Annual Report Overviews

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The 'Teaching and Assessing for Understanding' week-long workshops provided by Kathy Richardson and Deborah Kitchens have been extremely powerful in effecting change in teachers' attitudes about mathematics and teaching mathematics. They have provided teachers with theoretical and practical ideas for restructuring their mathematics classes for effective instruction. For those teachers desiring University Extension credit for taking these courses, a detailed analysis of their experience is required. The following passages from some of the submitted papers provide evidence of the positive impact of these workshops:

'As a result of the Teacher Institute, my views of mathematics and teaching mathematics have grown extensively. I will never have the same opinions and viewpoints I had previous to going to both this Teacher Institute and the Leadership Institute. In my own teaching, I realized that my own students were not 'getting' Math. In other words, they were not making sense of Math. The Teacher Institute has taught me several things that have made me question the ways in which I am currently teaching Mathematics to my students. First and foremost, children must be learning in an environment that supports the development of understanding. This idea is a must if we want our students to be successful in mathematics. This particular learning environment does the following things: encourages thoughtfulness, encourages children's thinking, provokes questions, stimulates a search for meaning, encourages children to look for connections and relationships, and helps children make sense of and understand the mathematics in which they are engaged. Although I tried my best as a teacher to get my students to make sense of mathematics, I learned that I was actually teaching them mathematics in ways that would only hinder them from making their own sense of mathematics. I was demonstrating to my students my own way of solving problems and therefore, was astounded when they were having difficulty solving the problems the same way. Second, I learned how to better assess my students on what they know and understand about certain mathematical concepts. I always knew that there was a better way of teaching my students mathematics, but I wasn't sure on how to go about assessing what my students really understood in mathematics and where to go from there. The Teacher Institute has helped me tremendously in the area of assessment.'

'The video clips of students participating in number talks convinced me that students are able to grasp conceptual knowledge of math and manipulate numbers at a very young age. This proved to me that allowing students to think outside the lines of traditional algorithms and to share their thoughts with others is beneficial in becoming successful at solving math problems.'

'I am happy to report that I was very impressed with Kathy Richardson and in awe of her ability to gently communicate number sense to students of all ages. I was from the old school where you listened to the lecture, worked a few problems, and took a test. I always seemed to be able to make sense of the algorithms, so I thought that I understood math and relationships between numbers. After watching Kathy, I realized that I did not really have number sense, but rather a set of rules to manipulate numbers so that I could get the right answers. I was never good at mental math and now I realize why. I found myself wanting to get down on the rug with the kids and explain to Kathy how I had mentally figured out the answer.'

'As a result of this Leadership Institute, I am filled with a fresh outlook towards math. I always enjoyed math, but now I think that I can help better develop that enjoyment in my students. I can see that letting the students take ownership of their learning is really powerful! When these kids demonstrated their ability to mentally maneuver around numbers, there was real pride in their faces. They also learned from each other…. Kathy Richardson's approach to math and the excitement that it caused within the Mineral King Master's Cohort made the greatest impression on me.'

'As I have already stated, I am really anxious to get started with my new class to use her approach. The fact that I will have the luxury of bouncing ideas off my peers and them meeting back with Kathy to discuss our successes or concerns, is a rare opportunity.'

'The STEPSS Leadership Institute (LI) helped me develop a clearer view of math teaching and assessment. As a new teacher, my math program has been a series of trials, mostly followed by error. The master's program has challenged my thinking and caused me to be more reflective in my planning. The Institute was a continuation of this education. It is a product of great planning that the master's program and STEPPS flow so seamlessly together.'

'Kathy Richardson presented a wonderful comprehensive seminar that focused mainly on assessment. Because of her research and resources I have developed a better understanding of assessment and its importance in teaching math. I have always known that a teacher must assess student learning, but what the LI did for my viewpoint is show me the importance of assessing more frequently, and more meaningfully. Where a quiz or paper pencil test is inadequate, one-to-one interviews and simple questions using manipulatives fill in the gaps and give a clear picture of where student understanding lies….One thing about LI that made an impression on me was the leader, Kathy Richardson. I enjoyed her easy manner coupled with her drilling insight. She seemed so unassuming, yet offered us so much that helped to really understand student thinking.'

'In my classroom this year I plan to implement Math Talks. Also, I will use more restraint within myself so as not to give students the answers for everything. Lastly, I plan to think with more depth about my curriculum to be aware of why I am doing what I'm doing and determine if it moves my students toward mathematical thinking or farther away.'

