Math for Teachers of Grades 4 to 8

   Course Objectives:

    In mathematics, the content and philosophical perspective of the program will build on work begun by the late Robert B. Davis in the Madison Project (Davis, 1984) and Carolyn A. Maher in Mathematics Projects in Schools (Maher, 1997; Alston & Davis, 1998). Program leadership will come from Dr. Maher and Dr. Alice Alston. They will consult with Professor Amy Cohen of the Rutgers University Math Department, and Dr. Robert Speiser, internationally renowned mathematics educator at Brigham Young University.
        The central focus will be close attention to students' thinking as they are engaged in   meaningful mathematical activities. The goal for participants is to develop insight into how mathematical ideas are built, how students become more effective mathematical thinkers, and how to connect this knowledge effectively to classroom practice and management.

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   Program Schedule:

Six Interactive Television Sessions After School:
October 14
October 28
December 2
January 27
February 24
March 10

Three Day-long Workshops, Tentative Dates:
October 6
February 2
May (date to be determined)

Two Summer Workshops:
June 24 and 25 at Rutgers University

Program activities over the three years of the project will focus on major mathematical ideas of the districts' curricula by exploring problem tasks in five interrelated content strands:

    1. Numbers and combinatories (CCS 4.6)
    2. Fractions and rational number concepts (CCS 4.8)
    3. Algebraic thinking (CCS 4.11, 4.13)
    4. Geometry and measurement (CCS 4.7, 4.9)
    5. Probabilistic thinking (CCS 4.12)

    Computers and calculators, along with various manipulative materials will be continual tools for both the teachers and their students (CCS 4.5).

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    In Year One, we propose to develop a leadership team of at least 10 teachers from grades 4 through 8 from each of the three districts. These teachers (at least three from each participating school), supported actively by their school and district administrators, will participate in an intensive inservice program. The core of the inservice program will be six interactive distance learning sessions, three per term during the academic year, led by mathematics educators from rutgers and visiting experts from other universities. The sessions will emanate with program leadership from the distance-learning facility at the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University. New Brunswick teacher participants will attend this site. Math education staff from the project will facilitate teacher interaction at the two remote sites (Perth Amboy and Plainfield) during these sessions. Technical support will be provided by district technical personnel. Ideas and activities basic to the project will be introduced during these sessions.
    Teachers will be expected to complete specific assignments, read appropriate materials, implement activities with their students and develop a portfolio that includes analysis and reflection about the various activities along with representative samples of student work.
    Other project activities, supplementing the six core sessions will include:

    1. Three, full-day workshops, one in each district, at intervals during the year for the participants from all three districts to share what they are doing;
    2. Three non-interactive after-school workshops in each district for local teacher participants, supported by project staff, to explore concepts in greater depth, develop and share ideas about implementation, and study examples of student work from their classrooms;
    3. In-school support days by project staff, 10 per district during the academic year to support participating teachers, and
    4. Two summer workshop days for all participants.

    Successful completion of the program will qualify teachers for 3 graduate credits in mathematics education from Rutgers University.

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   The mathematical activities that will be the basis for the program have been developed and implemented through the collective work of Davis, Maher and Alston in the research and school partnership initiatives of the Mathematics Projects with Schools at Rutgers. Development of these materials was supported by the New Jersey Department of Education and the National Science Foundation. At the teachers begin to work with the material presented in the interactive sessions, a number of additional curriculum and assessment resources, developed with funding from the National Science Foundation for the purpose of implementing standards-based instruction and assessment, will be available as supplements to study in the local workshops and adapt for classroom use. Examples include:

    1. Mathematics in Context:a Connected Curriculum for Grades 5-9, developed by the University of Wisconsin and the Freudenthal Institute;
    2. Investigations in Number, Data and Space, a mathematics curriculum, including instructional computer software, for grades K-5, developed by TERC;
    3. Seeing and Thinking Mathematically in the Middle Grades. developed by Education Development Center;
    4. Discovery in Mathematics, developed out of the Madison Project, and
    5. The PACKETS: Performance Assessment for Middle School Mathematics and PACKETS Program for Upper Elementary Mathematics, developed at Educational Testing Service.

    In addition, the Rutgers/Wasatch Mathematics Constructions Tools, Lego Dacta Robotics and The Geometer's Sketchpad can be used to introduce teachers and students to the use of technology. Each of these resources is organized in problem-solving units that deal with the content strands central to the program and which are aligned with the Core Curriculum Content Standards.

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    Teachers will be expected to choose and adapt appropriate activities from each workshop session to implement with their students. From their implementation, teachers will then select specific student products to study in the next workshop. Each set of products will include the teacher's written analysis of the activity and an explanation of why the particular product was chosen. the assessment of the product and feedback to the students. These data will be collected in individual class portfolios as a basis for teachers to assess changes in the thoughtfulness and completeness of students' products as they engage in meaningful mathematical activities throughout the year.

   The assumption of the project is that helping teacher implement instructional activities that exemplify state and national standards while responding to the ways that their students build and justify solutions will also help approach the districts' goal of higher achievement levels in the state's assessment program, specifically the 4th grade ESPA and the 8th grade EWT.   

   Send E-mail to Drs. Carolyn A. Maher and Alice Alston    Helpful Links for Math Teachers of Grades 4-8

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