E Needs The South East Ohio Math Teachers Circle (SEOMTC) will be a professional learning community of teachers, mathematicians, and educators from the region, who will meet regularly to engage in deep and fun inquiry and problem solving in mathematics This model, replicated successfully across the United States, but with none in Ohio prior to July 2012, is premised on the belief that when teachers engage in rich mathematical problem solving experiences, they not only develop their mathematical knowledge, but see immediate implications for classroom pedagogy (how to teach) and pedagogical content knowledge (how to teach mathematics in particular) The MTC program’s emphasis on problem solving is well aligned with numerous reports focused on college readiness and the education of the 21st century workforce Problem solving and critical thinking are widely cited as among the most important skills for college readiness (Gates Foundation report prepared by Conley, 2007), education at the college level (American Association of Colleges & Universities, 2007), and participation in the 21st century workforce (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2008; survey of 400 employers by the Conference Board, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Corporate Voices for Working Families, and the Society for Human Resources Management, 2006) Mathematical problem solving in particular is recognized as a priority in national education standards (NCTM, 1989, 2000; CCSS, 2010), curricular guides (NCTM, 2006, 2009), and policy recommendations (Ball et al., 2005; NCTM, 2008; National Mathematics Advisory Panel, 2008) However, mounting evidence from national and international assessments indicates that few U.S students are proficient with mathematical problem solving, particularly in the context of unfamiliar problems (Gonzales et al., 2009; National Center for Education Statistics, 2009; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2007) Deficiencies in U.S students’ mathematics performance start to become evident at the middle school level, which has emerged as a critical period for determining future success in high school, college, and the workforce (ACT, 2008; Fuller, 2009; Kay, 2009; National Mathematics Advisory Panel, 2008) Employers rank the majority of high-school graduates entering the workforce as “deficient” in problem solving, while the majority of two- and four-year college graduates are ranked as “adequate” but not “excellent” problem solvers (The Conference Board et al., 2006) Currently, middle school students are lagging behind their international peers On the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in 2007, U.S eighth graders scored significantly below eight Asian and European countries in mathematics, and U.S 15- year-olds ranked 35th out of 57 countries that participated in the 2006 Programme for Student Assessment (PISA; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2007) In addition, only around 32% of U.S eighth graders scored at the “proficient” level or higher in math on the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress The implications of these scores for eighth grade students are clear for the SEOMTC target grade band (3-8) and these results helped to shape that grade focus Students’ deficiencies in problem solving are hardly surprising given that the U.S curriculum has consistently been found to lack opportunities for participation in creative problem solving and mathematical reasoning activities (Hiebert, 2003; Klein et al., 2005; Schmidt, McKnight, & Raizen, 1996; Wenglinsky, 2000, 2002) However, taking the time to develop students’ higher-order thinking skills is associated with improved student achievement in mathematics (Wenglinsky, 2000, 2002) In turn, teachers’ content knowledge of mathematics plays a critical role in the extent to which they engage students in rich mathematics (Hill et al., 2007) A recent study on Mathematics Teaching in the 21st Century (MT21) (Schmidt et al., 2007) found that middle school math teachers in the U.S ranked in the middle to the bottom in terms of content knowledge compared with the five other countries studied (Bulgaria, Germany, Mexico, South Korea, and Taiwan) There is reason to believe that improving teachers’ knowledge of mathematics will translate to increased student achievement (cf Hill, Rowan, & Ball, 2005) At least two major factors related to teachers’ content knowledge are linked with improved student achievement in mathematics: (a) formal degrees, certifications, or coursework in mathematics (Goe, 2007; Harris & Sass, 2007), and (b) professional development that is focused on content and/or higher-order thinking skills (Harris & Sass, 2007; Wenglinsky, 2000, 2002) Only approximately 54% of middle school mathematics teachers had completed a mathematics major or were fully certified to teach mathematics as of the most recent School and Staffing Survey (National Science Board, 2008) Intervention is particularly needed in rural South East Ohio The 2011-12 report on the status of rural education, Why Rural Matters (Strange, Johnson, Showalter, & Klein, 2012), drew on national NCES data and found that statewide rural Grade NAEP math scores averaged 246 (ranking 40th of all states), and Grade NAEP math scores averaged 287 (ranking 30th of all states) Those figures include all of rural Ohio (with the nation’s fourth largest rural school student population), but past history indicates that South East Ohio indicators of both poverty and performance paint an even bleaker picture Based on data from results from the Ohio Achievement Assessments in Athens County in May 2010-2012, students are performing below average in multiple districts Athens City School District and Nelsonville-York City School District are both considered high-needs districts this year Athens County includes three other school districts: Alexander Local School District, Federal Hocking Local School District, and Trimble Local School District Even though they are marked as a high-needs school, Nelsonville-York has actually performed highest out of the five districts in the 3-6 grade OAAs when it comes to math Athens, however, has performed below the state average in grades 3-8 each of the