Transcript Building Partnerships Between School Districts and a University to Increase Equity and Access Jane Gawronski, Linda Dye, Karen Payne Aguilar, Tanya Vik and Steve.

Building Partnerships Between School
Districts and a University to Increase
Equity and Access
Jane Gawronski, Linda Dye, Karen Payne Aguilar,
Tanya Vik and Steve Klass
Session #94 – AMTE 2006 – Tampa
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Today’s Session
 Welcome
and introductions
 What we know about professional
development
 What we do in our professional
development
 Impact of our work
 Questions/discussion
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Characteristics of Expert
Teachers

Know the structure of the knowledge in their
disciplines;
 Know the conceptual barriers that are likely to
hinder learning;
 Have a well-organized content knowledge
and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK);
and
 Continuously assess their own learning,
knowledge, and practices.
(Bransford, Brown, and Cocking, 1999, p. 230)
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Effective Professional
Development

Is driven by a well-defined image of effective
classroom learning and teaching;

Provides opportunities for teachers to build their
content and pedagogical content knowledge
while examining their own practice;

Is research-based and engages teachers as
adult learners in the learning approaches they
will use with their students; (continued)
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Effective Professional
Development (continued)

Provides opportunities for teachers to
collaborate with colleagues and others to
improve their practice;
 Supports teachers to serve in leadership
roles;
 Links with other parts of the education
system; and
 Is designed based on student learning data
and is continuously evaluated and improved.
– Loucks-Horsley et al. (2003), p. 44
5
Our Belief System

Good professional development blends
content and pedagogy.
– Teachers with this understanding can teach
effectively from any curriculum materials.

Good professional development is led by
people with K-12 teaching experience with
expertise in mathematics and/or
mathematics education.
 All students can learn mathematics.
 Assessment should be used to inform
instruction.
– Use student thinking to make instructional
decisions.
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Characteristics of Our
Professional Development

Accountable for teacher growth and
increased student achievement

Blends content and pedagogy

Links to classroom practice

Embeds equity

Sustained over time
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Professional Development
Collaborative

Currently supported by a $5.1M grant
from Qualcomm to Improve Student
Achievement in Mathematics (ISAM)

This is the sixth year of our work
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Facets of Our Work

University certificate programs
– Upper elementary grades
– Primary grades
– 12 semester units of Teacher Education and
Mathematics

District partnerships, including districtbased professional development
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District Partnerships

San Diego Unified School District (K-12)

Ramona Unified School District (K-12)

Lemon Grove School District (K-8)

Sweetwater Union High School District (7-12)
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San Diego Unified School District
District
Needs
–Increase student achievement and
eliminate achievement gap
Teacher
Participation
–Upper elementary grades
–Primary grades
Delivery
–Meeting once per week
–Intensive start preferred
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Ramona Unified School District

District Needs
– Rural district
– Focus on teaching of mathematics

Teacher Participation
–
–
–
–

25 teachers (grades 3-6)
Mostly voluntary
Representation from each of the 6 elementary schools
District math resource teacher participates in all sessions
Delivery
– 2 year agreement
– 15 full days each year (4 summer, 11 during academic year)
– Informal visits to “leadership team” members’ classrooms
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Lemon Grove School District
District
Needs
–Establish a “culture of mathematics”
•Regularly analyze students’ math understanding
•Reflect on effective “next steps” for instruction
Teacher
Participation
–Mandatory for participating schools
–Includes “Reading Recovery” intervention teachers

Delivery
– Started with three, optional, full day sessions prior to
the beginning of the school year
– Full-day sessions over a two-year period
– Five-year partnership
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Sweetwater Union High School District
District
Needs
–Increase student achievement in Algebra
–Increase California High School Exit Exam pass rate
Teacher
Participation
–Mandatory
–All Math 7, Math 8, and all forms of Algebra,
including Special Education

Delivery
– All 22 middle and high schools
– Four full-day sessions each year over a five-year period
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“We’re testing a theory of practice…
…can we carry off a long-term
partnership?”
- Lionel “Skip” Meno,
Dean, College of Education, San Diego State University
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Essential Elements in Developing Successful
Professional Development Partnerships

Communication, Collaboration, Continuity
– Creating a Shared Vision
• Clarifying, revisiting
• Belief systems
• Overcoming the pervasiveness of a “quick fix”
– Establishing and maintaining a “culture of
mathematics” in schools
• Administrator and teacher turnover
• Sustainability in the dynamic environment of schools
– On-going reflection and refinement of PD
• Participant feedback
• Formative assessment
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How We Measure Impact

Teacher growth: Content and pedagogy
– Quantitative and anecdotal data

Student achievement
–
–
–
–
–
–
Gains on CST (all)
Matched pairs analysis (SD)
Participant / non-participant (R, LG, SD)
Standards-based report cards (R)
Effort Grades (R)
End of course tests (S)
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Impact on Teachers’ Instructional
Practices
Teachers report that they now:
 Try new strategies in their classrooms;
 Select among many tools including the
textbook, the pacing guide, and CGI
principles; and
 Recognize good mathematical problems
from the text that will help students
meet the standards.
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One Teacher’s Comments About Our
Impact on Her Teaching
“I feel my knowledge and understanding
of mathematics has been expanded to
the point where I will never teach math
the same again. I know too much about
group/partner work, using manipulatives;
reflective writing, student-directed
teaching, student responsibility. In short, I
feel enlightened. I feel I finally
understand math.”
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References
Loucks-Horsley, S., et al. (2003).
Designing professional development for
teachers of science and mathematics
(2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin
Press.
 Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., &
Cocking, R. R. (1999). How people
learn. Washington, DC: National
Academy Press.

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Contact Us
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
http://pdc.sdsu.edu
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