Annual Report Overviews

ANNUAL REPORT FOR AWARD # 9911849

Participant Individuals:
CoPrincipal Investigator(s) : James A Middleton; Alfinio Flores
Other -- specify(s) : Kim Hertzog; Alloway Lynn; Debbie Gordon; Laura Harnish; Sandy James; Debbie Ong; Regis Troy; Robinson Janet; Paula Schmitt; Nikki Serafin; Rhonda Sobon; Angella Valencia; Jim Wittevrongel
Graduate student(s) : Teruni DeSilva

Partner Organizations:
Arizona State University: Collaborative Research

Arizona State University College of Education is a collaborative

partner in this project.? The Co-PIs of the TREASURmath project, Jim

Middleton and Alfinio Flores are Professors of Mathematics Education

at ASU. Dr. Middleton? teaches an algebraic thinking content course

for the project and Dr. Flores teaches a geometry content course for

teachers.? Both Co-PIs also assist in workshops and summer institutes

for the project.? In all cases teachers may use their stipends to

purchase graduate credit for the mathematics courses.

The school district has also developed a partnership with the

university to offer a Master's degree cohort program in-district for

beginning teachers.? The mathematics content courses and summer

institutes are required as part of the cohort's planned course of

study.? This has provided great incentive for teachers to further

their education and meet the learning needs of the project.

This partnership has been incredibly powerful and it extends beyond

teacher development into pre-service training. Madison School District

classrooms are serving as lab settings for undergraduate students in

mathematics, courses are being taught at the local schools, and

university students spend time in the classroom settings. This work is

also supported financially by the U. S. Department of Education AZTEC

grant with Dr. Middleton as the Principal Investigator.

Vanderbilt University: Collaborative Research

Kay McClain, Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education at Peabody

College at Vanderbilt University meets monthly with 6th - 8th grade

teachers of mathematics and science to extend their understandings of

statistics. Teachers are enthusiastic about what they are learning and

the challenges they are receiving.

Arizona State University West Campus: Collaborative Research; Personnel Exchanges

Arizona State University West Campus is collaborating with the Madison

School District in developing a Professional Development School which

will be housed at Madison Park and Madison Camelview Schools.? The

faculties have worked throughout the spring and summer of 2000 to

develop the pre-service program which will be a fast track program of

12 months.? The target date for beginning this program is January of

2001.

Other collaborators:

The TREASURmath Project has also had a collaborative relationship with

EDC in field testing 'Lenses for Learning' with all district

principals and mathematics teacher leaders.? The 'Lenses' classes

provided an opportunity for the teacher and administrative leadership

within the district to work together to increase their understanding

of mathematics teaching and learning.

Activities and findings:

Research and Education Activities: 

The overall goal of the TREASURmath project is for teachers and

principals to implement and sustain reflective strategies for

mathematics instruction.? The specific objectives of this project

are:

1: Pre-school-Grade 8 teachers of mathematics will learn, develop and

use reflective teaching strategies as a regular component of their

instruction and professional development.

2: The mathematics content background of Madison teachers of

mathematics will be enhanced in a manner to support reflective

teaching.

3: The district will articulate a philosophy of using children's

thinking as a basis for instructional decisions across the district,

Pre-K through 8, in all content areas.

4: A mechanism for the professional development and support of

reflective teaching strategies with new teachers will be developed and

put in place.

5: The levels of teacher engagement with children's mathematical

thinking will be monitored using a scheme developed by Franke, et al

(1998)

6: District and building administrators will develop and use practices

that support reflective teaching practices.

7: Madison students will demonstrate high levels of understanding of

mathematics on classroom, state, and local district assessments.

8: The parents and community at large will receive information that

will lead them to understand and support reforms initiated through

this project.

FIRST STEPS

The project was funded mid-year so there were several major tasks for

the TREASURmath staff at the outset including: 

*Hiring and training the Math Wizards(sub cadre) who would relieve

mathematics teachers to allow time for grade level planning and

reflection during the school day facilitated by Math Teacher Leaders.

*Extending the leadership training for Mathematics Teacher Leaders in

preparing them to work alongside their colleagues in planning

instruction and developing reflective teaching skills. 

