A National Science Foundation Master Teaching Fellowship Grant #1849948
PROJECT SUMMARY
Overview:
The University of Alabama’s Practitioner Leaders for Underserved Schools in Mathematics (A-PLUS in Math), is a collaborative partnership effort between The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa City Schools, Tuscaloosa County Schools, Jefferson County Schools, and the Alabama Council of Teachers of Mathematics. This project has five goals related to selecting 24 teachers into a Master Teacher Fellowship to become mathematics teacher leaders. By meeting our goals, we will improve educational experiences for students by providing intense and continuous professional development for teachers and administrators through the end of five academic school years for each participating master teacher fellowship recipient.
- Goal-1: Teachers will become instructional experts in their school/district by working to improve and master their own instructional practices over time.
- Goal-2: Teachers will increase their mathematical content knowledge to levels requisite for leading future professional development in their school/district.
- Goal-3: Through the collaborative support of administrators, teachers will become leaders to serve as mathematics department chairs, instructional coaches, school/district action-researchers, and/or mentors of early-career teachers through an induction program.
- Goal-4: Teachers will assist in building a high capacity network for exceptional quality clinical experiences for preservice mathematics teachers.
- Goal-5: Teachers will learn and emerge to enter leadership roles with the Alabama Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ (ACTM) annual fall forum and national conferences.
Intellectual Merit:
By studying our model that provides: (1) targeted and diverse graduate coursework for teachers, (2) professional development for administrators focused on supervising and supporting mathematics instruction, and (3) opportunities for stakeholders to collaborate; this project will develop new knowledge about the programmatic effects of design on leadership, practice, and learning to improve mathematics education and student engagement. From the project onset through the completion of the project, MTFs will participate as a cohort in (1) graduate study, (2) National Board workshops, (3) professional conferences, and (4) sets of Leadership Academies (LAs) that develops them as MTFs into Mathematics Teacher Leaders who are National Board Certified. Based on the intense research study of the project using many reliable measures with validated outcomes, the project will produce new knowledge to drive creation of a sustainable Mathematics Teacher Leader Specialist (MTLS) program that will expand outreach to mathematics teachers focusing on improvements reaching rural areas of Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Georgia. An effective, intense, and high quality graduate program developed by research will provide sustainability beyond funding by providing alternative pathways for practicing teachers to become a Mathematics Teacher Leader Specialist (MTLS).
Broader Impacts:
The UA-PLUS-M partnership spans a 50-mile radius from the UA campus consisting of approximately 30,000 students, of which approximately 35% are racial & ethnic minorities, and more than 55% qualify for the free & reduced lunch program. Both inservice and preservice teachers who are mentored by MTFs will influence the local STEM pipeline by improving student engagement in the mathematics classroom. We estimate an impact that will directly benefit 50,000-75,000 students in the next 10 years (+50,000 indirectly). The project will provide a summit conference each summer with partner school administrators (Continuing Education Units [CEUs] provided) that has the potential to transform advisory relations with mathematics education outcomes as the central focus. The program will serve as a model for other School & University Partnerships to improve mathematics education outcomes. Results and products from this project will be disseminated at local conferences (ACTM) and national conferences (AMTE, NCTM, NCSM, T3) to share findings and knowledge about the development of teacher leaders and improved outcomes in high needs schools. The development of a well-structured, intense MTLS graduate program (online during the academic year and face-to-face on campus during the summer) will provide regional and national outreach, particularly to teachers in rural areas.
Project Leadership
Principle Investigator
Dr. Jeremy Zelkowski (email)
Associate Professor, Secondary Math Education
jzelkowski.people.ua.edu
Co-Principle Investigators
Dr. Jim Gleason (email)
Professor, Mathematics, Math Education
jgleason.people.ua.edu
Dr. Bill Bergeron
Assistant Professor, Educational Leadership
Dr. Martha Makowski
Assistant Professor, Mathematics, Math Education
Doctoral Students
Dr. Tye Campbell (graduated May 2021)
Dr. Anna Keefe (graduated May 2022)
Dr. Chalandra Gooden (graduated May 2024)
Dr. Felicia Smith (graduated May 2024)
Dr. Kaleigh Pate (graduated Aug 2024)
Mr. Yusuf Isah
Ms. Laurel Drake
Ms. Haley Parker
Ms. Victoria Robinson
Professional Advisory Board Members
Dr. Mark Ellis
Cal-State University – Fullerton
Ms. Jill England
Retired Mathematics Teacher, Teacher of Year
Dr. Margaret Mohr-Schroeder
University of Kentucky
Dr. Ed Dickey
Retired – University of South Carolina
Expert Collaborator Partner
Ms. Suzanne Culbreth, NBCT
AL Teacher of the Year
National Boards Professional Provider
External Evaluator
Dr. Robert “Bob” Petrulis
EPRE Consulting
Corporate Partner
Texas Instruments
Non-Profit Partner
Alabama Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Teacher Cohorts
Recruitment of teachers began in 2019 through 2021. Three cohorts were the result of halted recruitment in March 2020 during the onset of the pandemic. The cohorts follow a three phase design for their teaching commitment period. Phase 1 – Graduate Coursework; Phase 2 – National Board Certification pursuit; Phase 3 – Teacher Leadership. Teachers are supported with an annual stipend of $12,575, a travel allowance, tuition support, and substitute teacher cost reimbursement.
In August 2024, 8 teachers from Cohort 1b will become the state of Alabama’s first educators awarded an EdS level degree with a Mathematics Specialist AA certification. It is expected that in August of 2025, 7 teachers from Cohort 2 will receive this distinction as well!
Cohort-1a
This Cohort was selected in May 2019. Five area mathematics teachers (two middle grades, three high school) started June 3 through 27, 2019 completing seven master’s degree credit hours. This cohort is for 6-12 mathematics teachers who possess an Alabama Class-B 6-12 mathematics teaching license. They were provided full tuition in years 1 & 2 to earn and complete their Class-A 6-12 master’s degree program. Following the MA degree, these teachers are pursuing national board certification and teacher leadership projects.
This group will complete their commitment and requirements of the fellowship May 2025.
Cohort-1b
The Cohort was selected during the Spring of 2020 as the pandemic set in. They began with online courses in joining the master teachers who began master’s degree the prior year. This cohort began with 18 hours of post-Master’s degree coursework towards a new innovative EdS degree and Alabama Class-AA certification “mathematics specialist”. They are also pursuing national board certification followed by teacher leadership projects.
They will conclude their commitment in May 2025.
Cohort-2
This Cohort was selected in the spring of 2021. Two teachers began pursuit of their MA degree while two were already doctoral students. The other six will follow the pursuit of an EdS math specialist certification along with national boards followed by teacher leadership projects.
They will conclude their commitment in May 2026 when the grant period ends.