Group L1 Action Plans
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Team Name |
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National Center for Learning Disabilities |
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Team Leader |
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Sheldon Horowitz - shhorowitz@ncld.org |
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Area & Recs |
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Learning Processes 8, 9, 14 |
Program / Service: Early Math and LD
Program Description: Goal and Purpose
The goal of this work is to identify key findings from the National Math Panel and other complementary resources and disseminate them in easy, accessible language and interactive Web-based formats. Materials will be tailored to unique audiences to ensure that early math students, particularly struggling learners, have the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in school.
Timeline:
The proposed timeline for creating core content and implementing this program is two years: July 2008 – June 2010.
Problem to be addressed:
While reading skills have long been acknowledged to be critical for succeeding in school and in life, the importance of acquiring basic math skills is only beginning to be recognized by the American public. In a study conducted by the American Institutes for Research, comparing the math skills of students in industrialized nations, U.S. students in fourth and eighth grade were found to perform consistently below most of their peers around the world and continue that trend into high school. U.S. Secretary Margaret Spellings, in testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, stated that “…almost half of our 17-year-olds do not have the basic understanding of math needed to quality for a production associate’s job at a modern auto plant.” Math failure in school can seriously handicap both daily living and vocational prospects. In today’s world, mathematical knowledge, reasoning, and problem-solving skills are no less important than reading ability. This area of concern is particularly relevant for students with learning disabilities and others who struggle with learning.
Mathematics learning at the pre-K and K levels has recently been identified as a powerful predictor of future academic achievement. Recent data have suggested that children’s early math knowledge is so important that it fosters future abilities not only in math but also in reading. Pre-math skills at kindergarten entry have even been shown to predict math achievement as much as reading achievement by grade three. Again, the implications of these findings are profound for students with learning disabilities who, despite rapid and meaningful systemic changes in assessment and identification of children with special needs, are often left to ‘wait to fail’.
Identifying children at risk for developing math learning disabilities and difficulties and intervening early with instructional interventions is the key to ensuring that young children acquire the foundational skills they will need later in their school careers in order to succeed. The findings of the National Math Panel and other complementary activities offer unprecedented opportunities to influence public perception of the importance of math learning and work collaboratively with other organizations to promote effective policies and practices that support the efforts of policy officials, educators and parents.
Components of this initiative
Prospective Content and Dissemination Partners
Evaluation
Team Name |
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The California Algebra Forum Leadership Team |
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Team Leader |
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Patricia Crotti - pcrotti@wested.org Jim Greco Cathy Williams |
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Area & Recs |
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Learning Processes 8, 11, 12 |
Setting the context:
Currently the California Algebra Leadership Forum team works with members of the eleven regional networks in California. These regional teams work as external technical assistance providers to providing statewide staff development for teachers in grades K-8 related to California mathematics texts and standards and improving student success in Algebra 1. After initial training teachers are expected to complete an 80-hour practicum to extend and support the learning from the initial training. In addition, California has Algebra 1 as its content for grade 8 and within three years all eighth graders will be expected to take their state assessment in Algebra. These modules will be developed as part of this effort and delivered statewide to support teachers, administrators and schools in this effort.
Currently, the expertise and capacity of the California Algebra Forum network is built and supported through professional development via ongoing participation in the online Professional Learning Community and regional meetings/events convened throughout the state. The online community will be the primary dissemination vehicle and online training resource to launch the modules, conduct discussions, share strategies, and discuss the implications of pertinent research.
Outcome:
Develop and deliver a series of teacher and administrator professional development modules and online resources that will:
1) share the findings and implications of the NMP’s recommendations regarding the mathematics identified as the Critical Foundations of Algebra;
2) strengthen teacher understanding of how the learning of concepts and algorithms in these areas reinforce one another and
3) connect these Foundations to the California Mathematics Standards and the math content embedded in the newly state board of education adopted mathematics materials.
Learning Processes:
The target audience identified in the California Algebra Forum Action Plan is linked to the following Critical Foundation under Learning Processes:
8) Most children acquire considerable knowledge of numbers and other aspects of mathematics before they enter kindergarten. This is important, because the mathematical knowledge that kindergartners bring to school is related to their mathematics learning for years thereafter—in elementary school, middle school, and even high school. Unfortunately, most children from low-income backgrounds enter school with far less knowledge than peers from middle-income backgrounds, and the achievement gap in mathematical knowledge progressively widens throughout their PreK–12 years.