*Communicating with district stakeholders regarding the Project and

the implications for all involved.? 

*Taking care of logistical needs including scheduling the entire

school district for the grade level planning sessions with the Math

Wizards teaching meaningful lessons to students during their teacher's

planning time, scheduling the content courses with the university,

organizing the advisory council meeting to help finalize plans for the

life of the grant, scheduling community meetings with parents,

scheduling the various consultants that were needed for workshops,

planning the summer institute, organizing for administrative training,

planning the new teacher workshops, and learning how to manage a

project of this magnitude.

Findings:

The initial lessons learned include:

*It is important to communicate widely and quickly about the

implications of an NSF project, specifically the requirements for the

130 hours of professional development.? Quickly map out the plans for

the life of the project and have teachers work with their principals

in planning for when they will take their training.

*The Math Wizards (sub cadre) have been an incredible success even

beyond the obvious of easing the burden for classroom teachers of

preparing for a substitute during their grade level math meetings. 

The unexpected gain from this is the training of the Wizards

themselves (all of whom were new to teaching during the first

semester) and the development of their understandings of quality

mathematics teaching.? Three quarters of the first group of Math

Wizards were hired for teaching positions for this year and are doing

a great job and clearly well grounded in pedagogy as well as content.

*There is much pressure on Mathematics Teacher Leaders (MTLs) in their

new role of supporting teachers.? Plan for training in coaching,

developing rapport, and the entire leadership piece.? Institute a

regular time for MTLs to meet with principals to discuss and problem

solve regarding the needs of the school.? We call these meetings

'Critical Triangle Meetings' because generally there are two teacher

leaders and one principal involved.

*Strategies need to be developed to work with parents in understanding

why mathematics instruction needs to change. This is a point of needed

research. We must figure out how to bring parents on board to support

their children and their schools in this very important work.

Training and Development:

*The first Algebraic Thinking class was offered in the spring of 2000.

This is one of the content courses offered in the project to extend

teachers' mathematics understanding.? 

*A Summer Mathematics Institute was offered for Level One and Level

Two teachers for 135 participants.? These institutes will be offered

each summer of the project and are facilitated by consultants, the ASU

partners, and the teacher leaders.

*Grade Level half-day planning meetings were extremely successful

during the spring of 2000.? Mathematics Teacher Leaders facilitated

these meetings which were held approximately two times a month during

the spring semester of 2000.? Teachers reported the importance of

these meetings in supporting their reflective practice, extended

understanding of pedagogy and content.? All classroom teachers of

mathematics participated in these planning meetings.? Their classrooms

were covered by Math Wizards who were hired mid-year to provide

meaningful lessons for students while their teachers were involved in

their own learning.

*Math Teacher Leaders had continued learning experiences provided by

consultants to the project.? They met twice a month as a group to

extend their content knowledge and understanding of how to work in

this role of facilitating their colleagues' growth.

*Lenses on Learning (an EDC project funded by NSF) was field tested

with all principals and teacher leaders in the district.

Outreach Activities:

The TREASURmath project and the implementation of a standards based

mathematics program has caused some turmoil within the community. 

There is a group of very active parents within the district who have

had a great deal of difficulty accepting and valuing the change in

mathematics instruction.? As a result of this conflict the district

has at times been in a reactive mode but this funding has supported

some more proactive approaches in communicating with parents.? 

The first outreach under the auspices of TREASURmath was a Community

Forum on the first evening of the TREASURmath Advisory Panel's work in

Phoenix. The Advisory Panel which includes Tom Carpenter of Wisconsin,

Norm Webb of Wisconsin, Elizabeth Phillips of Michigan and consultants

including Megan Franke of UCLA and Tom Rowan of Maryland responded to

questions which had been submitted prior to that evening.? Since this

panel has such vast expertise and knowledge in the field it was a

great evening which answered critical questions for many people in the

community.

Aditionally, each school held Family Math Nights or parent seminars

during the first semester of the project.? The parent seminars were

new to the community and appear promising.? These activities were well

received and helped to calm the concerns of many parents in the

community.

A number of articles were distributed in the community newsletters

including the NCTM press releases on 'Mathematics That Make Sense,

Mathematics for the Future' as well as information pieces on helping

children with mathematics at home.