Improving Middle-Level Mathematics Teaching and Learning: A Statewide Initiative

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The three-year project will develop a coordinated set of six courses designed specially to prepare teachers to teach mathematics in the middle grades, level 5-8. The courses will form the core of a Master's Degree program or can be taken separately for certification. Two existing courses will be modified. The project is a collaborative effort involving university mathematicians, statisticians, mathematics educators, Presidential Awardees for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching and other exemplary middle-level teachers. The objectives include: increase the conceptual content knowledge of middle-level teachers, provide exposure to exemplary materials and develop skills to use them, prepare teachers to act as mentors, work with the state on certification, strengthen infrastructure that supports preparation and professional development, enhance teaching practices of middle-level teachers and college faculty, produce knowledge about collaborative course and program development, produce research results on developing and implementing a research-based and standards-based program for in-service teachers, and contribute to the understanding of adult education teaching strategies and distance delivery systems that can be effective in under-served rural areas (due to very small schools and great distances between them). This project addresses the fact that sixty-four percent of the teachers teaching mathematics do not have a state credential in mathematics.