'In many ways this course helped me to feel more confident, but in others it made me even more aware of how lacking my mathematical skills are and how much more I need to learn. I feel much better about teaching math because I now feel I have a method that will help my kids to understand and to help them become much more mathematically powerful. I have purchased the complete set of Kathy Richardson's books and I'm reading everything I can find that Kathy recommended. I'm very excited about this method that helps my students to become mathematical powerful and myself along with them.'

'My experiences at the Teacher Institute significantly changed my views about teaching math and math in general. I have always felt very inept at math because I didn't get many of the concepts, formulas, and procedures my teachers were trying to drill into my head. I did not know why I had to know them anyway. I was never taught any real life applications in which to apply the math that I was learning. After taking this class, I now understand why the lessons weren't sticking in my head. My knowledge of why concepts worked the way they did, why formulas worked, and how procedures were even developed was sadly lacking. I now believe we, as teachers, can change this for our students because of the great things we were taught in this course. I just wish everyone could have this great opportunity.'

The significant impact that STEPSS has had on teachers and students is reflected in the words of one of the principals of a STEPSS Cohort II school:

'It's gratifying and encouraging to see teachers so excited and enthusiastic about teaching math. This is what this program has done in just five months. I have found that the more teachers learn math, the more they'll love to teach it and that love for math transfers over to the students. When I went to the five-day training last month with Kathy Richardson, I heard the 'a-ha's' and 'oh yeah's' coming from teachers as they experienced some revelations about their teaching or about their students' learning. They realized that to make students become problem solvers and independent thinkers, they had to move away from teaching the standards algorithms as they had been taught or they learned themselves as students. The teachers learned strategies during the training they could put to use when they went back to the classroom, such as number talks, etc. It's exciting to hear teachers have discussions in the Staff Lounge that are STEPSS- or math-related. But most of all, it's awesome to observe students in the classrooms I visited becoming problem solvers and loving math.'

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All STEPSS teachers not enrolled in a master's program must attend five half-day math content classes to be held once a month as part of the required 100+ hours of professional development. When the workshops are delivered after school or on weekends, teachers receive a $50 stipend. All courses are delivered by faculty at either Fresno Pacific University or California State University, Fresno.

During the first year of the grant, the following classes were offered:

—Elementary Arithmetic From an Advanced Viewpoint

—Pattern Searching in Geometry

—Fraction and Decimal Workshop

—Geometry and Measurement

*This year (1999-2000), the following classes are being offered:

—Geometry and Measurement

—Fraction and Decimal Workshop

—Just for the Fun of It–Puzzles and Problem Solving in Recreational Mathematics

—Number Sense

—Elementary Arithmetic from an Advanced Viewpoint

—Number Concepts/Operations

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STEPSS provides fiscal support for the 80 students pursuing master's degrees at CSUF and FPU. The courses taken by students at each campus provides them with numerous opportunities to strengthen their understanding of mathematics content and pedagogy and to develop their research and leadership skills in the area of mathematics education. The University-based Project Co-PIs, Dr. Carol Fry Bohlin and Dr. Richard Thiessen, serve as coordinators of the STEPSS master's cohorts at their respective universities—Cliafornia State University, Fresno and Fresno Pacific University. The following are some of the courses that have been taken by the master's students at each campus between Fall Semester, 1998, and Fall Semester, 1999:

• California State University, Fresno (Master of Arts in Education: Curriculum and Instruction Emphasis—K-6 Mathematics Focus)

Mathematics Education in the Primary Grades—This course explores the mathematics content and methods appropriate for grades K-3, including methods for assessing and building on children's natural strategies for problem solving, developing mathematical communication skills, and strengthening connections between conceptual and procedural knowledge.

Statistics for K-8 Teachers—Students learn the purposes and applications of descriptive and inferential statistics (e.g., measures of central tendency and variation, correlation, regression, t-tests, ANOVA, chi-square) and develop the skills to present these concepts to K-8 students.

Problem Solving for K-8 Teachers—A cornucopia of classic problems, new problems, and problem solving strategies that serve to enhance the mathematical skills and reasoning abilities for elementary school teachers.

Infusing Technology in the Elementary School Curriculum—Identification and evaluation of computers, instructional video, laser disc, digital cameras, and telecommunications for developing teaching materials and strategies appropriate for the mathematics classroom.

Curriculum Development and Evaluation—This course presents the theory and practice of curriculum development, evaluation and revision, especially as it relates to mathematics education.