The deliverables identified in the California Algebra Forum Action Plan are linked to the following Critical Foundations under Learning Processes:
11) Computational proficiency with whole number operations is dependent on sufficient and appropriate practice to develop automatic recall of addition and related subtraction facts, and of multiplication and related division facts. It also requires fluency with the standard algorithms for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Additionally it requires a solid understanding of core concepts, such as the commutative, distributive, and associative properties. Although the learning of concepts and algorithms reinforce one another, each is also dependent on different types of experiences, including practice.
12) Difficulty with fractions (including decimals and percent) is pervasive and is a major obstacle to further progress in mathematics, including algebra. A nationally representative sample of teachers of Algebra I who were surveyed for the Panel rated students as having very poor preparation in “rational numbers and operations involving fractions and decimals.” As with learning whole numbers, a conceptual understanding of fractions and decimals and the operational procedures for using them are mutually reinforcing. One key mechanism linking conceptual and procedural knowledge is the ability to represent fractions on a number line. The curriculum should afford sufficient time on task to ensure acquisition of conceptual and procedural knowledge of fractions and of proportional reasoning. Instruction focusing on conceptual knowledge of fractions is likely to have the broadest and largest impact on problem-solving performance when it is directed toward the accurate solution of specific problems.
Dissemination Model:
Modules will be disseminated in several ways:
1. Via The California Algebra Forum On-line Community-Webinar
2. Via face-to-face as part of follow-up for legislated Mathematics program, SB 472
3. A combination of online and face-to-face other than SB 472 follow up.
Ongoing discussion to clarify issues and share effective practices will be available via the online community.
Deliverables:
Seven professional development modules (tentative)
Place Value
Operations/Properties
Rational Number Sense (2)
Ratio/Proportions (2)
Linear Relationships
Resources
Guiding Questions for the NMP Report
Crosswalk of SBE-Adopted Standards and Foundations
Annotated Bibliography of Research related to this topic
Threaded discussion topics related to each module and conducted
on the online community
Links to additional resources (Doing What Works, Center on
Instruction, etc.
Targeted audience:
Pre-K through grade 8 teachers and administrators. Recommended: teams of teachers attend with administrator.
Evaluation:
Utilize the LMT in some form
Explore a correlation between teacher and student misconception (University of Vermont)
Self-reporting survey evaluating the impact of the modules on participants (CACC)
Partners:
Current
California Department of Education (CDE)
California County Superintendents Educational Service Agency (CCSESA)
California Comprehensive Center at WestEd (CACC)
Future
National Center for Learning Disablities
The Promise Initiative
Timeline:
September 2008 Creation of module content topics and format
October 2008-February 2009 Development and piloting of modules Estimated completion of seven modules
November 2008 Overview and dissemination to California Algebra Forum regional leads
February 2009-Summer 2009 Delivery of modules
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Team Name |
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Department of Defense Education Activity |
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Team Leader |
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Michael Kestner - michael.kestner@hq.dodea.edu |
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Area & Recs |
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Learning Processes 9, 10, 14 |
The PK-12 mathematics program at the Department of Defense Education Activities is designed to promote mathematical proficiency in all students that enables them to enter the contemporary world with the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed for success.
The audience for this plan will be teachers and administrators who are charged with implementing changes to the DoDEA mathematics program.
The mathematics program is a comprehensive approach that includes the following components:
· Demanding Mathematics Content Standards that are Well-defined
· Curricula Support Programs and Materials
· Teacher and Administrator Training and Support
· Program Accountability
The mathematics branch at DoDEA HQ will convene a task group of practitioners to review the current status of the mathematics program and make recommendations for future reforms. These recommendations and the plan will use the National Mathematics Panel recommendations to address the following components.
1. Modify mathematics standards that provide a level of specificity needed to describe a conceptual understanding of mathematical topics and provide support in making instructional decisions
2. Analyze alignment between standards and instruction; standards and assessments
3. Build capacity of administrators to support, monitor and manage an effective mathematics program
4. Build capacity of motivated, high performing and diverse classroom teachers to deliver high-quality instruction aligned to standards
5. Establish a process of continual improvement of opportunities to learn and attain the highest student achievement
Specifically, the Learning Process Recommendations from the NMP that will influence this plan are as follows:
#9 In building the capacity of teachers to work effectively with students in the early grades, it is critical that teachers recognize and understand the perquisite skills and interventions to address deficiencies.
