NSF Awards: 1950064
This project - Preparing, Supporting, and Retaining Elementary Mathematics Specialists in High Needs Urban Schools - aims to recruit successful, experienced, and diverse elementary mathematics teachers from high-need schools that serve underrepresented student populations to become Elementary Mathematics Specialists (EMSs); increase the number of EMSs in these schools through evidence-based preparation in two university endorsement programs; develop EMSs who are highly effective mathematics teachers and teacher leaders; and support and retain EMSs as they serve as teacher leaders, including coaching university teacher candidates, in these schools. The project also aims to promote equity and access in mathematics, support teacher retention in high-need schools, and situate teacher candidates in a hiring pipeline.
This is a five-year project involving 27 teachers from the highest need elementary schools in the district. These teachers engage in university endorsement programs for K-5 Mathematics and Teacher Support and Coaching in order to develop as EMSs who deliver rigorous mathematics instruction in their classrooms and serve as mathematics teacher leaders in a variety of ways, such as:
- coaching university teacher candidates
- providing professional development to their peers
- mentoring novice teachers at their schools
- supporting the nonprofit’s after school tutoring program
Support for these EMSs for the duration of the five year program includes participation in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and individual mentoring focused on implementation of their university learning and trajectories as teacher leaders.
Our video includes various voices from our project during its first year and how issues of equity and access are already being addressed.
Kayla Myers
Program Director
Greetings and welcome to our project showcase! We are wrapping up our first year in this 5-year project preparing, supporting, and retaining Elementary Mathematics Specialists in high-needs urban schools. In this first year, our Master Teaching Fellows have completed the first 2 university courses towards their K-5 Mathematics Endorsement as well as their Teacher Support and Coaching Endorsement. Fellows are also engaging in monthly Professional Learning Communities where we have been digging deeply into identity, equity, and mathematics for young learners. Next year, fellows will complete the remaining university courses and continue PLCs, and we will then follow their trajectory as teacher leaders for the remaining 3 years of the project. We are having a blast with these amazing teachers!
Thank you for visiting our video, and we'd love your feedback, specifically on ways to deepen our partnership with our non-profit after school tutoring program Corners Outreach, as well as ways to explicitly address issues of identity and developing positive mathematics identities into the elementary classroom.
Thank you, and enjoy the showcase this week!
Tiffany Wright
Susan Auslander
Catherine Horn
Carolyn White
The program looks great. My question is, what University courses are the teachers taking?
Kayla Myers
Susan Auslander
Associate Professor
Thanks for your question. The EMSs are completing two university endorsement programs that include a total of seven courses:
K-5 Mathematics Endorsement: includes five courses, four are integrated elementary mathematics content/pedagogy courses (Number & Operations, Algebra & Rational Number, Geometry & Measurement, and Data Analysis & Probability) and one is an internship/classroom-based course
Teacher Support & Coaching Endorsement: includes two courses, one course focuses on teacher development and coaching and one course is an internship/classroom-based
Kayla Myers
Lilly Houston
Carolyn White
Thank you for responding Susan. The specialist are fortunate to have this grant. They are learning mathematics and skills to support them in the classroom.
Kayla Myers
Lilly Houston
K-5 Teacher
Hello Carolyn , Yes we are very fortunate ! Although we are only in our first year I have learned many strategies that I have been able to use in my classroom immediately . Each of the skills I’ve learned have had a positive impact on my students motivation and leaning .
Kayla Myers
Travis Sanders
Program Director
This is great, Dr. Myers! Corners Outreach is grateful for our partnership. We look forward to being an asset alongside GSU to provide STEM equity within urban schools!
Susan Auslander
Catherine Horn
Kayla Myers
Trina Ashadele
Well done! What a great partnership and excellent opportunity to focus on math!
Kayla Myers
Susan Auslander
Catherine Horn
Christine Royce
Professor
It sounds like by picking one grade band and subject, you have managed to focus your efforts well and elementary mathematics is definitely an area that impacts all students. If I am understanding correctly (and please correct me if I am not), these are elementary certified teachers already who are returning for coursework leading to a math endorsement. Based on that, were they selected due to an interest in mathematics or just elementary educators in general? Thanks in advance.
Kayla Myers
Susan Auslander
Catherine Horn
Kayla Myers
Program Director
Thanks so much for your questions, Christine! These 27 teachers are considered "experienced and successful". We had a rigorous recruitment and application process because, as you mentioned, these courses they are taking are masters-level university courses towards two endorsements recognized by Georgia and the PSC. So applicants were recruited from high-needs elementary schools in GCPS, based on interest in mathematics and leadership, with required criteria that included a masters degree, 3 years of teaching experience, principal recommendation, etc. This work they are engaging in is hard, and we are seeing some pretty stellar effects already!
Lilly Houston
Susan Auslander
Christine Royce
Professor
Thanks Kayla,
You are fortunate to have a pool of applicants from which to select your cohort. I can see these teachers become lead teachers and/or coaches when they are in their own buildings. Of the effects you are seeing, is there one that stands out the most?
Lilly Houston
Kayla Myers
Program Director
Hi Christine,
As Program Director, I'm working very closely with these teachers in their classroom application and their leadership activities, so for me the biggest noticing has been their confidence and enthusiasm already. They are finding so much value in their learning, and they're working with other teachers. They still have another year of coursework, so I'm stoked to see them grow even more!
