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Miami University's Partnership for Enhancing the Teaching of Mathematics (MUPET-Math) has been awarded a $339,585 grant from the Ohio Department of Education that will provide professional development for teachers in the Hamilton, Middletown, Talawanda and Winton Woods school districts beginning this summer. Funds were provided by the state and federal Mathematics-Science-Partnership (MSP).
MUPET-Math aims to increase student achievement by ensuring teachers' deeper understanding of the mathematics content they teach. The grant provides for at least 120 hours of professional development for kindergarten through ninth-grade teachers in the partnership districts from May 2007-June 2008, with the possibility of renewal for two additional years.
"This grant gives us the opportunity to bring together math concepts and new information about the way the brain functions to find new ways to teach students," said Iris Johnson, professor of teacher education at Miami. "Many math concepts have moved from the higher grades to the lower grades. While students can learn the material, teaching it is new and this professional development partnership will allow us all to learn new techniques."
A series of workshops will focus on the needs of each district, based on students' academic performances as measured by the state academic achievement tests. Content also will be aligned with the Ohio Mathematics Academic Standards and other national standards, including the Curriculum Focal Points recently published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2006).
"Today's teachers need to better understand how to engage students in reasoning algebraically beginning in kindergarten. For many teachers who learned differently when they were in grade school, the challenge is to recognize that algebra is more than manipulating symbols. It's a way of thinking. It is not just a bunch of rules and procedures," said Bea D'Ambrosio, professor of mathematics and statistics at Miami.
Goals for the professional development phase include: (1) increase knowledge of mathematics content; (2) increase teachers' abilities to support and develop resources for meeting the needs of all learners; (3) identify students' difficulties in learning particular concepts; (4) create a system for documenting student understanding of mathematics concepts; and (5) develop teachers' leadership potential with regards to cognitive coaching and supporting their peers.
The workshops will engage teachers through various strategies including: (1) rich mathematical problems to deepen teachers' understandings of concepts and push their knowledge to different levels; (2) student work and interviews that will highlight the difficulties that children can experience in learning the concept; (3) analysis of lessons with a focus on the development of the concept; and (4) design and implementation of lesson-studies following the Japanese Lesson Study design. Summer workshops are scheduled for June 11-22 in Winton Woods, July 16-26 in Middletown and Aug. 6-16 in Talawanda schools. Dates in the Hamilton schools have not been determined.
Teachers will use the knowledge they gain during the summer to develop lesson plans they will implement during the school year. Teachers will also attend and present at state or regional mathematics conferences. Some of the participants will use what they have learned to lay a foundation for attaining the Ohio Grades P-6 Mathematics Specialist endorsement.
Principal investigators for the grant are Bea D'Ambrosio and Suzanne Harper (mathematics and statistics) and Todd Edwards and Iris DeLoach Johnson (teacher education). Jennifer Edwards is currently serving as the project's temporary project director. Other Miami faculty who will serve as instructors for the grant are Jane Keiser-Krumpe (mathematics and statistics), Jeffrey Wanko, Kim Wachenheim and Chris Drumm, (teacher education).
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