Instructional Development and Evaluation—This course focuses on effective instructional models and examines in depth the TIMSS findings, CGI models, and theory-based models of mathematics instruction.

Seminar in Advanced Educational Psychology—This is a seminar on the psychological foundation of education, focusing on the nature and characteristics of development and learning processes.

Research in Education—This is a course on research methodology, including identification of research problems, use of library and internet resources, data gathering and processing, conducting research, and writing a research report (lays groundwork for the thesis or project).

*1999-2000

Current Issues and Trends in Mathematics Education—This course provides students with a solid base of knowledge for the understanding and analysis of national and statewide issues related to mathematics curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

*1999-2000

Project or Thesis—Independent, creative scholarly work on a significant issue. Theses must include a significant research component. Projects and theses are all 5-chapter volumes.

• Fresno Pacific University (Master of Arts in Education with a K-6 Mathematics Emphasis)

Arithmetic of the Rational Numbers—Using manipulatives and problem-solving strategies within a context, this course develops the underlying concepts and structure of the natural numbers, integers, and rational numbers.

Informal Geometry—Beginning with the geometric gifts of Froebel, this course explores the concepts and relationships of elementary geometry.

Math Perspectives—A math content course that integrates number, geometry, and data sense through problem solving.

Concepts of Algebra—This course provides a bridge between arithmetic to algebra. Looking forward from arithmetic to algebra and backward from algebra to arithmetic, students find themselves engaged in algebraic thinking and acquisition of the language of algebra.

Technology in Math Education—This course explores ways to use technology to enhance the teaching of mathematics in the elementary school.

Festival of Mathematics—This is a one-week institute setting with grade level strands in which teachers explore innovative ways to teach mathematics in the elementary classroom.

Integration of Mathematics and Science: Math Connections —This course focuses on the integration of math and science primarily from the content of mathematics. Science investigations provide the arena for the application of some of the big ideas of elementary mathematics.

OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

During this first year of the Project, the STEPSS Project Director and Mathematics Coaches have made numerous presentations to school administrators, teachers, district school board members and administrators. Project components and progress have been shared at the monthly Central Valley Math Network meetings. One of the PIs, Dr. Carol Fry Bohlin, gave an invited presentation on STEPSS to the President's Commission on Teacher Education at California State University, Fresno, in December, 1998.

*In June 2000, Dr. Bohlin was invited to address the President's Commission again to provide an update about STEPSS.

The STEPSS staff helped organize and facilitate several Family Math nights at Project schools. In addition, Family Math activities have been facilitated at four evening Migrant Family meetings for Project and non-Project schools in Visalia Unified School District. Several educators from neighboring districts have expressed interest in the Project and have participated in a variety of Project events, including the Institutes.

On November 6, 1999, a 14-person panel delivered a presentation accompanied by PowerPoint slides at the California Mathematics Council's Southern Section conference in Palm Springs. (Attendance at this popular conference typically exceeds 4500.) The university Co-PI's, the Project Director, the four STEPSS coaches, two principals, and five Teacher Leaders participated in this panel presentation.

*1999-2000

A presentation on the STPESS project has been accepted for presentation at the Association for Mathematics Teacher Educators' conference in Orange County in January, 2001.

The STEPSS program and activities have been profiled in District publications, which have increased further the profile of the project in the district and have made non-STEPSS schools eager to participate!

(1) 'STEPSS—Empowering Children to Think Mathematically!' Visalia Reader. July/August, 1998, 1 (3), p. 6.

(2) 'Family Math Night at Mineral King Elementary,' Visalia Reader. September, 1999, 1 (4), p. 2.

(3) 'STEPSS Lead to Math Mastery,' Special Delivery: Spotlighting Special People, Programs, and Schools. Winter, 1999, 3 (1), pp. 4-5, 8.

Finally, STEPSS has begun to develop a Web site: http://www2.visalia.k12.ca.us/stepss/

1999/2000

The STEPSS program has been highlighted in a California Department of Education study. The 'Mathematics Implementation Study' was funded by the California Department of Education and conducted by WestEd in partnership with RAND and Management, Analysis and Planning, Inc. In Chapter 7: Professional Development, page 93, the study highlights the STEPSS project - 'District Spotlight: A professional Development Program That Is Making a Difference'. This recognition of the STEPSS project came about because virtually every fourth grade teacher in our district who was interviewed by the researchers voluntarily mentioned the impact that STEPSS was having on them and their school. The 'Mathematics Implementation Study' report can be accessed at: http://www.edgateway.net/mis/