Projects

This Discovery Research K-12 Conference project brought together 30 key scholars and practitioners in the areas of discourse and equity to synthesize and disseminate research findings concerning the implementation of culturally relevant teaching approaches that promote equitable discourse practices in mathematics classroom. The conference convened in Rochester, NY, in June 2008. Conference outcomes include publications that synthesize and disseminate best practices in relation to equitable discourses and a research agenda that further supports teachers' efforts.

This project will include activities such as workshops, conferences and symposia designed to further develop the field of mathematics instruction both nationally and internationally. Specifically, the grant will support (1) a workshop on Chinese and U.S. teacher preparation; (2) a workshop on international comparative assessments in mathematics; and (3) a workshop on challenges in non-university Tertiary Mathematics Education.

This project is developing a data literacy curriculum for 7th grade students which is composed of four two-week units to be taught in social studies, mathematics, science and English courses. The curriculum utilizes data on water use and quality in Ohio, chosen because other communities will have comparable data to modify the curriculum to meet their needs. Central to the curriculum are the issue of fairness and how data are used to make societal decisions.

This project will develop 15 modules for high school students that connect biology, computation, and mathematics with corresponding teacher materials and professional development activities. The modules will draw on an approach to biological phenomena as involving information processing, in three illustrative areas conducive to learning at the high school level: Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Mathematical Methods in Epidemiology, and Mathematical Methods in Ecology.

The project is testing a learning progression for modeling that spans the elementary and middle grades. Modeling instruction will be organized around concepts in life sciences that cumulate to a strong conceptual understanding of micro and macro evolution. The work takes place in two districts with underserved children. A curriculum strand is being created, assessments developed and a longitudinal research study conducted. The project also includes an extensive professional development model and accompanying dissemination strategy.

This project is developing a learning progression in scientific inquiry about the nature of matter. The effort will result in a research-guided system of curriculum, assessment and professional development focusing on the transition from a macroscopic to a microscopic understanding of matter that occurs in upper elementary and middle school. The project has a close collaboration with scientists and urban schools.

This project is testing the effectiveness of the 'Learning Assistant Model' for recruiting, preparing, and retaining STEM K-12 teachers by developing a suite of survey instruments that can be used by researchers interested in testing the effectiveness of teacher preparation programs, course transformations, or conceptual or pedagogical knowledge. It focuses on teacher certification programs,K-12 contexts and students' experiences in STEM departments and the role of STEM research faculty in preparing future teachers.

This project will study the impact and effect of the use of induction for first year middle grades mathematics teachers in three districts in Tennessee and Kentucky, including rural and urban settings. The purpose of this project is to study the links of components of induction to improved instruction and student achievement.

The project team is developing, implementing and evaluating a prototype for an integrated assessment system in elementary teacher education in mathematics. The project is documenting both the development of the student teachers in the practice of teaching mathematics to students from diverse backgrounds and of cooperating teachers and field instructors as they learn to analyze the practice of the student teachers and provide feedback.

This project develops images, extended examples, and principles that illustrate how the articulation, representation and justification of general claims about operations evolve in the elementary grades and how this work supports the transition from arithmetic to algebra in the middle grades. An online course uses the Sourcebook as a text to engage teachers in considering the underlying pedagogical and mathematical aspects of the work and implementing these ideas in their instruction.

This project tests whether mentoring middle school science and math teachers by University Ph.D. STEM faculty has a positive effect on the teachers' understanding of science, their teaching ability and the learning outcomes of their students. The goal of this research study is to strengthen the theoretical underpinning of best practices in middle grades math and science teaching and to enhance the knowledge base for teacher recruitment, preparation, induction and retention.

This project will produce, publish and disseminate a strong mathematics content curriculum for in-service secondary mathematics teachers and prepare a group of specialized teacher-leaders to deliver this curriculum across the country. Important components of this project are that expert teachers will ensure that the mathematics is relevant to the professional lives of secondary teachers and mathematicians will be core members of the development and review team.

