Making Explicit the Commonalities of MSP Projects: Learning from Doing

Abstract

Abstract:The seven projects discussed in the preceding articles are funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program (Hamos et al., 2009), which began in 2002. One of the main goals of the MSP program is to build capacity and integrate the work of higher education, especially its STEM disciplinary faculty, with that of K-12 to strengthen and reform mathematics and science education (Hamos et al., 2009). Thus, the MSP program brought together three sets of people (disciplinary faculty, teacher educators, and school system personnel] who do not usually work together to reform the mathematics and science education of teachers. For many of the MSP partnerships this was the first time that members of these groups were purposefully working together to develop mechanisms designed to 1) increase both preservice and inservice teachers' mathematical content knowledge for teaching; 2] provide teachers with the opportunity to learn mathematics in the manner in which their students should learn mathematics in order to develop habits of mind similar to those of mathematicians, such as making conjectures and testing them out, modeling contextual situations with mathematics, and persevering in solving problems; and 3] engage all of the partners in collaborative opportunities focused on student learning and assessment. Accordingly, the seven partnerships discussed throughout this issue and other partnerships chose coursework at universities, some combination of coursework and professional development, and/or study groups as the mechanisms to accomplish the objectives of the MSP program.As principal investigators of a Targeted MSP, we can empathize with the leaders of the seven partnerships discussed in this special issue of the Enthusiast. The project with which we are affiliated is the East Alabama Partnership for the Improvement of Education (also known as Transforming East Alabama or TEAM-Math], which was formed in November 2002 to improve mathematics education in 14 school districts in East Alabama with the support of Auburn University, Tuskegee University and other partners. Together, the districts in this partnership serve roughly 59,000 students. TEAM-Math received major funding from the NSF MSP program in 2003, along with a number of other internal and external grants.The mission for this partnership is: To enable all students to understand, utilize, communicate, and appreciate mathematics as a tool in everyday situations in order to become life-long learners and productive citizens by Transforming East Alabama Mathematics (TEAM-Math, 2003}. A central goal of the partnership is to ensure that all students, including African-American and other historically underserved groups, receive high-quality mathematics education. This requires a comprehensive set of strategies addressing all aspects of the educational system. Thus, the partnership has been working to systemically change what is happening in mathematics education across the east Alabama region. TEAM-Math's design includes five primary components: (1} curriculum alignment, (2} teacher leader development, (3} intensive professional development, (4) outreach to stakeholders, especially parents, and (5} improvement of teacher education. In our 10 years of existence we have impacted over 1700 K-12 teachers of mathematics in the partner schools.We believe that involvement in professional development will lead to change in teacher attitudes toward and use of reform practices (i.e., those consistent with the recommendations of Principles and Standards for School (National Council of Teachers of [NCTM], 2000), which in turn will positively influence student motivation, ultimately leading to improved achievement in mathematics. Previous analyses of TEAM-Math project data (e.g., Woolley, Strutchens, Gilbert, & Martin, 2010) showed that students who reported greater teacher use of reform practices, higher teacher expectations, and higher teacher standards, demonstrated higher levels of confidence and interest in mathematics and lower levels of anxiety as it relates to mathematics. …