Lilly Houston
Catherine Horn
Moores Professor and Chair
Thanks for the introduction to the program in its first year. I especially appreciate the intentional inclusion of Corners Outreach as a critical partner along with the school districting in advancing the goals of the equity-centered mathematics teaching and learning. I'd love to know more, in that context, about the existing "teacher and school partners" that Travis mentions in and how, if at all, that has woven into first year project implementation. I'd love be interested in hearing about how, if at all, COVID-19 has affected the start to this project. Has it delayed aspects? Sparked creative spaces that weren't part of original conception?
Excited to see where this project moves over the next several years!
Cathy
Kayla Myers
Susan Auslander
Kayla Myers
Program Director
Thanks for your questions, Cathy! Travis could probably speak better to some of it, but I can share what we've done with Corners so far this year. 10 of our 27 teachers have met with Travis and Corners leadership to support them in ways most useful for them. This year, those 10 teachers have compiled a large bank of resources (games, activities, manipulatives, etc.) that Corners can use in both one-on-one tutoring and online, which was their format during COVID-19. Those resources are also being woven into their new tutoring curriculum that was implemented this year for the first time. Additionally, the 10 teachers supporting Corners this year are currently reviewing that curriculum for additional feedback and supplementing with even more resources and insight. These 10 teachers will continue this work next year, and we all hope to visit Corners on-site to see it in action.
To answer your question about COVID-19, we've transitioned all of our courses, data collection, and interactions to happen virtually, including PLCs and mentorship. Fortunately, we haven't experienced any delays, in fact it seems that the virtual option allows things to happen quicker sometimes! LOL I do wonder how these virtual experiences would compare to the potential of face-to-face interactions, something I know I am personally missing right now, but we are certainly making the best of it and finding silver linings. What sorts of creative spaces have you experienced or witnessed this year? I'm curious myself.
Susan Auslander
Travis Sanders
Travis Sanders
Program Director
Alongside what Dr. Myers stated (thanks!), the curriculum Corners Academy has developed seamlessly aligns with AKS and Georgia Standards of Excellence while also taking into account demographic challenges such as Dual Language Learners and certain cultural biases. The amazing input we get from these teachers (!) further strengthens this alignment giving our students, families, and partner schools greater confidence in what Corners Academy provides.
Lilly Houston
Kayla Myers
Susan Auslander
Jill Berg
Leadership Coach, School Improvement Consultant & Author
The educators in this video elevate student perseverance. Since we know competence precedes confidence, I'd like to hear more about the strategies teachers use (and possibly learn in this program) help them to coach students more effectively to competence so that they can persevere in productive struggle.
Kayla Myers
Lilly Houston
Susan Auslander
Carla Tanguay
Associate to the Dean for Clinical Practice
Thank you for your comment, Jill. The teachers are learning both content and pedagogy in the math courses, so they are building their own conceptual understanding while learning and studying about the application in the elementary mathematics classroom. So they experience some of that productive struggle themselves in this process. Additionally, we teach them some of the following strategies to elevate student perseverance and promote confidence:
Elicit responses by probing, paraphrasing, checking for understanding, and extending to provide challenge
Prompt to explore more than one strategy – push to keep trying new ways
Collaborate with peers to share ideas and explore new strategies
Demonstrate/show work using various modalities
Provide language supports
Build positive learning community so students feel safe to take risks
Lilly Houston
Kayla Myers
Susan Auslander
Tiffany Wright
Thank you Dr. Myers and team for showcasing such an impactful project! I really enjoyed hearing about the student-centered learning approach to mathematics. I believe that this approach allows for students to make organic connections between their personal experiences and learning. Best wishes as you embark upon the next 4 years of your research project!
Kayla Myers
Lilly Houston
Kayla Myers
Program Director
Thanks so much for your kind words!
Lauren Goff
I loved seeing the individual attention to the students in the video. You are promoting such a student-centered approach- I'm looking forward to learning more about this project!
Lilly Houston
Kayla Myers
Bess Caplan
Thank you for sharing your wonderful program with us. I love the idea of helping students see themselves as mathematicians. I work in science education and many of our student programs are aimed at helping students see themselves as scientists. It's so important to model future careers to youth when they are young. Have you seen an uptick in interest as math as a possible future profession in your student participants?
Lilly Houston
Travis Sanders
Program Director
Hi Bess! At Corners Academy, we definitely lean into our students' strengths to inspire and motivate them. Many students of ours are dual language learners who grew up in a home that primarily spoke a language other than English. This may effect their reading proficiency, but math is more universal! Since many of them are more competent in math, it gives them a confidence when challenged, and for many, a desire for a STEM-related career field. Our partnership with GSU and the teachers in their program furthers this growth, and we hope our students continue to grow in confidence, competence, and belief in themselves.
Kayla Myers
Lilly Houston
K-5 Teacher
Hello Bess. This year I approached professions in math in a different light with the students. I began by having them identify the professions they were interested in, and then finding ways that math is important to that profession. It had great results! Also, a few of the students began to realize that they were more interested in professions in the field of mathematics.