CBMS Forum on Teaching Teachers in the Era of the Common Core
October 2-4, 2011, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Reston VA

Plenary Session Talks and Breakout Session Presentations are here.

Overview 

The Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (CBMS) will host its fourth National Forum at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Reston VA on October 2-4.   The theme will be the mathematical education of teachers in the era of the common core.  This forum will continue and expand work begun at the three previous CBMS forums, which focused on the recommendations of the National Math Panel Report and then on the  Common Core State Standards initiative of the National Governors' Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).  The adoption of these standards by most of the states now provides an opportunity and incentive for the mathematics community to reflect upon the mathematics education that teachers need if they are to be successful teachers of mathematics in the era of the Common Core State Standards. By education, we mean both the initial education of teachers and career-long professional development opportunities so teachers can continue learning about mathematics and the practice of teaching it throughout their careers.  As one step in this effort, CBMS has begun the MET2 project, an update of its 2001 publication The Mathematical Education of Teachers.  In mid-September, we will release draft recommendations and discussion drafts of issues to be addressed in MET2 with the intent that Forum participants provide input to inform the MET2 document. 

The plenary sessions of the forum will provide participants with a better understanding of the features of emerging efforts in pre-service teacher education and professional development which reflect the mathematical practices and the mathematical content of the Common Core State Standards. The forum's breakout working sessions are intended to engage the participants in working toward the goal of increasing the level of engagement of college and university mathematics departments as partners with their mathematical education colleagues and with practicing teachers in all teacher education efforts, from pre-service through career-long professional development.  All who have a stake and interest in providing pre-service or continuing professional development for mathematics teachers at every level, pre-K to 12, are invited to participate.

Schedule

Breakout Working Sessions

Each breakout session will have a special focus, but there are several questions we ask participants to keep in mind in all the sessions. 

Breakout Sessions A  (Monday morning)

These breakout sessions have been designed to obtain input from Forum participants regarding issues that will inform the MET2 project whose goal is to produce a document that updates the 2001 CBMS publication, The Mathematical Education of Teachers. We have produced a series of brief reports that will serve as background information for the discussions that will occur. Most reports are organized around content domains in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) or the Mathematical Practice Standards. One report (A.11) addresses CCSS recommendations for probability and statistics in high school and directly addresses the question of whether the typical statistics course taken by future secondary teachers prepares teachers for the CCSS. Finally, one report (A.12) offers draft recommendations for MET2. You may download individual reports using the links to the MS Word or PDF format versions below or you may download all reports in one large (2.5Mb) PDF file Combined.pdf or in a (2.5Mb) portfolio containing all 12 reports as separate pdf files Portfolio.pdf. 

Forum participants will be asked to choose the breakout session they will attend. Space in each breakout session is limited to ensure that sessions do not become too large for a productive discussion to occur. You will receive an email asking you to indicate the breakout session you wish to attend and a second choice in case your first choice is fully subscribed.

Mathematical Practice

Content Domain

Recommendations

Breakout Sessions B  (Monday afternoon)

These sessions will be more informational in nature.  The intention is to make better known some of the programs and initiatives that are directed toward improving teacher education, both initial and career-long.

We need elementary mathematics specialists now! As schools and school districts move to implement the Common Core State Standards, mathematics specialists/instructional leaders are the transition agents in this journey. This session will examine the importance of content and pedagogical background, and leadership skills for mathematics specialists/coaches and instructional leaders. The session will also present the elementary mathematics specialists and teacher leaders project's web-based clearinghouse as a resource for those interested in or pursuing the work of the mathematics specialist/instructional leader.

Presenters:
Francis (Skip) Fennell, McDaniel College
Beth Kobett, Stevenson University
Jon Wray, Howard County (MD) Public Schools

This session will focus on three components related to teacher preparation in statistics: (1) The American Statistical Association GAISE Framework for K-12 and how it fits with the CCSS, (2) Recommended resources (both currently available and in the process of development) for teaching the CCSS in statistics and (3) The presenters’ experiences with statistics course development for pre-service teachers at their respective universities and with professional development as related to in-service teachers.

