Thursday, February 18, 2010

Prichard Wins $600,000 Gates Grant for Math Pilot

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced 15 grants totaling more than $19.5 million to support the development and testing of prototype classroom assessments and instructional tools in math and literacy to help educators better prepare all students for success beyond high school. The investments are part of the foundation’s support of the effort to build a coherent system of consistent college- and career-ready standards, aligned assessments, and teaching tools to strengthen teacher effectiveness and dramatically improve student achievement.

This from the Prichard Committee press release:


Prichard Committee to Pilot
New Teaching and Testing Resources for Math
Grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will help fund work

Teachers in six Kentucky school districts will be among the first in the nation to explore new ways to teach mathematics under a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. The ninth and tenth grade teachers will work with new teaching and testing resources that have been developed by national experts to accelerate students' mastery of mathematics.

"We’re tremendously excited by this opportunity," said Robert F. Sexton, executive director of the Prichard Committee. "The new materials will help schools implement Kentucky's brand new mathematics standards, tracking each student's level of understanding and developing teaching methods that keep all students moving forward. It's an early look at the kind of professional development all Kentucky teachers will need."

The new approach—known as "assessment for learning" or "formative assessment"—fits well with legislation passed by the 2009 General Assembly requiring that Kentucky adopt new mathematics standards and develop a new testing approach. The "assessment for learning" approach emphasizes classroom-level activities that provide teachers with better insight into student learning needs. The emphasis is on quickly helping teachers adjust their teaching to help all students reach high standards of learning.

During intensive professional development sessions, the participating teachers will work with classroom "performance events" that provide immediate information on what part of a topic students already understand and what still needs work. In turn, that will allow teachers to adjust instruction so that all students ultimately master the mathematics being taught.

"Each performance event will allow teachers to shape future learning," said Ann Shannon, a mathematics researcher with a leading role in the project. "We'll be working on how teachers can quickly address student difficulties, pose follow-up questions that deepen understanding, and ensure that all students end up with a strong grasp of the key concepts they need to master."

The pilot testing in Kentucky is part of a larger nationwide effort by the Gates Foundation to support the development and testing of prototype math and literacy classroom assessments and instructional tools to help educators better prepare all students for life beyond high school.
The Prichard Committee has selected the following high schools to participate in the project:

  • Boone County, Conner, Cooper, and Ryle high schools, Boone County
  • Apollo, Beacon, and Daviess County high schools, Daviess County
  • Doss and Iroquois high schools, Jefferson County
  • East Jessamine and West Jessamine high schools in Jessamine County
  • Dixie, Scott, and Simon Kenton high schools in Kenton County
  • Warren Central and Warren East high schools in Warren County
  • Eighth-grade mathematics teachers in Daviess County also have been invited to participate in the work.
Speaking of the recipients,

"These states have shown great leadership and commitment, working together to develop consistent, clear college- and career-ready standards," said Vicki L. Phillips, Director of Education, College-Ready, at the foundation. "Providing teachers with the resources and support they need to teach creatively and effectively is the next step. Innovative and well-designed classroom assessments will provide vital feedback to help teachers target their instruction and prepare all students for success beyond high school."

The recipients:
Development of New Assessments and Instructional Tools

The Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) at the University of California Los Angeles
$4.3 million over three years

Media Contact:
Ron Dietel
310.794.9168
To create a new architecture for aligning college- and career-ready standards with instruction and assessment; to design and validate formative assessments of literacy and mathematics standards for secondary students; to design and pilot computer-based scoring of complex, student responses; and to conduct targeted, international benchmarking studies.

Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin
1.2 million over two years

Media Contact:
Lee Clippard
512.471.3285
To refine and evaluate its Academic Youth Development program, a summer bridge program to support the successful transition of students into Algebra 1. Concepts will be integrated into a year-round curriculum to assist teachers in engaging students in learning complex math skills. Materials will be tested and disseminated through an open access on-line resource.
Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley
$3.6 million over two years

Media Contact:
Steve Cohen
510.642.0137
To help define high standards; help construct mathematics courses aimed at meeting those standards; and produce and field test high-quality formative and summative assessments that reflect ambitious, but attainable, math goals for all students.
Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley
$3 million over three years

Media Contact:
Janet Noe
510.642.2226
To extend the Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading model to grades 6-8. This approach, currently for grades 2-5, combines science and literacy content-helping students develop the inquiry skills needed to make sense of the physical world while building fundamental literacy skills. The extension will be piloted in San Francisco and then tested nationwide.
Math Solutions
$2.2 million over three years

Media Contact:
Audrey Mann Cronin
914.861.2009
To fund the development of a Web-based diagnostic tool that will help middle school teachers assess students' computational and problem-solving skills.
The Education Trust, Inc.
$2.2 million over two years

Media Contact:
Stephanie Germeraad
202.293.1217 ext.354
To develop and bring to scale a set of open-access literacy courses for grades 6-8 designed to teach students the reading and writing skills they need to be adequately prepared for college.

Research, Testing, and Validation of
College-Ready Assessments


The Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) at the University of California Los Angeles
$576,191 for one year

Media Contact:
Ron Dietel
310.794.9168
To develop a conceptual platform for college readiness, design a process to validate a common core of standards, and refine and test assessments against international benchmarks.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (N.C.)
$143,973 for one year

Media Contact:
Kathleen Johansen
980.343.0472
To pilot math assessments and instructional tools under development by the math design collaborative. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) serves 133,600 students in 176 schools throughout the cities and towns of Mecklenburg County, N.C. CMS schools are committed to using data for continuous improvement to guarantee student success.
Cristo Rey Network
$149,733 for one year

Media Contact:
Rob Birdsell
312.784.7202
To pilot math assessments and instructional tools under development by the math design collaborative. The Cristo Rey Network is comprised of 24 high schools across the country that provide quality, Catholic, college preparatory education to urban young people.
Denver School of Science and Technology
$36,018 for one year

Media Contact:
Sarah Skeen
303.524.6339
To pilot math assessments and instructional tools under development by the math design collaborative. The Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST) is a free, open- enrollment public school serving middle and high school students.
Educational Policy Improvement Center (EPIC)
$777,439 for one year

Media Contact:
Charis McGaughy
541.346.6248
To identify and validate a priority set of clearer, higher standards that define a path to college readiness that can guide instruction and measures of student progress. Standards will be piloted with a set of state and district partners.
Fund for Public Schools (New York City)
$455,394 for one year

Media Contact:
Sunny Larson
212.374.5250
To pilot math assessments and instructional tools under development by the math design collaborative. Fund for Public Schools is dedicated to improving New York City's Public Schools. New York City is the largest system of schools in the United States, comprising 1,600 schools and 80,000 teachers serving 1.1 million students. The district will pilot the math assessments in select schools.
Hamilton County Department of Education (Tenn.)
$74,800 for one year

Media Contact:
Danielle Clark
423.209.8615
To pilot math assessments and instructional tools under development by the math design collaborative. Hamilton County Department of Education (HCDE) is a diverse school system of 41,598 students in 78 schools. Fifty-six percent of district students qualify for free or reduced price lunch.
National Council of La Raza
$322,103 for one year

Media Contact:
Jacqueline Stewart
202.776.1772
To pilot math assessments and instructional tools under development by the math design collaborative. The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) supports a network of small, community-based charter and alternative schools serving underserved Latino and English-language-learner students in 16 states and the District of Columbia. The pilot will take place in 12 NCLR-affiliated schools across the country.
The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence (Kentucky)
$599,016 for one year

Media Contact:
Cindy Heine
859.233.9849 ext. 222
To pilot math assessments and instructional tools under development by the math design collaborative in high schools. The Prichard Committee is a non-partisan, not-for-profit group created in 1983 to advocate for improved education for Kentucky citizens at all levels. Six districts will participate in the pilot: Boone, Daviess, Jefferson, Jessamine, Kenton, and Warren Counties.

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