Improving Alaska Native Elementary Students' Math Performance

这一为期三年的教师保留和更新项目旨在通过四个基本策略提高尤普伊克·爱斯基摩人和城市土著学生的数学成绩：(1)改进教师内容和教学知识，(2)让教师参与行动研究，(3)招聘(和留住)阿拉斯加土著教师导师/新手，(4)研究教师培训效果及其与教师知识和学生表现的关系。实现这些目标的主要载体是国家科学基金会赞助的课程--“适应Yupik Elders的知识”。本课程包括与文化相关的主题，如鲑鱼钓鱼、皮划艇、定向和航海。将本土知识纳入课堂可能会缓解学校和社区之间长期存在的紧张关系，这往往会导致教师高流失率。该项目的教学部分包括为期三周的暑期学校、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配的Yupik Elders知识课程来整合文化、教育学和教学知识。通过亲身实践和以探究为导向的会议，参与者产生问题，在同伴协助的小组中工作，并在探索数学、教学和文化的过程中记录日记。作为一种教学工具，该项目使用了阿拉斯加教室的录像带，使用基于文化的数学课程的其他教室的录像带，以及关于数学教学和学习的国际研究。暑期学院的参与者将获得三门大学课程的学分：几何和空间推理；代数思维；以及教育学、内容和文化。后续讲习班在每个社区举行，有教师、长辈、学生和家庭参加。为了进一步支持导师和新手教师，在学年期间举行了三次音频会议，并通过使用Blackboard提供在线支持。该项目还涉及一项大型研究。首席调查员使用定量和定性研究方法来调查(A)教师培训部分与教师知识、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尤皮克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.