Presenters:
Chris Franklin, University of Georgia
Jerry Moreno, John Carroll University

NCTM is currently revising the standards for mathematics teacher education programs. These standards will be used as part of the NCATE/CAEP program review process, as well as other in venues. Come hear about the draft standards and help shape the final revisions through your feedback.

Presenters:
Carl Lee, University of Kentucky
Judy O’Neal, North Georgia State University
Monique Lynch, NCTM

An overview of the core curriculum and the mathematics requirements for early childhood education (ECE) majors in the University System of Georgia (USG) will be given. Particular attention will be given to the mathematics for teachers (ECE) course typically taken during the sophomore year and offered by two-year colleges. Partnerships between Georgia Highlands College and two four-year institutions of the USG will be described. In addition, work through a mathematics/science partnership (MSP) with Northwest Georgia Regional Educational Services Agency will be reported. Assessment items (typically representing a depth of knowledge beyond level one) developed in the MSP project for grades three through eight and which are aligned with Georgia Performance Standards and Common Core State Standards will be provided.

Presenter:
Carla Moldavan, Georgia Highlands College

Math for America's NY program provides induction and ongoing, career-long professional development programs for NYC public high school mathematics teachers and school leaders. This session will provide an overview of our research-based practices for new and for continuing teachers, including professional learning teams, intensive mentoring and advising, and vertical peer collaborative practices. We will allow a lot of time for audience discussion in order to tease out what practices are portable to other locations.

Presenters:
Katherine Socha and Amy Shapiro, Math for America

For a number of years, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has focused on building a statewide partnership with mathematics teachers, schools, districts, and educational service units, to raise K-12 student achievement in mathematics. During this session, we will share a variety of our efforts to build professional communities of educators, including the NSF-funded grants NebraskaNOYCE, NebraskaMATH, and the Math in the Middle Institute Partnership. We will engage participants in a discussion of necessary and sufficient conditions to support such professional communities, and how such conditions can be created or worked around.

Presenters:
Wendy Smith, University of Nebraska Lincoln
Paula Millerd and Greg Sand, Omaha Public Schools
Jerel Welker, Lincoln Public Schools

A panel of mathematics teacher educators will address the unique opportunity for higher education and school systems to support teacher preparation and professional development in relation to the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and the related assessments across grades levels.

Presenters:
Marilyn Strutchens, (Moderator) President of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, Auburn University
Jenny Bay-Williams, University of Louisville
Lynn BreyFogle, Bucknell University
Timothy Hendrix, Meredith College
Beth Herbel Eisenmann, Michigan State University
W. Gary Martin, Auburn University
Amy Roth McDuffie, Washington State University Tri-Cities

Breakout Sessions C  (Tuesday morning)

These sessions will focus on ways of building community and cooperation among the constituencies involved in teacher education and professional development. 

For over 20 years, a mathematical community of secondary teachers, mathematicians, and mathematics educators has been growing and evolving in the Boston area. It provides a good case study---both of what's possible in such longstanding communities of mathematical practice and of the stubborn challenges and obstacles that have been there from the beginning. Participants will think together about the core principles that sustain such communities and about ways to overcome the inevitable obstacles that spring up as they mature.

Presenters:
Al Cuoco, Education Development Center
Wayne Harvey, Education Development Center
Glenn Stevens, Boston University

This breakout session will be devoted to an open discussion on ways that mixed groups of PreK-12 mathematics teachers, college or university mathematics teachers, and other mathematics teaching professionals can work together and learn from each other. Participants will be invited to share examples of communities and ideas for joining these communities into a vigorous community that strives towards excellent mathematics teaching at all levels.

Presenter:
Sybilla Beckmann, University of Georgia

Leaders in mathematics education and policy makers should be actively working to fully engage mathematics classroom teachers in professional dialogue and planning so that, like all professionals, teachers can become full partners in establishing norms and mechanisms of professional progress. Come join the round table discussion about how this can be accomplished by promoting leadership opportunities for mathematics teachers.

