MARS-Mathematics
Assessment Resource Service The
Mathematics Assessment Resource Service, a national center
for design and consultancy in performance assessment and
professional development, was established at MSU in 1996
with additional research and development teams at UC Berkeley
and the University of Nottingham (UK). MARS is the implementation
phase of Balanced Assessment for the Mathematics Curriculum
(BA) and is partially funded by grants from the National
Science Foundation. MARS brings together some of the best
knowledge, skill and experience available, nationally and
internationally, in the design of mathematics assessment
systems. MARS provides workshops and well-developed and
tested materials for leaders who support the professional
development of mathematics teachers. MARS is directed by
Sandra K. Wilcox (MSU), Alan Schoenfeld (UC Berkeley),
Hugh Burkhardt (Nottingham, UK), and Jim Ridgway (Durham,
UK).
Communities
of Practice to Improve Mathematics Teaching and Teacher
Education: Project Funded by Lucent Technologies
Foundation ($315,000) Helen Featherstone and Sandra Crespo,
Co-PIs
The goals of this project are to establish school-based
teacher study groups in 4 local urban schools in order to
strengthen the schools' teaching of mathematics and the
field-based component of MSU's mathematics teaching courses.
Thirty-five teachers, 4 teacher educators, and 3 graduate
assistants are involved in this project.
Middle
Grades Mathematics and Science Teacher Induction in Selected
Countries: Michigan State University and the
National Center for Improving Science Education are engaged
in a 3-year study involving China, France, New Zealand and
Switzerland, examining teacher induction policies and practices
that support novice teachers' growth towards effective instruction
in mathematics and science in the middle grades. Using these
case studies of how systems help novice teachers as they
move from university preparation to classroom teaching,
the project aims to inform U.S. policies and practices on
induction. The study, led at MSU by Lynn Paine and Daniel
Chazan, provides opportunities to think about how issues
are conceptualized differently in other contexts, for example:
What kind of content knowledge are teachers expected to
have or to develop? How do they develop such knowledge?
What is the trajectory of teachers as they develop professional
experience? What sorts of opportunities are presented to
novices? What is the nature of teachers' professional lives?
Hypermedia
Tools for Planning Mathematics Instruction: This
project is one of several "design teams" that are part of
a larger project supported by the U.S. Department of Education's
Program for Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology
(PT3): Communities of Designers: A Project-Based Approach
to Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology. A design
community is an environment where pre-service teachers,
current and future teacher educators, in-service teachers,
educational technology experts, and content area experts
work together to explore the affordances and constraints
of modern technologies for supporting powerful teaching.
This design community, led by Daniel Chazan, is developing
and pilot-testing specialized software intended to help
mathematics teachers to design curriculum and instruction
around "big ideas" and in response to students' ideas.
Norris
Elementary Focus School: A Professional Development
Site for Mathematics, Science, and Technology. Project Funded
by the Eisenhower Funds, Michigan Department of Education
($125,000) Sandra Crespo, PI This project focused
on developing a different model of professional development
in the Traverse City School District. This model provided
on-going professional development. It involved the whole
teaching staff of an elementary school in Traverse City
and it aimed to develop a community of teachers who study
and learn from each other's teaching practices. This particular
school is intended to become a model and mentor for other
schools in the Traverse City area.
