Return to Section F Menu
Return to List of descriptions and agendas of in-service implementations

Descriptions and agendas of in-service implementations (F2)
In-service Implementation A -- Description

In-service Implementation A

This was the first implementation of our in-service program, and took place within the NSF-funded project "Supporting middle school learning disabled students in the mainstream mathematics classroom" (award # TPE-9153812). Because of the nature of our funding, this is the group that was most closely monitored and studied as part of this grant.

Participants:

Participants for this implementation of the program where recruited from six middle schools that agreed to send teams of 2-4 teachers, each including at least one mathematics and one special education teacher (although one school ended up sending only one participant). Ten mathematics teachers and five special education teachers attended the Summer Institute, and where later joined by an additional special education teacher who had been hired after the Summer Institute. Of these 16 participants, only 14 were in a position to complete the entire program (since the special education teacher who joined later could not attend the Summer Institute, and the teacher who was the only participant from her school did not have a school-based support team like the other participants).

Incentive provided to participants:

These teachers all volunteered for the project. A stipend was provided for their attendance at the Summer Institute and follow-up meetings, and for preparing written reflections and documenting their field experience.

Variations in Summer Institute and follow-up meetings compared with Implementation B (described in B2):

This was the very first time we implemented most of the activities comprising the framework; therefore, we ended up making some changes to the summer institute and follow-up meetings for subsequent implementations. This first Summer Institute included only one experience as learner, on the topic of tessellations, with a brief introduction to the other illustrative units (Area and Remodeling) and as a result all the participants chose to implement the Tessellation unit as their first inquiry unit. This institute also devoted three full days to beginning to plan their first "experience as teacher". There were 4 follow-up meetings during the school year, the first devoted to sharing experiences of teaching the tessellation unit, the second to an experience as learners on the Area unit, the third and fourth to sharing on the on-going field experiences.

Field experiences expectations:

Mathematics teachers were expected to implement one of our illustrative units at the very beginning of the school year, another illustrative unit later in the year, and then a third inquiry unit of their own design. They were expected to document each of these experiences by collecting all their lesson plans and hand-outs, as well as samples of students work, and then organize these artifacts together in a written report. (All participants complied with these expectations.)

Special education teachers were expected to participate as much as possible in the innovative math units taking place in their school, collaborating in their design whenever they co-taught a blended math class. In addition, they were asked to prepare a "case-study" of a learning disabled student participating in one of the math classes where the innovation was taking place, with the goal of identifying what helped and/or hindered his/her learning in inquiry-based math experiences. (All of the Special Educators complied with these expectations.)

Every participant was also expected to write a "final reflection" on their field experiences at the end of the year. (Only 11 participants complied with this requirement)

Support during the field experiences:

Because of the nature of our funding, this group of participants received considerable support during their field experiences. Participants from each school formed a "school-based support team" that met weekly for 1-1 1/2 hours under the guidance of a mathematics teacher educator. This "school facilitator" was also available to provide individual support during the planning and implementation of inquiry experiences.

TOP

Return to Section F Menu
Return to List of descriptions and agendas of in-service implementations