#10 The issues of algebra readiness will be directed by the content identified by the NMP and be a foundation for the PreK-12 standards to be established. In addition the instructional practices recommendations from the NMP will help to focus the capacity building of teachers and administrators.
#14 The capacity building for teachers and administrators will contain a focus on this recommendation. One of the results from program evaluation and teacher surveys indicate a belief that ability is a key component for student achievement in mathematics. This belief will need to be refocused in order to achieve success for all students.
Outcomes from these efforts will be evidenced by modified standards to include course specific standards for the HS and clear and specific PreK-12 standards that include examples for each objective. In addition a set of specific recommendations from the task group will be developed by the spring of 2009. The task group recommendations will give direction for a professional development model that builds the capacity of teachers and administrators to deliver an instructional program aimed at conceptual understanding. A comprehensive accountability and evaluation component will be established to review progress for each of the items in the plan.
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Team Name |
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Achieve, Inc. |
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Team Leader |
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Kaye Forgione - kforgione@achieve.org |
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Area & Recs |
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Learning Processes 10, 11, 12 |
Context
Through the American Diploma Project (ADP), Achieve and several partner organizations developed a core set of content Benchmarks that represent the academic knowledge and skills that high school graduates need to be prepared for success in college and high-performance workplaces. Additionally, Achieve has created a set of K-8 benchmarks which are vertically aligned with, or “backmapped” to the ADP Benchmarks, and which include a) balancing the development of conceptual understanding, computational fluency, and problem-solving skills, b) increasing students’ fluency with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division based on the core concepts of the commutative, distributive, and associative properties, and c) increasing students’ understanding of and use of fractions and decimals. The 33 states in Achieve’s ADP Network have used the ADP Benchmarks as a tool for improving their own standards. While most of Achieve's work in the area of mathematics is focused on state level content and assessment, our work with states involves advising them on a variety of policy related issues including the learning processes outlined in the Panel’s Findings.
Alignment Institutes
The goal of this 12-18 month process is for cross-sector teams to engage, across the state, their K-12, postsecondary, and business colleagues to identify standards that will provide high school students with an accurate preparation to graduate college- and career- ready. Because of the inherent alignment of the findings to the ADP Benchmarks, Achieve will create a tool to compare state standards and the Benchmarks for the Critical Foundations of Algebra.
State Services
As we work with states, Achieve recognizes that the NMAP’s Foundations for Success findings support the ADP Benchmarks. Achieve foresees the application of the Benchmarks for the Critical Foundations of Algebra analysis tool to augment the summary results provided to states. Inclusion of this comparison will complement the in-depth analyses Achieve already performs against other nationally recognized standards. Further, Achieve plans to incorporate Panel members in our future analysis work.
Assessment Partnership
In May 2005, leaders from the ADP Network States with support from Achieve began developing common end-of-course exams in Algebra I and Algebra II. State leaders recognized that using end-of-course exams would help ensure a consistent level of content and rigor in classes within and across their respective states. NMAP proposes that all students should learn content consistent with and through Algebra II. A majority of the Major Topics of Schools Algebra recommended by the NMAP are already included in the Exam standards of the ADP Algebra I and Algebra II exams (either in the core or the optional modules). As Achieve works with the states in the Partnership to expand their use of the exams, we can continue to emphasize the importance of the Major Topics of Schools Algebra that are a part of the standards – and must therefore be incorporated more fully in the teaching and learning across the states.
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Team Name |
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Sylvan Learning |
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Team Leader |
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Judy Ann Brown - judy.brown@educate.com |
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Area & Recs |
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Learning Processes 10, 11, 14 |
Target Audience:
Our target audience includes math students in elementary through high school, parents, administrators, and mathematics educators - including Sylvan’s certified instructors.
Intended Outcomes:
We are in the process of enhancing and modifying our curriculum based on the Math Panel research and recasting our math curriculum to continue to build computational fluency and encourage math confidence.
Timeline:
By spring 2009
Partners:
We are actively looking to partner with organizations and experts who will enable us to better serve America’s students, their families, and the educational community.
Evaluation:
In 2009, we will track the visitors and impressions on Sylvan’s blog, monthly e-newsletter, media interviews, outreach materials, and annual community and educator-targeted magazine. We anticipate generating millions of media impressions discussing NMAP findings.