This project examines relationships among pre-service teachers' developing understanding of learning in mathematics and science, the enactment of these understandings as they begin teaching. The objectives are (1) to inform the design of teacher preparation programs, and (2) to support the development of appropriate tools to assess the impact of teacher preparation program features on elementary- and middle-school student learning.

This research is examining science and mathematics teacher learning in the context of an alternative certification program employing two different models of field-based preparation. The project will inform the research community about science and mathematics teacher learning and will aid in the design and implementation of alternative certification programs and field-based internships in science and mathematics teacher preparation, as well as potentially impact policymaking concerning teacher certification.

MIST is a five-year study of four large, urban districts implementing ambitious mathematics reform initiatives in the middle grades.  The study uses a mixed-methods research design to investigate how changes in the school and district settings in which mathematics teachers work influence their instructional practices, students' learning opportunities, and student achievement.  

This project is designed to study the Partnership for Reform in Secondary Science and Mathematics professional development model. The research on this model will contribute to the knowledge base on professional development through an empirical investigation of the model of supported teacher collaborative inquiry. The research addresses how the interactions amongst Professional Learning Community teachers contribute to new understandings about teaching, learning, and disciplinary content, and whether this translates into changes in classroom practice.

This project studies mathematics professional development leaders' understandings and practices associated with developing mathematically rich learning environments. It investigates this issue by considering: How can leaders cultivate professional development environments in which teachers have a greater opportunity to grapple with and deeply understand mathematics? The project studies how explicit attention to the cultivation of sociomathematical norms influences leaders' understanding of the process of creating mathematically rich environments and the impacts on their practices.

This project creates professional development materials that support secondary mathematics teachers in improving teaching and learning through lesson study. Project resources support school districts in launching a lesson study program with a strong mathematical focus, an emphasis on teacher learning within the lesson study model and support for building the local lesson study leadership needed to implement and expand a lesson study program.

This project is developing, testing, and evaluating a diversity-enhanced, STEM-based, professional development workshop for high school teachers and career guidance counselors. The project team is developing educational materials and running workshops that focus on pedagogical methods for incorporating hands-on activities into STEM classrooms in order to expose all students to technology and engineering. The long-term goal is to broaden and increase the diversity of students entering engineering-based college degree programs.

This project establishes and implements a professional development model with teachers of Native American students by creating a culturally relevant science, technology, engineering and mathematics teacher in-service model. The project seeks to improve teacher preparation in science and mathematics for Native Americans by creating culturally relevant curriculum materials and providing teacher participants with structured professional development. The goal is to develop an in-service model that can be transported to other Native American nations and schools.

This research project studies the impact of strategic integration of relevant math and science topics on grades 2 – 5 teachers' knowledge and beliefs, their classroom practice, and their students' understanding and beliefs. The proposal hypothesizes that the strategic integration will lead to more frequent and effective use of mathematics in science teaching and improved student outcomes.

This project studies the impact of emphasizing formative assessment strategies in concurrent undergraduate methods courses and STEM content courses on the subsequent teaching practices of these pre-service teachers and their students. The study focuses on future middle school STEM teachers. The mixed methods research design will examine the impact of the treatment on teachers' practices during their practicum and induction years and on the STEM achievement of their middle school students.

This project focuses on scaling up the SimCalc project and emphasizes bridging mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) on proportional reasoning and argumentation as part of teachers' classroom practices. This project will test the hypothesis that professional development that helps to bridge content knowledge and classroom practice can effect positive teacher change and seeks to understand how this is accomplished.

This project is designed to build resources for helping teachers learn mathematical content in ways usable for the work of teaching. Two practice-centered packages will be developed for use in the professional education of K-8 teachers of mathematics. The packages will be usable by the existing range of teacher developers. Each package will comprise selections of records of practice and resources for their use with teachers.

This project is creating a system of online and face-to-face support services to strengthen the teaching and learning of Algebra II. The resources will make use of technology, will differentiate support for teachers in various stages of their careers and will aim to serve teachers of under-achieving populations of students. Support will be provided for four critical aspects of a teacher's work: Instructional planning, instructional delivery, instructional outcomes assessment and professional capacity development.