past three years Data from the May 2012 tests tells us that they were joined by Alexander and Federal Hocking at the rd grade level; Federal Hocking and Trimble in both the 4th and 5th grades; Alexander, Federal Hocking, and Trimble at the 6th grade level; Federal Hocking in the 7th grade; and Federal Hocking, Nelsonville-York, and Trimble at the th grade level This suggests that all five districts could use assistance at these intermediate grade levels Strengthening teacher content knowledge is a way to eliminate the most serious impediment to student achievement: lack of familiarity or mastery of mathematics content Moreover, the structure of teachers’ circles communicates the importance of key mathematical practices and pedagogies (inquire, probe, play, conjecture, attend to precision, search for underlying structure), thus modeling approaches that teachers may adapt to classrooms to increase student engagement in mathematics lessons Thus, providing effective content-based professional development to in-service teachers emerges as a critical priority for improving how mathematics is taught at the middle school level Effective professional development is generally agreed to include the following features: (a) content focus, (b) active learning, (c) coherence with other expectations and goals, (d) sustained duration, and (e) collective participation of teachers from a school, district, and/or grade level (Desimone, 2009) However, relatively few teachers appear to be offered professional development opportunities that can be characterized as meeting these criteria in a meaningful way (Desimone et al., 2002; Garet et al., 2001; Hill, 2004; Scotchmer et al., 2005) The MTC program provides grades 3-8 teachers with deep content knowledge enrichment as well as increased practice and facility with mathematical habits of mind The MTC model is a novel method of professional development that centrally involves mathematicians in long-term collaborations with middle school mathematics teachers in order to increase the teachers’ content knowledge, mathematical problem-solving skills, and ability to bring rich mathematics into their classrooms By tapping into mathematicians’ and mathematics educators’ expertise in the process of doing mathematics, the MTC model provides a natural mechanism for them to serve as resources for the teachers The MTC model both meets the criteria for effective professional development and also has potential as a costeffective, scalable, and sustainable model for enriching teachers’ knowledge of mathematics and mathematical problem solving F Goals and Anticipated Outcomes Objectives of SEOMTC include: (1) to expand teachers’ mathematics content knowledge; (2) to further develop teachers’ fluency modeling and using the Common Core Mathematical Practices (CCMP); (3) to train teachers to provide opportunities for their students to develop mathematical behaviors consistent with the CCMP; and (4) to build a network of mathematics teachers, mathematicians, and mathematics educators throughout rural South East Ohio for the purpose of bringing resources to support K-12 mathematics education through a focus on the key grades 3-8 The proposed project will support just the first year of SEOMTC Eventually, we hope SEOMTC will become self-sustaining, with local sponsors providing supplies and space for the workshops Other MTC sites have found that incentives like teacher stipends are necessary to recruit initially, but can be phased out once projects have a core group of teachers who attend regularly and find value in the experience The Ohio University Mathematics Department has agreed to contribute time and content development to this as an outreach project, with faculty and graduate students contributing to the Saturday workshops In addition, we have plans to recruit mathematicians from other campuses in the region and faculty from other STEM departments, all of whom might bring their expertise and ideas to the teachers G Activities The leadership team of SEOMTC was engaged in and trained to lead a variety of Teacher Circle activities Moreover, because Math Teacher Circles have been established at many sites around the country, there is an electronic clearinghouse of mathematically rich activities available to MTC (http://www.mathteacherscircle.org/) These activities are organized by content area; they all have a problem-solving focus along with clear ties to the Common Core Standards and content in the middle grade 3-8 curriculum Because they have been thoroughly tested and revised, these activities are ready to be used by facilitators with a minimum amount of preparation and organization time required The PI has already replicated successfully some of these activities in other settings and with varied audiences For the summer immersion session, we have the tentative participation of Dr Judith Covington, who has led the Northern Louisiana Math Teachers’ Circle for several years and who was recently named MAA’s Distinguished Teacher She will be serving in an advisory and planning capacity, as well as leading 2-3 days of the summer immersion experience Academic year meetings will be facilitated by leadership team members and by university faculty who have attended previous meetings of the group and are aware of the culture and community expectations of the Math Teachers’ Circle A timeline of project activities follows: Recruitment and Kick-off Event supported by the Stevens Literacy Center Target February 2013 audience is Athens and surrounding counties Activity: Conway’s Rational Tangles Four-day immersion event 25 teachers from Athens and surrounding counties engage in a residential experience focused on problem solving activities in mathematics Summer 2013 Activities include Set Game Geometry, Exploding Dots, and others from the MTC Clearinghouse Afternoon sessions will include time for discussing pedagogy implications 2013: September, November Academic year meetings Activities to be determined 2014: January, March, May Recruitment efforts Word-of-mouth Placement packets (token representative math problems and activities for professional internship candidates in relevant grades to give 2012-14: Ongoing to placement teachers to recruit for SEOMTC) School