A unique feature of the SML class is support in developing a shared understanding of responsive, mathematically demanding teaching. Many factors contribute to this. First, the physical space is organized for observation. For instance, sound is amplified to help observers hear, student work is made available, everything is documented for ongoing study, and a live video feed is provided for remote viewing. There is also a range of supports to help people be able to “see” what is often invisible to casual, and even experienced, observers. For instance, the lesson plan provided beforehand requires that the teacher, and group, make instructional planning explicit and it prepares people to watch what happens. The pre- and debriefing for observers includes people with diverse perspectives, providing a fuller picture of important dimensions of instruction. Even the teaching itself is conducted to provide greater access. This is done in many ways — for example by not only making sure that all students can see presented work, but also that observers can see, or by narrating for students what is happening, but in ways that simultaneously keep observers in the instructional design loop. Last, the presence of groups of scholars engaged in a variety of related studies of teaching enriches the collective planning and broader discussions.

Marcus Hung, kneeling, left, with his high school students in San Francisco

The Algebra Project community celebrates Marcus Hung’s recent completion of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) Certification.  A NBPTS certificate is “achieved upon successful completion of a voluntary assessment program designed to recognize effective and accomplished teachers who meet high standards based on what teachers should know and be able to do” (from the NBPTS website). National Board candidates in mathematics are required to complete a rigorous assessment (covering everything from Algebra to Calculus) and submit four portfolio entries that demonstrate clear and convincing evidence of highly accomplished teaching.  We applaud Marcus’ use of mentoring, teaching, and leadership in the Algebra Project, which provided a framework for his work in this process.

Marcus also leads the AP’s Teacher Curriculum Team (TCT) which has gathered various AP teachers to work on the Trip Line module, and is a member of the project’s Teacher Resource Materials (TRM) working group, which has recently been working on aligning Algebra Project curriculum modules with the new Common Core State Standards for Mathematics.

Also, this Fall, Marcus began a 5-year Master Teacher Fellowship with Math for America at U.C. Berkeley, which he will use to further explore teacher leadership and work to incorporate Algebra Project pedagogy in professional development support of other teachers.

Dr. Terri Bucci also is on-board as a principal planner for the OSU effort with the AP in the 100Kin10. Terri is a tenured Associate Professor of Math Education at OSU-M with a wide range of expertise. McEwan and Bucci are also working collaboratively with the Algebra Project to provide professional development to three dozen or more middle and elementary school teachers in the Mansfield school district this year.

The Algebra Project and its partners have joined a growing multi-sector movement currently composed of more than 80 partners committed to working to recruit, develop, and retain 100,000 excellent STEM teachers over the coming 10 years. The movement is being led by Carnegie Corporation of New York the Opportunity Equation.

100Kin10 is a multi-sector mobilization that invites any organization, including but not limited to corporations, school districts, museums, institutions of higher education, foundations, federal agencies, professional associations, states, and nonprofit organizations, to apply their particular assets to creatively and strategically address the challenges of increasing the supply of and retaining excellent STEM educators.

The AP, together with OSU-Mansfield, SIU, and the YPP, has committed to:

Increasing Supply:
Will recruit and prepare 1000 math teachers over 10 years, from Algebra Project and Young People’s Project networks, to implement pedagogy proven to increase academic achievement of students who enter middle or high school performing in the lowest quartile on state or national tests.

Retain Excellence:
Will support experienced project teachers and university collaborators to mentor and coach the new teachers in the classroom, facilitate teacher groups, discuss teaching practice using project-designed observational teacher assessments, and review of their students’ academic growth.

Building a Movement:
By networking with current Algebra Project teachers/university partners and Young People’s Project (high school and college) students who already form a network base for recruiting and supporting teachers’ practice.

While professional development for practicing teachers always has been central to the project’s math literacy work, the 100k in 10 initiative provides a unique opportunity to partner with YPP, SIU and OSU-Mansfield in the design of Algebra Project infused undergraduate teacher pre-service certification programs―an extension into a critical, collaborative strategy for recruiting and preparing new generations of teachers who will represent increased capacity to serve greater numbers of students and schools nationally in the coming years.

The initiative was originally announced at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) America Meeting in Chicago in June 2011, where President Clinton urged corporations, foundations, and other interested organizations to take part. At the seventh Annual Meeting of CGI in New York City last week, President Obama reiterated the imperative: “[Our future] demands that we give every child the skills and education they need to succeed. And I thank you for the commitment that you made to recruit and train tens of thousands of new science, technology, engineering, and math teachers. Nothing could be more important.”

