Rocky Mountain Middle School Math Science Partnership (RM-MSMSP)

1. RM-MSMSP Rocky Mountain Middle School Math Science Partnership (RM-MSMSP) April 20, 2004 Reverse Site Visit National Science Foundation

2. Presenters • Doris Kimbrough, Principal Investigator, Associate Professor and Chair of Chemistry CU-Denver • Barbara Bath, Project Director, Associate Professor Emerita in Mathematics, Colorado School of Mines • Linda Morris, Co-Principal Investigator, Science Curriculum Specialist, Jefferson County Schools • Lynn Rhodes, Dean, School of Education, CU-Denver • Barbara Heath, Evaluator, University of North Carolina & East Main Educational Consulting

3. Higher Education Partners • Core Partner: University of Colorado at Denver (CU-Denver) • Supporting Partners: • University of Denver (DU) • Metropolitan State College of Denver (MSCD) • Colorado State University, Ft. Collins (CSU) • Ft. Lewis College

4. School District Partners • Core Partners (Total enrollment/MS enrollment) • Brighton (8,265/1,965) • Jefferson County (87,180/20,647) • Mapleton (5,721/1,272) • Supporting Partners • Adams 14 (6,528/1,466) • Englewood (4,085/849) • Elizabeth (2,867/733) • Gilpin County (421/76)

5. Other Support • Front Range Board of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES) • Colorado Institute of Technology • Colorado Alliance for Minority Participation (CO-AMP) • Colorado Department of Education

6. Vision The RM-MSMSP will increase middle school student achievement in high quality mathematics and science coursework by implementation of challenging curriculum taught by highly qualified and diverse teachers. Motto: 15 Months to “Highly Qualified.”

7. Goals • Enhanced teacher quality through implementation of content-rich professional development coursework taught by higher education math and science faculty with structured follow up; • Increased access to challenging curriculum of middle school students through implementation of research-based curriculum in mathematics and science; • Improved diversity in the teacher pipeline coupled with enhanced preparation in mathematics and science.

8. Project Context Overview • Colorado and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) • Student achievement

9. Context: Colorado and NCLB • Colorado currently has no licensure at middle school level • Middle school teachers have elementary or secondary licensure • Colorado under NCLB: • 24 credit hours in core subject area = “highly qualified” • ~30% of middle school teachers currently not in compliance statewide • Noncompliance percentage higher in mathematics and science and for smaller districts • Pre-service: shortage of numbers of math/science teachers

10. Context: Student Achievement • 2003 Colorado State Assessment Program (CSAP) • History • Four levels: Unsatisfactory  Partially Proficient  Proficient  Advanced • Most partner districts > 50% partially proficient or unsatisfactory • Smaller districts struggling, partnership fosters strength, economies of scale

11. 2003 CSAP Performance in partner districts: % age of students Unsatisfactory or Partially Proficient

13. Context: Student Achievement • 2004 CSAP • Grades 4 –10 in mathematics • Grade 8 in science • 2005 CSAP (full implementation) • Grades 3 –10 in mathematics • Grades 5, 8, and 10 in science • More stringent college admissions requirements (2008)

14. RM-MSMSP Action Plan Overview • Teachers • Interventions • Closing the achievement gap • Institutional change

15. RM-MSMSP Action Plan—Teachers • In-Service: “15 months to HQ” • Pre-assessment (Teacher Content Inventory) • Summer Academies & Academic Year Coursework in Math and/or Science • Structured Follow-Up • Pre-Service • Individually Structured Science Major towards baccalaureate degree • Pre-teaching career advisors in math and science departments at higher ed institutions • Teaching assistants, camp counselors, tutors in enrichment labs to gain experience and insight • Both groups working towards CU-Denver certificate in middle school math or science teaching

16. RM-MSMSP Action Plan—Interventions • Differentiated Instruction: pilot in Jeffco • Math and Science Enrichment Labs for all students • Summer Science Camps • Pilot camps, summer 2005 • CSU & Ft. Lewis: residential; MSCD: day camp • Target traditionally under-represented groups in STEM through CO-AMP model (Hispanic, Native American, African American) • Teacher/parental involvement • Integral part of teacher professional development, providing project-based teaching opportunity for pre- and in-service

17. RM-MSMSP Action Plan • Closing the Achievement Gap: Research into Interventions • Differentiated Instruction • Science and mathematics enrichment laboratories • Summer camp effectiveness, w/ and w/o teacher involvement • Institutional Change • Coursework part of Arts & Sciences regular offerings for all students • Certificate program  Statewide Endorsement, similar coursework at other higher education institutions in the state • Enhanced teacher content knowledge resulting in increased achievement driving force to change expectations in teacher workforce • Change in the perspective about middle school teaching

18. Outcomes • Increased numbers of diverse, highly qualified teachers, • Significant growth in mathematics and science learning by middle school students and beyond, • Closing of the achievement gap in math and science, • Institutional change at higher education and district levels • Research results to inform project and dissemination efforts, and • Statewide endorsements in mathematics and science teaching at the middle school level.

19. RM-MSMSP Evaluation Plan Formative: • Will focus on several overarching questions that directly assess the projected outcomes • Baseline data collection will occur prior to the implementation • Data will be continuously collected in each year of the project • Annual reports will be provided to the management team

20. Data sources: District baseline data Teacher reporting Participation records Teacher/Student content exams Records of practice Field notes Portfolios Documents University course materials University records Collection Methods: Teacher Content Inventory (TCI) Exam aggregation Web-based database Observation Interviews or focus groups Standards checklists Surveys (traditional & online) Embedded assessments Document archiving RM-MSMSP Evaluation Plan

21. RM-MSMSP Evaluation Plan Analysis Methods • Quantitative • Will be used to analyze data such as exam scores and records of practice • Data will be disaggregated to determine impact on achievement gap • Qualitative • Will be used to analyze portions of the data • Results will describe project progress and potential cause and effect relationships

22. RM-MSMSP Evaluation Plan Summative: • Will consider the evaluation data that is produced over the course of the proposed project • Will report on impacts that are evident as a result of analyzing the entire data set • teacher outcomes • student outcomes • institutional change

23. RM-MSMSP Rocky Mountain Middle School Math Science Partnership (RM-MSMSP) April 20, 2004 Reverse Site Visit National Science Foundation