TERC MSPnet: An Electronic Community of Practice Facilitating Communication and Collaboration

The East Alabama Partnership for the Improvement of Mathematics Education (also known as Transforming East Alabama Mathematics or TEAM-Math) has been formed to improve mathematics education in 12 school districts in East Alabama with the support of Auburn University, Tuskegee University and other partners. This partnership is guided by the belief that the low mathematics achievement in its region can be solved through a multidimensional, coordinated effort focusing not only on the schools, but also on the universities' teacher preparation programs as well as community and parental factors. The partners emphasize that they can accomplish more in collaboration than can any one member individually. Together, the districts in this partnership serve roughly 56,000 students who are growing up in an environment that is rural, very poor and heavily African American. Over five years, the project expects to impact over 1700 K-12 teachers of mathematics in the partner schools.

Show Full Abstract

The East Alabama Partnership for the Improvement of Mathematics Education (also known as Transforming East Alabama Mathematics or TEAM-Math) has been formed to improve mathematics education in 12 school districts in East Alabama with the support of Auburn University, Tuskegee University and other partners. This partnership is guided by the belief that the low mathematics achievement in its region can be solved through a multidimensional, coordinated effort focusing not only on the schools, but also on the universities' teacher preparation programs as well as community and parental factors. The partners emphasize that they can accomplish more in collaboration than can any one member individually. Indeed, the project has developed an innovative approach in which the districts pool their limited resources and are thus able to operate, in some respects, as one large district. Together, the districts in this partnership serve roughly 56,000 students who are growing up in an environment that is rural, very poor and heavily African American (48% of the student population). Over five years, the project expects to impact over 1700 K-12 teachers of mathematics in the partner schools.

The East Alabama partnership is committed to ensuring that all students in the region receive an equitable mathematics education by participating in a rigorous curriculum that is taught by highly qualified teachers who use a variety of instructional practices designed to promote student learning and understanding. The project seeks to achieve its aims by using methods shown to improve mathematics education elsewhere and adapting them to the circumstances of East Alabama. The project will sustain its efforts by building the long-term capacity of the system to provide quality education in mathematics. At the school district level, new curriculum guides will be developed and textbooks selected, forming a foundation for achievement. The project will provide administrator training and support to help administrators develop a more supportive attitude toward mathematics. An emphasis on building internal capacity through teacher leaders will create a generation of leaders in mathematics education. Finally, the partnership of mathematicians and mathematics educators from Auburn University and Tuskegee University is expected to significantly alter their teacher education programs in order to produce the qualified and diverse teacher workforce for the future.

Show Short Abstract

Project Contributions

Transforming East Alabama Mathematics (TEAM-Math) through Developing Teacher Leaders
In this showcase, we highlight the work that the TEAM-Math project has done to foster teacher leadership across grades K-12. TEAM-Math is a partnership of Auburn Universitys College of Education…

Making Explicit the Commonalities of MSP Projects: Learning from Doing
"The seven projects discussed in the preceding articles are funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program (Hamos et al., 2009), which began in 2002.…

TEAM-Math/East Alabama Regional Inservice Center Curriculum Analysis Project: Final Report
"In this report are the findings of a team of teachers and other education professionals who undertook an intensive review of curriculum materials from November 2011 to January 2012."

TEAM-Math + Parents = Mathematics Improvement
The TEAM-Math project is working to improve mathematics education across east Alabama, through providing professional development to teachers, developing teacher leaders, creating curriculum guides and...

The TEAM-Math Curriculum Process
The TEAM-Math project in east Alabama consists of 12 school districts and 2 universities working together to improve mathematics education in the region. One of the key components in achieving...

Tuskegee University as a TEAM-Math Partner
Tuskegee University has been actively involved as one of the core partners of "Transforming East Alabama Mathematics" or TEAM-Math since the inception of the project. Tuskegee University faculty members...

The Geometer's Sketchpad: A Workshop for Teachers
On Saturday, February 12th, Nancee Klaff, a Valley High School geometry teacher, led a workshop for teachers on ways to incorporate The Geometer's Sketchpad (GSP) into their classrooms. GSP is...

NSF awards $9 million grant to East Alabama math partnership

East Alabama Partnership To Improve Math Education Created

Project Contributions

Project Focus

Grade Levels

State

NSF Award #

Funding Period

Award Group

Partners

School District Partners