A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

In grades 5-8, students should begin to move from mastering the basics of arithmetic to using arithmetic in solving complex problems and learning the foundations of geometry, algebra, probability, and statistics. Teachers must know substantial mathematics and have strong pedagogical skills if they are to be effective in helping their students make this transition and meet high standards. Practices in teacher education, licensure and certification, and in-service teacher enhancement do not always reflect these needs.

Quantitative Literacy Program for Alabama K-12 Teachers The Quantitative Literacy Program for Alabama K-12 Teachers, a project administered by the University of Alabama and supported by the Eisenhower Professional Development program, assists elementary and secondary teachers in implementing the probability and statistics goals for grades K-12 as outlined in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards. The program's workshops teach quantitative concepts in the context of solving meaningful problems, with content taught in reference to teaching strategies that participants use when they return to their classrooms. The program includes a pre-workshop orientation, an intensive one-week training workshop, and two follow-up sessions. In the follow-up sessions, teachers describe how they planned, taught, and assessed their own Quantitative Literacy units. They also present examples of their students' projects. The project is currently operating in 14 of the 67 counties of the State.

Over the next ten years, approximately 2 million new teachers will enter the workforce. It is essential that these future teachers receive adequate preparation in mathematics content and pedagogy and in the use of contemporary technological tools before they enter the classroom. And many of the approximately 320,000 teachers who are already teaching mathematics in grades 5-8 would benefit from upgrading their math content knowledge and teaching skills.

This action strategy addresses both the professional development of teachers who are already in the classroom and the preparation of new teachers. In order to assist current teachers, the strategy promotes sustained and intensive professional development activities that are based on mastery of mathematical content and tied to high-quality instructional materials and technology. Teacher preparation activities will aim at preparing future teachers of grades 5-8 to teach effectively the challenging mathematics content geared to national standards of excellence.

The increased demand for high-quality professional development generated by these plans could, without action now, exceed the capacity of those individuals and organizations currently supplying it. Thus, an essential component of fully equipping teachers will be ensuring the presence of a sufficient cadre of individuals and institutions skilled in providing professional development. This will require working with the mathematics communities, institutions of higher education, and other Federal agencies to help ensure the capacity to respond effectively.

To address professional development needs of current teachers, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Education will:

• Stimulate state and local educational agencies to implement comprehensive programs of sustained, intensive, high-quality professional development for teachers of mathematics in grades 5-8. The two agencies will make such efforts the cornerstone of their new competitive planning grants, with emphasis on incorporating resources from Title I schoolwide programs and on involving all teachers in target schools. They will continue existing programs that provide resources for districts to implement professional development programs, incorporating priorities for activities involving teachers of mathematics in grades 5-8, where feasible.

• Initiate a short-term effort to strengthen the pool of talented, committed individuals able to provide exemplary professional development for classroom teachers. The agencies will provide opportunities for competitive support of projects that will provide intensive training experiences for those who will lead future teacher training efforts.
  

  Improving Teaching Through Distance Learning The Department of Education's Star Schools Program provides quality, cost-effective instruction through distance education technologies to more than 1,640,000 learners annually in 50 states and U.S. territories. Although the program began with small rural schools in 1988, it is now equally valuable to schools in large urban areas. The Star Schools: The Next Generation project of Oklahoma State University and Northern Arizona University delivers the "Getting Ready for Algebra" program, which provides simultaneous student instruction and teacher training to middle school students and teachers. Its units are student-centered and activity-oriented and emphasize learning by discovery. They focus on the big ideas common to arithmetic and algebra. Similarly, the United Star Distance Learning Consortium project, led by Education Service Center--Region 20 in San Antonio, Texas, offers the Algebra and Geometry Applications for Teachers program, inservice training. The project models worthwhile mathematical tasks and helps teachers improve their ability to develop these tasks. The focus of the project is on mathematical topics that illustrate connections to real-life problems and exciting mathematics.

• Support the creation of materials for professional development of teachers of mathematics in grades 5-8 that reflect both the basic skills and the critical thinking aspects of the NCTM standards, are tied to newly emerging educational materials and technologies, appropriately reflect the rigor of the NAEP and TIMSS assessments, and assist teachers to link mathematics to real-world skills and applications.

• Support wider opportunities for teachers to help one another with content knowledge and teaching skills through such activities as dissemination of information about effective forms of professional development and encouraging the development of master teachers (including those recognized through the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification), mathematics specialists, and teacher networks.

To promote improved preparation of future mathematics teachers for grades 5-8, the Department of Education and the National Science Foundation will:

• Prepare and disseminate widely a study on State licensure requirements, focusing particularly on requirements for middle school teachers of mathematics, comparisons to other nations, and the impact of licensure requirements on the knowledge of mathematical concepts that teachers bring to their work in the classroom.
  

  New Initiatives in Teacher Preparation: Reauthorization of Title V of the Higher Education Act President Clinton has proposed a $350 million initiative to attract talented people of all backgrounds into teaching at low-income schools across the U.S., and to improve dramatically the quality of training and preparation given to our future teachers, with an emphasis on mathematics and reading. Under the initiative, new scholarships would help bring nearly 35,000 outstanding new teachers into high-poverty schools in urban and rural areas over the next five years. These scholarships could cover costs of tuition, room, board, and other teacher preparation expenses -- and could help fund additional preparation during the first two years of teaching. The initiative will also provide competitive five-year grants to 10-15 national lighthouse models of excellence -- institutions of higher education that operate the highest quality teacher education programs. Each institution receiving a lighthouse grant will use most of these resources to assist several other institutions of higher education improve their teacher preparation programs, helping to strengthen the preparation of future teachers at an estimated 150 institutions of higher education across the nation.

• Provide incentives for appropriate organizations to develop voluntary national standards for the preparation of teachers of mathematics.

• Support the development of materials for preparation of K-8 mathematics teachers that reflect both the basic skills and the critical thinking aspects of the NCTM standards, are tied to newly emerging instructional materials and educational technologies, and reflect the rigor of the NAEP and TIMSS assessments.

• Challenge the Nation's colleges and universities to step up to the needs for preparing a new generation of teachers for the 21st century by encouraging, supporting, and funding the development of teacher preparation approaches that:
  • more tightly link college departments of mathematics and schools of education;

  • include courses focusing on developing the background concepts for the rigorous mathematical content that future teachers of mathematics in grades 5-8 will teach;

  • demonstrate effective classroom practices; and

  • involve local K-12 schools in the design of teacher preparation requirements.

Teacher Preparation in Louisiana What began as a movement to change the way mathematics is taught in grades K-8 in the Louisiana State Systemic Initiative has grown into a program that addresses the way in which teachers are taught. The Louisiana Collaborative for Excellence in the Preparation of Teachers is producing future teachers who will transform teaching practice in the state. Initiated with NSF funding, the Collaborative is also using funds from the Eisenhower Professional Development Program to support the participation of teachers in its activities. In the first three years of the program, over 100 college faculty (both mathematics faculty and education faculty) on 15 campuses across the state have been involved in the project, 69 courses for future teachers have been revamped, and approximately 20,000 future teachers have been affected. The central principle is to incorporate in the education of future teachers the new methods of teaching mathematics that they will be expected to implement in the classroom. Examples of these methods include working in small groups on challenging problems and using technology resources such as calculators or the Internet.

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[Section III]

[Section V]