Supporting Leaders in Elementary Mathematics Teaching in Missouri

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With support from the Robert Noyce Teaching Scholarship Program, this Track 3: Master Teaching Fellowships project aims to serve the national need of recruiting and preparing highly effective elementary mathematics teachers. The project responds to national calls for content specialists to assume greater responsibility for teaching elementary students. It will do so by providing elementary mathematics teachers in Missouri with specialized training in elementary mathematics content, pedagogy, and leadership, so that they can become certified as Elementary Mathematics Specialists. The project's Master Teaching Fellows will complete a two-year master's degree program based on standards developed by the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators. After completion of the master's degree, the project will continue to support the Master Teaching Fellows in becoming mathematics leaders in their school and district. Research will be conducted to document Master Teaching Fellows' leadership activities as well as the structural and systemic supports that enable them to improve teaching and learning in their local contexts. The project will recruit and select 24 promising elementary mathematics teachers from two high-need Missouri school districts, Columbia Public Schools and Independence Public Schools, which are partners in the project. The Master Teaching Fellows will participate in extensive training and practice in the transformation of mathematics teaching at the school level. The project will support a partnership between mathematics and education faculty at the University of Missouri and University of Central Missouri, along with two high-need school districts and the Missouri Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Through these partnerships, the Master Teaching Fellows will have the resources to research local instructional problems, helping schools to navigate challenges such as selecting mathematics curricula and resources, supporting individual teachers in using high-leverage teaching practices, developing structures for teacher collaboration, and using data to inform efforts to improve mathematics instruction. In addition, the research will document the development of sustainable models for providing mathematics leadership though formal and informal roles. It will disseminate findings at the state and national level about the use of elementary mathematics specialists as a district and school improvement strategy. The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K - 12 mathematics and science teachers in high-need school districts and experienced and exemplary K - 12 STEM teachers to become STEM master teachers. It also supports research on the persistence, retention, and effectiveness of K - 12 teachers in high-need school districts.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.