fliers Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics (OCTM) and NAEYC state affiliate conference and electronic announcements Website, Facebook, Twitter (already established) H Alignment with Ohio’s College and Career Ready Standards The Math Teachers’ Circle (MTC) is a relatively new model for professional development that focuses on developing teachers’ mathematical problem-solving skills in the context of rich mathematical content The model centrally involves mathematicians in long-term collaborations with middle school mathematics teachers The emphasis is on helping teachers understand and engage in key features of the eight mathematical practices described in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics Teachers who participate in a Math Teachers’ Circle not just mathematics, they become mathematicians Not only does the MTC model meet the five criteria for effective professional development described above, it also has the potential to be cost-effective, scalable, and sustainable over many years In addition, preliminary evaluation evidence suggests that participation in a MTC can increase teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (White, 2011), and many participants have reported increased confidence in their mathematical problem-solving ability and described ways in which they have changed their teaching practice as a result of participation (White & Donaldson, 2011) It is difficult to specify a specific content area that Mathematics Teachers’ Circles address, because the topics are chosen to integrate multiple areas and practices, demonstrating the oft-quoted but seldom-followed adage that “depth is coverage.” For instance, the February recruitment event will highlight “Rational Tangles,” developed by John Conway, and involve teachers using ropes and two simple rules (rotate and twist) to conjecture how to invert certain combinations of twists and rotations to return to the beginning state Along the way, this activity involves Mathematical Practices and (“Reason Abstractly and Quantitatively” and “Look for and Make Use of Structure”) prominently (as well as MP1 and MP6) It also features key content standards in grades 3-8 as the investigation spirals deeper to develop, for instance, the Operations and Algebraic Thinking (OA) strand, as well as the Number and Operations-Fractions (NF) strand This integrative approach, rooted in following inquiries and testing conjectures experimentally, is a hallmark of the Mathematics Teachers’ Circle approach After the inquiries, MTC facilitators will help participants to explicitly link and critically reflect on the relevant standards and practices from the Common Core I Impact of Previous Project(s) This project is a new one for us, but we are continuing to build on previously-successful math-oriented projects: a current project called ‘Riting to Assess Mathematical Practices (RAMP Up) and a five-year project entitled Better Mathematics through Literacy (BMTL) As we are still in our first year of the RAMP Up project, the RAMP Up team, many of whom are key players in the Math Teachers’ Circle team, is involved in ongoing analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data measures collected from our cohort participants at the Summer Institutes in Athens and Chillicothe While our current findings are preliminary at best, the RAMP Up instructors are encouraged by the level of continued engagement exhibited by our intermediate grade teacher-participants in the opening month of the 2012–2013 academic year We are further encouraged by the high level of productive cognitive dissonance that has been created within the collective mindset of our first cohort Through their professional development, the textbook-bound, teacher-centered, ‘business as usual approach’ to mathematics teaching has been called into question as our participants share their struggles and successes as they attempt to implement student-centered and problem-based opportunities for student learning that mirrors the eight Mathematical Practices from the Common Core State Standards This critical reflection of the mathematics teaching and learning in their individual classrooms has also been challenged and supported by the expectations of the RAMP Up Action Research Project, and especially through the requirement of an Action Research project that turns that critical reflection back toward their own classroom practices Our preliminary assessment, supported by reports from evaluation data, suggests that the RAMP Up professional development project has been successful in improving 34 Appalachian intermediate grade mathematics teachers’ conceptual and procedural content knowledge Moreover, the explicit focus on assessing the eight Mathematical Practices as applied to the domain of rational numbers and algebraic thinking has already helped teachers to take steps to adjust assessment practices during the standards-transition period This has been strengthened by development of numerous protocols for formative assessment in the context of a community of peers This systematic presentation of writing-tolearn strategies applied to mathematics content combined with attention to formative assessment strategies to monitor student thinking and understanding is leading teacher-participants to implement and refine their thinking about what students know and are able to as they internalize and appreciate student-centered and problem-based approaches to mathematics Since our RAMP Up program has been based on the successful professional development model arising from the OBR-funded Better Mathematics through Literacy (BMTL) project, our project team will continue to build on this framework in the coming year For example, using qualitative and quantitative data measures from the 2010 – 2011 BMTL project at Ohio University Athens and Chillicothe Campuses, the project External Evaluator was able to ascertain impact in several ways The total students impacted by this project in the 10 – 11 school year was 1,089 students and 51% of those students were considered “high needs.” The proportion of participating teachers who have a good understanding of effective questioning techniques rose to 100%, a percentage point increase from preliminary to follow-up