduling the Institute to maximize the number of participating teachers has been a challenge.

*1999/2000 - John Stockton served as a project Co-PI during this year. However Mr. Stockton accepted a Curriculum position in a Northern California district in July, 2000. In August, 2000, the NSF Program Officer for STEPSS left and to date a new program officer has yet to be assigned. The Visalia Unified School District superintendent left the district in September, 2000, so change is still occurring within the district. However, district support for the project continues to be very positive.

In addition, because the District is concerned with its students' relatively low SAT 9 test scores (and the subsequent state sanctions), the District has supplied many elementary schools with Saxon mathematics books, with the expectation that some schools will serve as pilots for the program. Many teachers who have been through the STEPSS training have been resistant to this development, preferring to continue using the district-adopted MathLand curriculum and replacement units. The STEPSS program is curriculum-independent, however, instead empowering teachers to make decisions based upon the needs of their children and viewing any textbook as just another tool, not the determining factor of the mathematics curriculum. As more traditional books are adopted in California's next (2001) textbook adoption, the STEPSS staff feels even more strongly that the STEPSS teacher training and support will become even more important, and has the potential to become an important model for staff development and support throughout the state.

*1999/2000 - California is in the process of adopting mathematics textbooks for next year (2001/2002). The procedure in California is that all materials go through a sequence of review panels. The following groups review the textbooks with their final recommendations going to the state board in January 2001: IMAP (Instructional Materials Advisory Panel - composed of administrators, classroom teachers, curriculum supervisors, math educators, and parents), CRP (Content Review Panel - composed of university mathematics professors), and a Curriculum Commission - composed of parents, industry professionals, education administrators, and math educators). Saxon has been an issue in Visalia Unified School District and for STEPSS. Saxon was not recommended by the IMAP because it was not aligned with California state standards and did not provide universal access. The Content Review Panel was split on a Saxon recommendation (2 no, 2 yes) for upper elementary. Visalia Unified will examine the recommended textbooks beginning in February with possible adoption of a new set of mathematics textbooks in the spring. The project staff continues to focus on empowering teachers to be highly-informed decision makers about what best supports students becoming mathematically powerful.

The Annual Overview presented a synopsis of the STEPSS professional development opportunities designed for each elementary school in Visalia Unified School District. This Annual Report covers the 1998-1999 time period, during which the STEPSS project initiated two cohorts. Cohort I, which began in 1998, is comprised of five elementary schools (Goshen, Highland, Hurley, Royal Oaks, and Union). Cohort II, which began in the spring of 1999, consists of four schools (Elbow Creek, Golden Oak, Mineral King, and Mountain View).

*1999/2000

Project training and staff development for Cohort I and Cohort II schools followed the schedule listed in last year's report for year one and year two schools. The project began working with Cohort III schools in June, 2000. The Cohort III schools consist of four elementary schools (Crowley, Linwood, Veva Blunt, and Washington).

In order to present an overview of the Project, the outline below summarizes the 'STEPSS Experience' of a typical school.

Year 1:

All Teachers

• 'Teaching and Assessing for Understanding' workshop with Kathy Richardson or Deborah Kitchens (5 days)

• Two days of Cognitive Coaching Training with Bill Baker

• Behind the Glass and Cognitive Coaching Observation; Collaborative planning for lesson to be taught the next day

• Two half-day Practicum experience: One member of pair teaches, the other observes and uses cognitive peer coaching techniques; the next day, the process is reversed

• Two days of Coaching per month (half-hour conversation with coach on the first day to identify teachers' needs; coach support for teacher occurs during the second day (model lessons, student assessment, team teaching/assessing)

• Monthly half-day Math Content Classes 5-6 times a year or participation in master's classes

• One day of grade-level conversations with Kathy Richardson (during one week in January, Kathy meets with K-2 teachers on Monday night; with Gr. 3-4 teachers on Tuesday night; and with Gr. 5-6 teachers on Wednesday night)

• Periodic observations of teachers who teach in Lab Classrooms during off-track time or sub-covered time (There are 14 of these K-6 demonstration classrooms throughout the district. This is a recently-added feature of the program—added at the request of participating teachers who wanted the chance to see the strategies in action in classes with skilled teacher.)

• Leadership and participation in Family Math Nights, book chats, etc.

Additional Training for Grade-level Teacher Leaders and Administrators

• 'Institute for Teacher Leaders in Mathematics K-6' with Kathy Richardson or Deborah Kitchens (5 days)

• Kathy meets with TLs for 2 days during January (mid-year) (Kathy meets with coaches for 2 days as well.)

Years 2+

All Teachers

• One day of coaching support per month (2000/2001 Changed to Two days of coaching support per month)

• Continuation of mathematics content classes and support from district to attend mathematics conferences/workshops

• Principals are encouraged to give TLs release time to peer coach or model a lesson for a colleague.

• Leadership and participation in Family Math Nights, book chats, etc.

*1999/2000

Year 3

At the end of year two, the Cohort I schools expressed the need for continued support from the STEPSS team. The original plan was to release Cohort schools in their third year with support from the team as needed. Cohort I schools requested continued STEPSS support during their third year to assist in further developing their site leadership team. The project has scheduled six days of formal support for Cohort I schools plus support at any time that STEPSS coaches are available. The project will continue to provide scheduled support of Cohort schools in their third year of the project.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

The charts below summarize teacher involvement in the various components of the STEPSS program: