MSP News: Implementing Reform
February 25, 2010
HIGHLIGHTS AT A GLANCE
1. FEATURED PAPER PRESENTATIONS
We are pleased to offer recaps of four very interesting paper presentations presented January 25-26th at the 2010 MSP Learning Network Conference. We would like to thank the presenters for sharing their work, and we also thank Cathy McEver who did such an excellent job documenting these sessions.
A. Institutional Change and Sustainability: Lessons Learned from the MSPs
Presenters: Nancy Shapiro and Jennifer Frank
Project: Change and Sustainability in Higher Education (CASHE)
Presented: January 25, 2010 at the MSP Learning Network Conference
**Includes worksheet for analyzing change and sustainability in your MSP.
B. Sustaining Momentum for Improvement
Presenter: Nancy R. Bunt
Project: MSP of Southwest Pennsylvania
Presented: January 26, 2010 at the MSP Learning Network Conference
C. Faculty Rewards and Structures for STEM Teacher Preparation
Presenters: Jennifer Presley and Kacy Redd
Project: Promoting Institutional Change to Strengthen Science Teacher Preparation
Presented: January 25, 2010 at the MSP Learning Network Conference
D. Coherence and Change in Teacher Professional Learning Communities
Presenters: Michael Oehrtman, Marilyn Carlson, Jason Martin, and Judy Sutor
Project: Project Pathways: Opening Routes to Math & Science Success for All Students
Presented: January 26, 2010 at the MSP Learning Network Conference
2. NEW IN LIBRARY
A. "Empowering Effective Teachers: Readiness for Reform," Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, February 2010.
B. "Empowering Effective Teachers: Strategies for Implementing Reforms," Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, February 2010.
3. OPPORTUNITIES OF INTEREST
A. Learning Mathematics for Teaching (LMT) measures workshop offered at AERA!
Thursday, April 29, 2010, Denver, CO
B. PAESMEM Mentoring Award Nominations
Call for Nominations: Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring Program, Due March 23, 2010
DETAILS BELOW
1. FEATURED PAPER PRESENTATIONS
A. Institutional Change and Sustainability: Lessons Learned from the MSPs
Presenters: Nancy Shapiro and Jennifer Frank
Project: Change and Sustainability in Higher Education (CASHE)
Presented: January 25, 2010 at the MSP Learning Network Conference
In 2004, the University System of Maryland (USM) received a supplemental grant from NSF to study a broad range of issues related to institutional change, and to examine the effect of MSP projects on changes in higher education that strengthen STEM faculty involvement in undergraduate teaching and K-12 educational reform.
This study, Change and Sustainability in Higher Education (CASHE), built upon the work of USM's targeted MSP project, Vertically Integrated Partnerships K-12 (VIP K-16), involving multiple colleges and universities in Maryland that were focused on increasing the engagement of STEM faculty in teacher preparation, K-12 partnerships, and inquiry-based teaching and learning in undergraduate science courses. In particular, VIP K-16 raised a number of questions about the constraints and facilitators that affect faculty and institutional engagement in MSP work.
Thus, through CASHE, USM proposed to study some of the questions and issues raised by its local MSP work to the national level, in order to more fully and formally explore how to institutionalize a P-20 perspective in education.
**Available for Download: Worksheet to help you analyze and discuss change and sustainability in your MSP.
MSPnet Location: LIBRARY>>MSP Papers
http://hub.mspnet.org/entry.cfm/20507
B. Sustaining Momentum for Improvement
Presenter: Nancy R. Bunt
Project: MSP of Southwest Pennsylvania
Presented: January 26, 2010 at the MSP Learning Network Conference
SW PA MSP is a comprehensive, K-12 math and science MSP funded in 2003. It involves urban, suburban and rural settings across the 11 counties surrounding the city of Pittsburgh. IHE partners have been 4 smaller private colleges and universities more heavily focused on teaching than research. K-12 partners include 45 local control K-12 school districts ranging in size from 1,000 to 7,000 students. The lead agency is the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, a publicly funded regional service agency, which also works with three other Intermediate Units as partners. The Partnership is governed by a Cabinet comprised of representatives of the core partners, as well as the leader of the Evaluation Team and the financial manager, who convene monthly to plan and monitor progress.
How has SW PA MSP integrated implementation and sustainability? How has SW PA MSP used its own evaluation to inform implementation and sustainability? What types of sustainability does SW PA MSP value and believe to be achievable: contributing to models of institutional change, STEM teaching and learning, and partnerships?
MSPnet Location: LIBRARY>>MSP Papers
http://hub.mspnet.org/entry.cfm/20516
C. Faculty Rewards and Structures for STEM Teacher Preparation
Presenters: Jennifer Presley and Kacy Redd
Project: Promoting Institutional Change to Strengthen Science Teacher Preparation
Presented: January 25, 2010 at the MSP Learning Network Conference
The Promoting Institutional Change to Strengthen Science Teacher Preparation project is a collaboration among 26 public research universities (The Leadership Collaborative (TLC)) that seeks to understand the conditions that promote institutional change that sustains their efforts to strengthen their science teacher preparation programs. This project is a partnership between the Association for Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) - whose members are represented by their Presidents and Provosts, and several science disciplinary societies especially the American Physical Society (APS). TLC universities are submitting action plans for strengthening science teacher preparation within an institutional context of change and sustainability, and will identify common challenges and share successful strategies.
For the MSP research conference, we are focusing on a small but important component of the environment/structure - how disciplinary faculty are appointed and rewarded for their engagement in science education and teacher preparation. Drawing upon participants own experiences and research, the questions that we would like to have a dialogue on at the Learning Network Conference include:
1) Are there preferable organizational (departmental) structures that are more conducive to effective recognition of disciplinary faculty's involvement in STEM education?
2) How do institutions evaluate and give weight to this type of faculty work? 3) Are there successful models of recognition and reward and what is the environmental context in which these successful models occur
MSPnet Location: LIBRARY>>MSP Papers
http://hub.mspnet.org/entry.cfm/20522
D. Coherence and Change in Teacher Professional Learning Communities
Presenters: Michael Oehrtman, Marilyn Carlson, Jason Martin, and Judy Sutor
Project: Project Pathways: Opening Routes to Math & Science Success for All Students
Presented: January 26, 2010 at the MSP Learning Network Conference
Project Pathways is an ongoing Math and Science Partnership at Arizona State University to implement and research teacher professional development in six large urban school districts. One component of Project Pathways has been school-based Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) for interdisciplinary groups of secondary mathematics and science teachers. PLC sessions engage teachers in conceptual conversations about knowing and learning central ideas in secondary mathematics and science, discussion and assessment of student thinking, development of inquiry-based conceptually-focused lessons, and reflection on the effectiveness of their instruction. This presentation focuses on results related to the following research questions:
1. What issues motivate teachers to engage productively in a PLC around reflection on teaching practice and implementing change in their classrooms?
2. What supports are necessary for engaging teachers reform efforts derived from various motivating issues?
MSPnet Location: LIBRARY>>MSP Papers
http://hub.mspnet.org/entry.cfm/20518
2. NEW IN LIBRARY
A. "Empowering Effective Teachers: Readiness for Reform," Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, February 2010.
"A teacher's effectiveness has more impact on student learning than any other factor under the control of school systems, including class size, school size, and the quality of after-school programs.
In the summer of 2009, nine school districts and one coalition of Charter Management Organizations proposed strategies to improve the recruitment, placement, evaluation, retention, and support of highly effective teachers.
At the conclusion of these cooperative planning processes, four areas were identified as key to future success: shared leadership, vision, and commitment to action; culture of data-driven decision making; stakeholder engagement; and policies that support, or at a minimum, do not restrict improvement efforts.
This brief explains why districts and sites considering an effective teaching agenda should assess their strengths and weaknesses in those areas and provides considerations and rubrics for use in making such an assessment. "
MSPnet Location: LIBRARY>>Professional Development
http://hub.mspnet.org/entry.cfm/20525
B. "Empowering Effective Teachers: Strategies for Implementing Reforms," Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, February 2010.
"A teacher's effectiveness has more impact on student learning than any other factor under the control of school systems, including class size, school size, and the quality of after-school programs.
In the summer of 2009, nine school districts and one coalition of Charter Management Organizations proposed strategies to increase the recruitment, placement, evaluation, retention, and support of highly effective teachers.
During these cooperative planning processes, the site teams identified many of the same strategies for implementation: adoption of multidimensional measures of teacher effectiveness; creation of better teacher evaluation tools and processes; making the tenure decision a more meaningful milestone; and the design of career pathways and differentiating compensation."
MSPnet Location: LIBRARY>>Professional Development
http://hub.mspnet.org/entry.cfm/20524
3. OPPORTUNITIES OF INTEREST
A. AERA Pre-Conference Workshop:
Learning Mathematics for Teaching (LMT) measures workshop offered at AERA!
The Learning Mathematics for Teaching (LMT) measures training will be offered at AERA on Thursday April 29th in Denver CO (register at http://aera.net/). The LMT training offers background on the study and measurement of mathematical knowledge for teaching and provides practical guidance on using the LMT measures to study teachers' mathematical knowledge and growth. For more information on the LMT project visit http://sitemaker.umich.edu/lmt/.
MSPnet Location: EVENTS>>Calendar
http://hub.mspnet.org/entry.cfm/calendar/show/event-5754
B. PAESMEM Mentoring Award Nominations
The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) program was established by the White House in 1996 and is administered on behalf of the White House by the National Science Foundation (Directorate of Education and Human Resources' Division of Undergraduate Education). The program seeks to identify outstanding mentoring efforts/programs designed to enhance the participation of groups underrepresented in science, mathematics and engineering. Since 1996, a total of 167 awards have been made to individuals and institutions.
Call for nominations: Please refer to the guidelines provided in the solicitation.
DUE DATES:
For 2010 Nominations March 23, 2010
For 2011 Nominations October 6, 2010
MSPnet Location: RESOURCES>>NSF Resources
http://hub.mspnet.org/entry.cfm/20527