Mathematics Mentoring and Leadership Project

Goal: The goal of this project is to develop a cadre of 30 school-based teacher leaders that use mentoring as an approach to provide leadership and support for the implementation of exemplary standards-based mathematics curriculum.

Description: In this one-year project, participants specifically from the Milwaukee Public Schools will focus on the implementation of the Investigations in Number, Data, and Space curriculum that was developed with funding from the National Science Foundation.

The participants will study the curriculum and children's development of mathematical ideas in order to deepen their own content knowledge and enhance their teaching. They will also be trained in leadership skills and coaching strategies which they will use to mentor novice teachers, new teachers to the district, and other teachers in their schools.

Participants meet to form a learning community around the goal of building school capacity for standards-based curriculum implementation. During the summer institute in 2002, participants focused on the content strand of number and operation development, an understanding of the school change process, and development of mentoring skills.

In the 2002-03 school year, participants will meet for 15 sessions to further develop mentoring skills, to engage in collaborative problem solving to deepen their content knowledge of data and geometry, and to strengthen their understanding of children's learning.

As a result of this project, participants:

• Develop mentoring and coaching strategies for effectively interacting with others.
• Use mentoring and coaching skills in their interactions with colleagues in their schools to further the implementation of the Investigations in Number, Data, and Space curriculum.
• Deepen their pedagogical content knowledge of the development of number, data, and geometry in the Investigations curriculum.
• Enhance their own instructional competence in using the Investigations curriculum.
• Form a learning community and support network to further the implementation of the Investigations curriculum throughout the district.
  

Because there is an emphasis placed on mentoring others in their schools, this project has the potential to impact not only the 30 participants through direct interaction, but indirectly to serve up to 750 individuals. The long-term outcome of this project is capacity building for implementation of standards-based curriculum in elementary school mathematics in urban schools. In addition, this project can serve as a model for schools to address the new Wisconsin teacher licensure through PI-34.

Funding: Wisconsin Eisenhower Professional Development Program

Additional Funding: Milwaukee Public Schools

Director: Dr. DeAnn Huinker

Project Period: May 2002 - June 2003