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan yesterday lauded the 100Kin10 initiative, saying: “President Obama and I believe that recruiting and preparing 100,000 excellent new teachers in the STEM fields is essential for our students’ success in the 21st century knowledge economy. We need an all-hands-on-deck strategy to make this happen. I applaud the work of Carnegie Corporation and the Opportunity Equation and the 80 organizations including corporations, universities, non-profits, states, and districts that are coming together under the banner of ‘100Kin10’ to provide our students with a world-class education in the STEM subjects.”

Michele Cahill, Vice President for National Programs, Carnegie Corporation of New York and Co-Chair of the Opportunity Equation, said, “With 100Kin10, partners aren’t just voicing their concern, they are making real, measurable commitments to solving a complex, national problem. We hope their commitments will help mobilize others to join in the effort to increase the supply of excellent math and science teachers and retain them and all those currently in the classroom so that all students have access to rich, engaging, challenging science and math learning.”

More information, including a complete list of partners and their commitments, is available on the 100Kin10 website.

National Science Foundation

National Science Foundation study in 4th year; Junior year for AP High School Cohorts―the project and partners are currently in year 4 of 5 year National Science Foundation supported study to accelerate the mathematics learning of previously low-performing students in high schools in Los Angeles, CA; Eldorado, IL; Mansfield, OH, and; Ypsilanti, MI. Current evaluations are tracking student outcomes on standardized tests, as well as their conceptual understanding, and the development of a peer culture and positive attitudes toward further education. Further research will continue to take place under this grant from the NSF (DRL-0822175) to study the project’s “cohort model” in which students stay together for all four years, and schools and districts become more engaged in issues of student advancement from the beginning.  The goals include on-time graduation in 4 years, passing mandated state and national exams, being eligible for college, and, upon arrival at college, readiness to take college mathematics courses for credit (without remediation).

Bob Moses. Credit: Michael Lisnet, Math for America

Bob Moses received a one-year appointment as the distinguished visiting fellow in the Center for African American Studies at Princeton University for the 2011-2012 academic year, and will co-teach a course, with Tera Hunter and Peggy Cooper Davis, in the spring semester that focuses on education and labor policies through the lens of race.

“We are so delighted to have Robert Moses with us for the year. He has dedicated his life to expanded democratic possibility in the United States,” said Eddie Glaude, the chair of the Center for African American Studies and the William S. Tod Professor of Religion. “Indeed he is a living example of the transformative power that resides in each of us.  Our students and faculty are truly excited to have an opportunity to interact and learn from this historic figure.”

Moses used a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (1982-87) to enter his daughter’s eighth grade class as a parent volunteer, teach algebra and initiate the Algebra Project, which uses mathematics as an organizing tool to ensure a quality public school education for all students. He is the co-author of, “Radical Equations: Math Literacy and Civil Rights” (Beacon, 2001) and co-editor of  “Quality Education as a Constitutional Right: Creating a Grassroots Movement to Transform Public Schools” (Beacon Press, 2010).

“Bob Moses’s presence offers our students a wonderful opportunity to understand the national significance of SNCC’s work using the vote to organize Mississippi sharecroppers to demand political rights,” said Glaude. “They will equally have a chance to learn about the national significance of the Algebra Project’s and the Young Peoples Project’s work using math to organize public school students to demand educational rights. Obviously we’re excited to have him join us for the year.”

“On behalf of the AP/YPP community and the SNCC Legacy Project, I look with great anticipation to explore all of the above through the CAAS visiting fellowship with interested members of the Princeton community in the coming school year,” Moses said.

See more on the Princeton University-CAAS website:
http://www.princeton.edu/africanamericanstudies/news/archive/?id=6192

(1)    Bill Crombie, Algebra Project Director of Professional Development, will consult with ETS/PERC team members on the design and scheduling of a series of professional development coaching sessions for ETS personnel in support of ETS Challenge Assessments used at Lehman College in the Bronx, NY, with NYC teachers.

(2)    Consensus building and collaborative design work to move the project’s successful work in isolated middle and high school classrooms toward whole-school implementation from Fall 2012 on.  The focal event for this work is a one and one half day planning meeting to be held in Spring 2012.

(3) ETS researchers and AP also are exploring future development of formative assessments to accompany Algebra Project curricular materials so that teachers can better understand what students are learning in class and thereby improve instruction.