MSP Institute: Mathematics Specialists in Middle Schools

核心合作伙伴：诺福克州立大学、弗吉尼亚大学和来自阿灵顿县、布埃纳维斯塔市、卡罗琳县、卡尔佩珀县、费尔法克斯县、汉诺威县、亨里科县、诺福克市、朴茨茅斯市、里士满市、斯科特县和威斯特摩兰县的学校系统。国家科学基金会数学专家合作研究所正在支持50名优秀的中学教师成为数学专家。每位教师参加为期66天的连续三个暑假的培训；在研修班和随后的学年完成总共33个研究生学分；并参加各种研究所的丰富活动。这些教师将获得硕士学位和数学专家证书。50名参与者中的每一位都将在他们所在的学区担任专家，平均每年指导15名其他教师，影响1200名中学生。因此，共有750名教师（50 x 15）和6万名学生（50 x 1200）将受到学院合作伙伴关系的影响。拟议的项目是基于一项开发和完善的计划的研究，该计划已经为弗吉尼亚州的K-5学校准备并引入了250多名数学专家。先前的研究在实验设计中使用了控制组，其令人兴奋的结果表明，专家对教师的知识、教师的态度和信念，以及最终对学生的学习产生了积极影响，这是在高风险的弗吉尼亚学习标准测试中衡量的。既定的准备计划将被完善和调整，以满足6-8年级的课程需求，包括代数。对这些适应和改进目前开发的程序的研究是必要的，以验证中学水平的数学专家在全州范围内的实施，并在全国范围内模拟他们的工作。该项目的研究问题是：1)我们能否通过调整和完善在K-5学校行之有效的培训和入职计划，为6-8年级的数学专家提供服务？2)这个学院会在弗吉尼亚培养知识分子领袖吗？3)这些专家能否影响6-8年级学生的学习，从而提高学生在中学课程（包括代数）中的成绩？数学专家被全国数学教师委员会和杰出的全国教育工作者推荐为帮助缩小美国学生成就差距的可能方法。该项目研究可能在验证培养数学专家在中学发挥作用的国家模式方面具有变革性。采用对照配对学校和案例研究的混合设计研究可以验证中学生数学专家学习的积极效果。这项研究是基于K-5年级成功的初步研究结果，需要支持全国范围内引入数学专家。该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。

Lead Institution: Virginia Commonwealth UniversityCore Partners: Norfolk State University, University of Virginia and School systems from Arlington County, Buena Vista City, Caroline County, Culpeper County, Fairfax County, Hanover County, Henrico County, Norfolk City, Portsmouth City, Richmond City, Scott County, and Westmoreland County.The NSF Mathematics Specialist Partnership Institute is supporting 50 outstanding middle school teachers to become mathematics specialists. Each teacher participates in a 66 day Institute offered over three consecutive summers; completes a total of 33 graduate credits during the Institute sessions and the subsequent academic years; and participates in various Institute enrichment activities. The teachers will earn a master's degree and certification as a Mathematics Specialist. Each of the 50 participants will serve as a Specialist within their home school district, annually coaching an average of 15 other teachers and impacting 1200 middle school students. Therefore, a total of 750 teachers (50 x 15) and 60,000 students (50 x 1200) will be impacted by the Institute Partnership. The proposed project is based on the research of a developed and refined program which has prepared and inducted over 250 Mathematics Specialists into K-5 schools in Virginia. The exciting results from the prior research, which used control groups in the experimental design, indicate the positive impact of Specialists on teacher knowledge, teachers' attitudes and beliefs and ultimately student learning as measured on the high stakes Virginia Standards of Learning tests. The established preparation program will be refined and adapted to meet the curricula needs in grades 6-8, including algebra. The research of these adaptations and refinements of currently developed programs is necessary to validate statewide implementation of Mathematics Specialists at the middle school level and to model their work nationally.The research questions for the project are 1) Can we prepare Mathematics Specialists for service in grades 6-8 by adapting and refining training and induction programs which have served well in K-5 schools? 2) Will this Institute produce intellectual leaders in Virginia? 3) Can these Specialists impact student learning in grades 6-8 to enhance student success in the middle school curriculum, including algebra?Mathematics Specialists have been recommended by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and prominent national educators as a possible way to help close the achievement gap for U.S. students. The project research could be transformative in validating a national model for training Mathematics Specialists for their role in middle schools. The mixed design research featuring controlled matched pairs of schools and case studies could validate the positive effects of student learning of Mathematics Specialists in middle schools. This study, following successful initial research based results in grades K-5 is needed to support the introduction of Mathematics Specialists nationally. This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).