survey The proportion of participants who have a good understanding of methods necessary to teach math concepts effectively rose to 97%, a 21 percentage point increase from preliminary to follow-up survey At the beginning of the project, 36% of participants felt they were very effective teachers; response to this statement increased to 59% at the time of the follow-up survey Further, over 70% of the participants reported learning new mathematics concepts; over 85% of the participants reported learning new instructional practices, and over 80% of the participants reported using children’s literature, math manipulatives, and instructional tasks gained through their BMTL experience J Plan for Recruitment of Participants Recruitment is already underway, with a preliminary list of invitees numbering well over 50 and confirmed interest from at least 30 Part of the early generation of interest is due to the participation of school teachers on the leadership team (and with the experience of the Summer 2012 “How to Run a Math Teachers’ Circle”) Their credibility in communicating the goals and anticipated scope of engagement has already demonstrated success The team will further advertise via electronic means including the resources mentioned in the table in Section G, above, and by using paper fliers mailed to schools in the region In addition to the individual efforts underway, the team plans a two-hour February kick-off event to be supported by the Stevens Literacy Center and hosted in Athens, Ohio, but with invitations to educators from Athens and surrounding counties One goal of the February recruitment event is to recruit teachers to participate in the one-week summer immersion experience proposed here The February event will make clear connections of the activities to the new Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (2010), recognizing that for many grades 3-8 teachers in the area, concern over new and deeper content expectations is significant motivation for developing content knowledge, and especially in the collegial setting envisioned here K Evaluation Plan To formatively evaluate objective (1) expanding teachers’ mathematics content knowledge, the project staff will track teachers’ engagement in problem solving activities during SEOMTC sessions Tracking will occur via observations of the nature and frequency of teacher participation in the problem solving activities and feedback forms from the teachers Focus group meetings with willing participants will be led by James Salzman, Stevens Literacy Center, Ohio University, who will provide opportunities for teachers to share feedback directly with project staff about the mathematics Discussion protocols for focus group meetings will include questions such as: (a) To what extent did you find the mathematics activities challenging, and (b) In what ways anticipate incorporating what you learned into your practice? (c) How will you know if your new practices are effective in helping students learn? Summative evaluation of this objective will be conducted by James Salzman and supported by the American Institute of Mathematics (AIM-see supporting letter in Appendix A) Through AIM, the SEOMTC will participate in an ongoing national study of the extent to which MTCs impact teacher content knowledge by using the Learning Mathematics for Teaching instrument developed at the University of Michigan (2008) under the direction of Deborah Ball and Heather Hill to gauge growth in knowledge of key mathematics content in “Elementary number and operations (K-6, 6-8)” and “Proportional Reasoning (4-8).” Preliminary work by Donaldson (AIM) of pre- and post- scores on the “Elementary Number and Operations” subscores for the Northern Louisiana MTC showed statistically significant gains by teachers The project staff and James Salzman will generate formative and summative evaluation of objective (2) to further develop teachers’ fluency modeling and using the Common Core Mathematical Practices (CCMP), by tracking responses on writing assignments where the teachers describe characteristics or episodes that exhibit one or more of the CCMPs Focus group meetings may also serve as opportunities to probe and monitor teachers’ developing abilities in objective (2) To evaluate objective (3) training teachers to create opportunities for their students to develop mathematical behaviors consistent with the CCMP, the teachers will submit lesson plans and accompanying sample student work A scoring rubric designed by the Hawai’i Math Teachers’ Circle team will be used to rate the effectiveness of the lesson Graduate students in education will be hired to assess the lesson plans together with project members At least two assessors will rate each lesson plan These lessons will be archived for the use of all SEOMTC members, thus enhancing regional capacity to turn teacher work in mathematics outside of the classroom into substantive improvements inside the classroom To evaluate objective (4) to build a network of mathematics teachers, mathematicians, and mathematics educators throughout South East Ohio for the purpose of bringing resources to support K-12 mathematics education, we will report the number and backgrounds of people participating in the SEOMTC sessions L Replication and Dissemination In this case, the principal consumer of the results of this project is the participant constituency Results of the assessments above will be shared first and foremost with member teachers of the SEOMTC and the PI will seek feedback on that analysis to further develop discussion, implications, and analysis Further, the PI will share these results with the National Math Teachers’ Circle Network which has a wide dissemination base, and especially through its affiliates: MAA, AIM, Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) and others The team will present at the Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics and consider other professional conference venues such as regional and national NCTM meetings If appropriate, select activities or their reinvention by members for use in the classroom will be developed into submissions for the Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School journal, with circulation greater than 25,000