Transcript Re-Thinking Pre-College Math: Joining a ‘Joyful Conspiracy

Washington
Student Completion Initiative
The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation and the Washington State Legislature will support new
and promising efforts to improve access and completions for lowincome young adults in Washington state over the next three years.
The $5.521 million grant will help break down key barriers to student
completion in the community and technical college system by
funding three projects:
 Open Course Library
$1,801,000
(Project Director: Cable Green)
 Re-Thinking Pre-College Math
$1,970,000
(Project Director: Bill Moore)
 I-BEST for Developmental Education
$1,750,000
(Project Director: Tina Bloomer)
Re-Thinking Pre-College Math:
Project Overview and Proposal
Submission Process & Guidelines
Bill Moore, Project Director
Policy Associate, SBCTC
Re-Thinking the
Pre-College Math Curriculum
The traditional developmental math program
was designed to remediate high school
algebra deficiencies. Students were required
to study topics not relevant to their majors,
take an entire course even though they were
deficient in only some topics and to learn at
the same pace using the same instructional
strategies as the entire class…
Carol Twigg, National Center for Academic Transformation,
“Increasing Success in Developmental Math:
SMART Math at Jackson State Community College”
Project Overview
• Builds on and extends the Transition Math Project (TMP),
shifting focus to pre-college math programs
• Focus includes all of pre-college math courses (both Adult
Basic Education and Developmental Math levels)
• Long-term ends: improving student achievement in math
– Persistence through pre-college-level math sequence
– Adequate preparation for college math expectations
– Performance in math courses and beyond
• Primary means: Support selected colleges in re-thinking
their pre-college mathematics programs
Defining Characteristics of Project
• Collective approach, supported by department/
program as a whole
• Addressing core areas of educational practice
• Taking an inquiry stance toward practice
(emphasis on evidence)
• Collaborating in going to “scale” (community of
practice)
Re-Thinking Pre-College Math:
Joining a ‘Joyful Conspiracy’
TMP 2009 Institute
September 8-10, 2009
http://transitionmathproject.org/pro-development/09summer-institute/resources.asp
Core Areas of
Educational Practice
We put an enormous amount of
energy into changing structures
and usually leave instructional
practice untouched…We are
attracted and drawn to these
[efforts] because they’re visible
and, believe it or not, easier to
do than to make the hard
changes, which are in
instructional practice…
Richard Elmore,
January 2002,
“The Limits of ‘Change’”
What math is taught
How it is learned
How it is assessed
Improving Student Learning in Math:
Core Educational Practice
Curricular
Restructuring
Instructional
Approaches
Classroom &
Diagnostic
Assessments
Faculty support through professional “community of
practice”
Taking a Stance of Inquiry
Toward Practice
• Emphasize evidence around student learning,
instructional approaches
• Consider how new ideas, other resources and
knowledge might be useful (as tools rather than
“truth”)
• Shift the emphasis from implementing program to
adapting innovations, generating new knowledge
Deborah Loewenberg Ball, 1994, Developing Mathematics Reform…”
Building a Project
Community of
Practice
• Common language, conceptual framework
• Shared experiences, exposure to multiple
approaches/methods
• Forum for sharing resources and practices
Scale at the organization level means, are people working in concert around a set of
ideas about what curriculum and pedagogy should look like, and is it obvious in their
practice?
Richard Elmore, “Improvement of Teaching at Scale”, January 2006
Project Timeline
September 2009
TMP Institute
Oct. 2009- Jan. 2010
Site visits to interested colleges
January 28-29
Re-Thinking Pre-College Math convening for college teams
February 17
Grant proposals due to SBCTC
February 25
Review group recommends colleges to be included
March 17-18
Grants approved at SBCTC meeting
April 1, 2010
Selected colleges formally begin project
April 20-21, 2010
(tentative)
August 23-26, 2010
Kick-off event for core teams from colleges
September 2010
Phase II Funding begins
September 2011
Phase III Funding begins
August 2012
Grant funding ends
1st RPM Project Summer Institute
Selection Criteria
 Clarity of Goals: strategies and goals that are clear and consistent
with conceptual framework for project, focusing on defined core
areas of educational practice
 Commitment: clear and strong support for project from institutional
administrative leadership and the math department and grounds
proposed plans in institutional priorities
 Capacity: demonstrated evidence of institutional and faculty capacity
to accomplish project plan
 Sustainability: potential for sustaining, and if possible scaling up,
the work beyond the grant period
 Feasibility: work plan and budget that is realistic given the time
frame of the grant and the existing institutional capacity
Expectations of
Participating Colleges
• Demonstrate clear and visible department-wide and
institutional commitment to the project
• Engage relevant faculty (including adjuncts) in
substantive focus on core areas of educational practice
• Support cross-campus connections and sharing of
practice within the project and across the system
• Utilize technical support and assistance provided by
project leadership
• Address sustainability (life after the grant) from the
beginning
• Participate in project-wide data collection and analysis
for the purposes of formative and summative evaluation
Expectations of Project
Leadership Team
• Provide technical assistance and support to
coalition colleges
• Encourage and assist grantees in the
development of linkages across projects and to
other state and national math initiatives
• Maintain ongoing communication with and
between project colleges through variety of
means
• Orchestrate and oversee evaluation studies
and data collection activities
Logistical Details
• Duration: Fall 2009-Fall 2012 (college subgrants begin April 2010)
• Grant Amounts: Up to $120,000 per college in
3 phases: $20,000 (max.) 4/10-8/10, $50,000
(max.) for 9/10-8/11 & 9/11-8/12 (new
application updates for Phase II and III)
• Proposal submission process: deadline 2/17,
11:30 p.m., submitted electronically through
the Online Grants Management System
(OGMS)
Application Process
 Applications must be submitted through the SBCTC’s
Online Grants Management System (OGMS)
 OGMS: http://apps.sbctc.edu/onlinegrants
 Contact your college OGMS security contact for system
and grant access
 User Manual available under “How To” tab
 Questions?
Lynette Anderson
360.704.4315
[email protected]
Program Questions?
Questions about the overall
Re-Thinking Pre-College Math project:
Contact Dr. Bill Moore, 360-704-4346,
[email protected]
http://transitionmathproject.org/dev-ed/index.asp