Improving Alaska Native Elementary Students' Math Performance

这项为期三年的教师保留与更新项目旨在通过以下四项基本策略来提高Yup'ik Eskimo和城市原住民学生的数学成绩：(1)改善教师的教学内容和教学知识；(2)让教师参与行动研究；(3)招聘（并留住）阿拉斯加原住民导师/新手教师；(4)研究教师培训效果及其与教师知识和学生成绩的关系。实现这些目标的主要手段是国家科学基金会赞助的课程，“适应Yup'ik长者的知识”。本课程包括与文化相关的主题，如鲑鱼钓、皮划艇、定向和导航。将本土知识纳入课堂可能会减少学校和社区之间长期存在的紧张关系，这种紧张关系往往会导致教师的高流动率。该项目的教学部分包括为期三周的暑期学院、社区后续研讨会、在线支持和社区数学活动。暑期学院致力于通过使用适应Yup'ik长者的知识课程，将文化，教学法和内容知识整合起来。通过实践和探究导向的课程，参与者提出问题，在同行协助的小组中工作，并在探索数学、教学和文化的过程中记录日志。作为一种教学工具，该项目使用了来自阿拉斯加教室、其他使用基于文化的数学课程的教室以及关于数学教与学的国际研究的录像带。参加暑期学院的学生将获得三门大学课程的学分：几何和空间推理；代数思维;教育学、内容和文化。后续讲习班在每个社区举行，涉及教师、长者、学生和家庭。为了进一步支持导师和新手教师，本学年有三次音频会议，并通过使用Blackboard提供在线支持。该项目还涉及一项大型研究。首席研究员使用定量和定性研究方法来调查(a)教师培训组成部分与教师知识、态度和表现之间的关系，以及(b)这些过程对阿拉斯加原住民和Yup'ik学生数学学习的影响。

This three-year Teacher Retention and Renewal project seeks to improve the mathematics performance of Yup'ik Eskimo and urban Native students through four basic strategies: (1) improving teachers' content and pedagogical knowledge, (2) involving teachers in action research, (3) recruiting (and retaining) mentor/novice Alaska Native teachers, and (4) researching teacher training effects and its relationship to teachers' knowledge and student performance. The principal vehicle to accomplish these goals is a National Science Foundation sponsored curriculum, "Adapting Yup'ik Elders' Knowledge." This curriculum includes culturally relevant topics such as salmon fishing, kayaking, orienting and navigating. Including Native knowledge in the classroom may decrease the long-standing tension between school and community, which often leads to high teacher turnover.The instructional components of the project include three-week Summer Institutes, follow-up workshops in the communities, online support and community math activities. The Summer Institutes are devoted to the integration of culture, pedagogy and content knowledge through the use of the Adapting Yup'ik Elders' Knowledge curriculum. Through hands-on and inquiry-oriented sessions, participants generate questions, work in peer-assisted groups and keep journals as they explore mathematics, teaching and culture. As a teaching tool, the project uses videotapes from Alaskan classrooms, from other classrooms using culturally-based math programs and from international studies on math teaching and learning. Participants of the Summer Institutes receive credit for three University courses: Geometry and Spatial Reasoning; Algebraic Thinking; and Pedagogy, Content and Culture. The follow-up workshops occur in each community and involve teachers, elders, students and families. To further support the mentors and novice teachers, there are three audio conferences during the school year and on-line support via the use of Blackboard. The project also involves a large research study. The Principal Investigator uses both quantitative and qualitative research methods to investigate (a) the relationship between the teacher training component and teacher knowledge, attitude and performance, and (b) the effects of these processes on Alaska Native and Yup'ik student mathematics learning.