Washington Colony receives mathematics partnership grant
by Dale Drew
March 04, 2008
We just received notice that our school, along with Washington Union, American Union, Orange Center, Pacific Union, and West Park, have been awarded a California Mathematics and Science Partnership grant. Funding from the grant is expected to exceed $1 million over the next 3 years. The grant will be used for professional development opportunities for up to forty teachers in grades 5-9 from the participating schools. The professional development activities are comprised of three components: intensive professional development, classroom follow-up, and classroom training for pre-service math undergraduates.
The intensive professional training will take place during a one-week summer institute (40 hours) and two weekend workshops (20 hours). Fresno State professors will lead the summer institute, which will focus on increasing teachers' math content knowledge and improving mathematical teaching skills.
Participating teachers will receive at least 32 hours of classroom follow-up by implementing the "Lesson Study" model of professional development in their classrooms. Cohorts of teachers from each school will meet on the average of twice a month to collaboratively develop, deliver, and refine lesson plans.
Fresno State professors will visit classrooms on a regular basis to help ensure best practices. The CSU Fresno Teaching Fellows program will place one math undergraduate at each school site to serve as teaching assistants.
We look forward to working with Washington Union, the other area feeder districts, and Fresno State in achieving the common goal of increasing teacher quality and student achievement in mathematics and partnering in the development of a sustainable model of professional development for math teachers beyond the grant years.
