Developing Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Mathematics with In-Service K-8 Teachers

1. Developing Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Mathematics with In-Service K-8 Teachers David S. Allen, Julia E. Bergner, Andrew G. Bennett, and Melisa J. Hancock Kansas State University Special Session on Scholarship of Teaching and Learning January 6, 2008

2. Goals for the program • Improve K-8 education in the state of Kansas • Increase content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of K-8 teachers • Give teachers the opportunity to use scholarship of teaching and learning in their own classrooms

3. The programs • Advancing Content Understanding in Mathematics through Effective Networking (ACUMEN) 2004-2006 • Infinite Mathematics Project (IMP) 2007-2009 Funded by Kansas MSP grants Part of the KSU-PDS Partnership Project, funded by the U.S. Department of Education

4. Format of the program • Two-week sessions each summer • Content course in the morning with mathematics faculty • Pedagogy course in the afternoon with education faculty • Follow-up sessions during the year, concluding with teachers presenting their own projects

5. Participating school districts • Southwest Kansas • Ulysses • Garden City • Dodge City • Kansas City, Kansas • Manhattan • Junction City

6. Content course • Could be taken for graduate credit in education • Topics often covered material needed for middle-level certification • Also considered problem content areas on state test scores • Pre- and post-tests were used to evaluate the teachers’ learning

7. Topics covered • 2004 – Geometry and Art (geometry requirement) • 2005 – History of Computation (history of math requirement) • 2006 – Mathematics of Finance, Probability, and Statistics (emphasis on mathematical vocabulary) • 2007 – Connections Between Algebra and Geometry (beginning of calculus requirement)

8. Afternoon sessions • Teachers made action plans for their own classes • Chose a content area to focus on, based on state test scores • Gave pre-test and post-test on that material during the year • Teachers returned later in the year to share their results with other participants

9. ACUMEN Year 3 – Participants • 36 teachers of grades 1-9 • 13 elementary • 19 middle • 4 high (9th grade) • 20 highly qualified • 12 middle-level not highly qualified

10. ACUMEN Year 3 - Content • Finance, probability and statistics • How mortgages and credit cards work • Why to save for retirement early • Why gambling doesn’t usually pay (with an evening field trip to a casino) • How to read state test data • Emphasis on number and operation • Focus on learning mathematical vocabulary

11. ACUMEN Year 3 - Format • Extensive use of Excel spreadsheets • Word walls to emphasize vocabulary • Questions of the day to focus the content

12. ACUMEN Year 3 - Results • Pre-test average score 25.7% • Post-test average score 78.7% • Both tests used the “Rule of Four” with problems grouped by use of numbers, symbols, graphs, and words. • Scores on number problems increased from 29.2% to 89.3% • Scores on word problems increased from 43.1% to 90.5%

13. ACUMEN Year 3 – Action Plans • Most teachers focused on measurement (one of lowest areas on state tests) • 7 elementary teachers reported gains of 25-40% from pre-test to post-test • 19 middle-level teachers reported gains of 20-78% from pre-test to post-test

14. Final comments • Last year, many teachers commented that they had made financial decisions based on the course content, such as getting out of credit card debt • State test scores have improved in the participating districts • Many teachers have participated multiple years, and the districts continue to encourage teachers to attend

15. Questions? Contact Julie Bergner at jbergner@math.ksu.edu Thank you!