Northern Colorado Mathematics Collaboration to Support Teacher Quality

1. Northern Colorado Mathematics Collaboration to Support Teacher Quality

2. What is it? The Northern Colorado Mathematics Collaboration to Support Teacher Quality (NCoMC-TQ) Project brings together: • University of Northern Colorado’s mathematics faculty and staff • 30 teachers and/or coaches from 13 school district partners (Brush School District, Platte Valley School District, Weld District RE 3J, and 10 other Centennial BOCES school district members) • Centennial BOCES staff • Colorado Legacy Foundation staff to provide a comprehensive secondary mathematics professional-development program.

3. The project’s three goals are: • Provide 30 mathematics teachers and instructional coaches from Centennial BOCES member school districts with professional development opportunities that improve their mathematics content and pedagogy knowledge in order to improve instructional practices. • Support the 30 mathematics teachers and instructional coaches to implement and reflect upon the results of the new mathematical instructional practices in their classrooms. • Increase students’ mathematics knowledge as a result of the instructional practices of participating teachers.

4. How

5. Objectives • Gain knowledge of mathematical instructional practices, such as MDC Tools, so students in their classroom will improve in their understanding of mathematics. • Pragmatic mathematical tools and lessons that teachers can immediately implement in the classroom. • Project instructors are former secondary mathematics teachers and are aware and empathetic to the needs and goals of practicing teachers. (No busy work!)

6. Teacher Commitment • 2-week (8 hours total time) Online Blackboard session for participants to learn information regarding MDC Tools and beginning of Math Education Graduate course (April, 2014) • 4-day Summer PD Workshop on mathematics content and instructional practices (June or July, 2014) • Teachers and coaches meet to review instructional practices, student work, and plan new instruction for Fall courses, and complete reflective paper on implementation of new instructional tools. (Fall, 2014) • Project ends in December, 2014.

7. Stipend and Graduate Credit • Each participating teacher will receive 3 stipends for successful participation Online Spring Workshop: $220/participant + 4-day Long Summer PD Workshop: $880/participant + Participation in after-school meetings (24 hours) in Fall 2014: $660/participant =$1760 total participation stipend • Participants will have the option of receiving graduate credit through UNC (MED 508) ($300 tuition cost)

8. Project Staff and Instructors • Dr. Lori Reinsvold –UNC MAST Institute PI • Jerry Overmyer –UNC MAST Institute Project Coordinator and Main Instructor • Dr. Oscar Levin & Dr. Bill Blubaugh – UNC Mathematics Faculty – Co-Instructors • Mark Rangel – Centennial BOCES • Staff from Colorado Legacy Foundation • Outside evaluation from Seneca Consulting

9. Teachers will not take up ideas that sound attractive, no matter how extensive the research base, if the ideas are presented as general principles that leave the task of translating them into everyday practice entirely up to the teachers. Their classroom lives are too busy and too fragile for all but an outstanding few to undertake such work. What teachers need is a variety of living examples of implementation, as practiced by teachers with whom they can identify and from whom they can derive the confidence that they can do better. They need to see examples of what doing better means in practice. • Black and Wiliam, “Inside the Black Box”

10. For more informationcontact: Jerry Overmyer jerry.overmyer@unco.edu or Mark Rangel mrangel@cboces.org

11. Let’s Talk… • How do you envision using the Flipped Classroom in your setting? • What do you see as hurdles to overcome? • Who can help you make this happen?