Group L5 Action Plans – Johnson Room, Mezzanine Level, Facilitated by Carl Cowen

Group L5 Action Plans

Team Name		WestEd
Team Leader & Members		Nikola Filby - nfilby@wested.org Chris Dwyer Peggy Simon
Area & Recs		Learning Processes 10, 12, 14

Our team (WestEd, RMC, and AIR) is responsible for developing the content for the U.S. Department of Education's Doing What Works website, which aims to support the implementation of research-based practices by providing media overviews, school-based examples, and tools that educators can use to understand the practices and implement them more easily and thoughtfully. The NMP report will be the source of two rounds of information on the Doing What Works website. The first round focuses on foundations for algebra, and this content will be posted on the website in early October; the second round will focus on algebra and be completed in early January. Our team also engages in dissemination and outreach for Doing What Works and is responsible for formative evaluation. In these roles, we will be helping to assure that educators know about the resources and envision how to use them. For example, we may conduct Webinars with technical assistance providers to introduce the Doing What Works materials and facilitate sharing of strategies for using the resources with different audiences. In the formative evaluation, we will be getting feedback about the resources and also learn about the issues educators face as they change their mathematics practices in line with the report.

We plan to target state and district audiences (and the intermediaries who serve them) for dissemination of the math panel information on the DWW site. For example, we would seek to present DWW highlights to national gatherings of these audiences, conduct webinars for selected audiences, and provide assistance to them in adapting and using DWW resources. Another example would be working closely with a few states to present information to district mathematics coordinators statewide.

The content on foundations for algebra is in review and revision, with a target release date in early October. The Learning Processes recommendations are the primary focus of the mathematics content for Doing What Works. For example, to communicate about recommendation #10, we have developed a collection of resources on how to provide instruction that simultaneously develops conceptual understanding, computational skills, procedural fluency, and problem solving. These resources include a multimedia overview, interviews with experts and school staff, visual presentations of what different schools are doing along with sample materials from these schools, and tools that educators can download and use in their own settings for self-assessment and planning. As the work moves forward, we will bring to bear not only the Doing What Works initiative but also other projects in our institutions related to the recommendations in the NMP report. These include both technical assistance contracts and research projects on mathematics teaching, learning, and assessment.

Team Name		K12, Inc.
Team Leader & Members		Bror Saxberg - bsaxberg@k12.com David Niemi Carol McGehe Paul Thomas
Area & Recs		Learning Processes 10, 12, 14

Build a program consistent with principles and research summarized by the NMP

Build around a core map of “Big Ideas” that lead to math competence, year by year
Find and implement examples of how to weave together conceptual understanding, algorithmic fluency, and problem solving – in single lessons, across several lessons
Use results from NMP to enable K12 schools to improve scores on EXISTING tests
While maintaining a core of instruction consistent with NMP, maintain flexibility to quickly follow improvements in math standards as they move to be consistent with NMP
Include additional diagnostic tools for teachers and students to make best use of findings from NMP

Invest in tools for helping teachers to change their behavior with students consistent with NMP work

Initial training on key concepts within grade levels taught by teachers, c/w NMP results
Initial and continuing training on big picture pedagogical concepts such as role of effort in learning, connections between problem solving, computational fluency, automaticity; general instructional strategies and support from families.
Explicit examples/instructions for teachers on what instruction looks like that is c/w NMP results
Resources to ask/find out about what to do, ways to work, c/w NMP
Opportunities to build a “lesson study” culture that runs c/w NMP ideas and principles

Create a process for continuous improvement

Run pilots to identify and improve “the best” practices – use RCTs wherever possible
Measure student performance, teacher behaviors, and student and teacher attitudes nationwide around math, math instruction, and the programs in use
Open our students and platforms up to researchers to try their ideas with the best methodologies
Continue to review new research; pilot and implement as appropriate

Team Name		College Board
Team Leader & Members		Andrew Schwartz - AnSchwartz@collegeboard.org Robin O'Callaghan
Area & Recs		Learning Processes 10, 12, 13

Related to Current Activities:

Developing low-stakes formative assessment for middle school students (ReadiStep; in process, launching 2009).

Examining item banks from SAT, PSAT, and ReadiStep and articulating the process and content skills measured, and their progression, to be released publicly as tools for various stakeholders. (Skills Insight)

Have produced standards in mathematics and statistics (College Board Standards for College Success), have examined the alignment of these standards with all College Board products and services. Offer correlation and analysis services for state standards.

All College Board assessment programs are developed and reviewed in continuous consultation with high school teachers, college faculty, and other stakeholders.

Outside advisory committees continuously discuss the impact of College Board programs on educational policy.

Extensively revising SpringBoard, a curricular program that comprises curriculum, standards, professional development, and formative assessment.

Possible new initiative:

The College Board has unique experience developing high-quality assessments that are focused to measure mastery of well-specified and well-defined material. To leverage our expertise in developing quality assessments, we are considering an initiative to develop workshops in which teachers can learn to develop quality formative assessments. This involves considering the target material, the content and concepts that underpin what is to be taught and measured, how these ideas are learned, and what assessment items provide evidence that students have mastered the target material. The process of developing assessments can sharpen a teacher’s understanding of the material at many levels and how it is learned and mastered.

Team Name		U.S. Department of Education Teaching Ambassadors
Team Leader & Members		Julie Shively - Julie.Shively@ed.gov Jonathan Eckert Stephanie Vickers Stephanie Canada Steven Hicks
Area & Recs		Learning Processes 12, 15, 14

o Washington Fellows – be a bridge between math and other agencies/offices

§ Health and Human Services

§ Higher Education

§ Math/Science Partnership

§ Early Childhood Non-profit organizations focusing on birth to five

§ Interagency for Aerospace Revitalization Task Force

§ Title II funds that focus on math professional development grants

§ Review documents, develop conversations to influence policy makers toward thinking about math/NMP

Þ Parent guides

Þ Head Start/ Early Head Start (HHS)

Þ Even Start grants

Þ Language learners

Þ Provide resources to the classroom fellows

o Classroom Fellows - Get the report back to teachers

§ Pilot presentation for state/district math coordinators, math coaches, classroom teachers

Þ NMP-NCTM-State Standards

Þ What’s there/what’s missing

§ Independence, Missouri will be the pilot district

o Training program for classroom teachers (develop or find a proven program)

§ Pedagogical content knowledge that is developmentally specific

§ Delivery methods

§ Sharing of promising practices

§ Time to practice and model

§ Applying research

Team Name

Scholastic

Team Leader
& Members

Janet Pittock - jpittock@scholastic.com

David Dockterman

Area & Recs

Learning Processes 13

·        Develop instructional materials based on high quality research targeting the critical foundations for algebra outlined in the National Math Panel Report

·        Incorporate appropriate professional development, including training embedded in the instruction, to support successful implementation and improved teacher competence

·        Provide feedback systems and teacher training that reinforce the value of effort and help students understand their own cognitive functions

·        Create general and targeted assessments that provide data about growth as well as revealing known misconceptions that typically block student progress and understanding

·        Tie those assessment results to professional development opportunities for teachers, giving them insights into how their students are thinking

·        Continue a development cycle that includes ongoing formative evaluation to gather validation, hone instruction and implementation, and provide valuable information to the research community

·        Seek partnerships with academic, non-profit, and commercial entities to leverage research and outreach opportunities

·        Use the broad range of Scholastic channels and talent to promote the value of math learning in general, raising math to a status similar to reading in the public eye

Make appropriate and innovative use of technology to support all the above objectives