Presenters:
Suzanne Mitchell, President, National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics
Brad Findell, Past-President of the Association of State Supervisors of Mathematics

This session will share information about a new Collaborative called MC3. The issues that led to forming this coalition, it's mission, it's goals, its website, will be presented. Then the organizations will each give a short presentation on their roles and perspective on MC3, and recent action in regard to MC3. There will be an opportunity for Q&A and discussion.

Presenters:
Mike Shaughnessy, President of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Marilyn Struchens, President of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators
Diana Kasbaum, President of the Association of State Supervisors of Mathematics
Doug Sovde, PARCC Assessment Consortium

The U.S. has never had a national discussion about its education policy. It got the SAT and ETS (via Henry Chauncey and James Bryant Conant) without one, ditto NCLB. Reaction to "Brown" exposed the fault lines such a discussion must negotiate, but "Rodriguez" has produced only silence. Are we mature enough as a nation to have this discussion? Are mathematics educators ready to participate as constitutional people?

Presenter:
Bob Moses, The Algebra Project

The Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC) goals are to ensure that K-12 students in Georgia receive the best possible preparation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) through content professional development (PD) and some direct student participation. This breakout session will outline the CEISMC’s role with a strong emphasis on mathematics, responses to the questions of overall theme of the conference, and based on the Common Core. There will be a number of examples including such projects as the Georgia Internship Fellowship for Teachers (GIFT) program which has teachers working in research labs and its evaluation, a year long course in calculus beyond AP given via broadcast to six counties in GA, a joint project with NASA doing electronic professional delivery which includes a probability and 3 statistics courses, and the math projects of CEISMC’s Race to the Top award including advanced mathematics courses

Presenters:
Richard Millman and Paul Myers, Georgia Tech

The presenters will discuss the Learning Mathematics for Teaching research program that outlines a framework for MKT, other research at the secondary level on MKT, and engage the audience in discussions about future mathematics education research on what MKT is and how we can arrange pre-service and in-service programs so that teachers gain it

Presenters:
Karen King, NCTM
Mark Thames, University of Michigan

Intended Participants

We are especially seeking teams of 2 to 4 people that include both higher-ed and school system people. One example of a team would be a university mathematics department chair, a mathematics educator, a state or district school official in charge of mathematics instruction, and a practicing teacher. To keep the discussions well grounded in reality, it is important for teams to include a practicing teacher or other school based professional.  With a view toward building future leadership, we encourage teams to include an early career person who has leadership potential. We expect a certain number of individual and “observer” participants and we especially welcome observers affiliated with organizations that have the capacity to act as agents for large-scale change.

Registration

We are now at capacity and can no longer accept new registrations.  The information below is left for archival reasons.
Registration must be done online by going here.   Each person, whether registering as as a member of a team or as an individual must submit a registration.  On the registration form, you will be asked whether you are registering as part of a team or as an individual.  If you are part of a team, you will be asked to give the team name. There is a registration fee of $100 for a team of up to 4 persons or $50 for an individual. Please request your team leader to send in the $100 team registration fee for your team if you are a member of a team or be sure to send in your $50 registration fee yourself if you are attending as an individual. This should by sent by September 23 to

CBMS
1529 Eighteenth St NW
Washington DC 20036

Unfortunately, we are not equipped to handle credit card payment. 

Hotel Reservations

Please make your own hotel reservations directly with the hotel, the Hyatt Regency in Reston VA.  You can make hotel reservations online by going here or by calling 1-888-421-1442 and saying you are with the CBMS Forum group.   Our group rate is $189 per night plus tax which is currently 9%.   You must register by September 13 to get this rate.  The hotel is located about 6 miles from Dulles Airport (IAD) and there is a complimentary hotel shuttle between the airport and the hotel.  Details about transportation to the hotel are here.

Questions

Please direct questions about the forum to Ron Rosier at rosier@georgetown.edu.