Improving Mathematics Teaching and Learning Through School-Based Support: Champions or Naysayers

Authors: Marilyn E. Strutchens, Daniel Henry, W. Gary Martin, Lisa Ross

The State of Alabama faces significant challenges in providing a high-quality education to all students. In the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Alabama ranked forty-ninth of the 50 states at grade 4, and tied for last among the 50 states at grade 8 (National Center for Educational Statistics 2008). The depth of the problem becomes clearer when we consider the number of students deemed proficient by NAEP: Only one in four of Alabama fourth-grade students were achieving at or above the level of proficiency, and only one in 30 were at the advanced level. At the eighth grade, the results show even lower levels of performance, with about one in five at or above proficient, and one in 50 at the advanced level. As is true throughout much of the country, there are significant disparities in performance between white and African-American students and between students of poverty and students not living in poverty. For example, only one in 25 African-American eighth-grade students scored at the proficient level, as compared to one in four white students on the state NAEP mathematics assessment. Thus, the mathematics performance across different groups of students needs improvement.

A partnership including Auburn University, Tuskegee University and 14 school districts in east Alabama was formed in November 2002 to face this significant challenge. This partnership received major funding from the National Science Foundation Math and Science Partnership program in 2003. It has also received a number of other internal and external grants. A central goal of the partnership has been to ensure that all students, including African-American and other historically underserved groups, receive high-quality mathematics education. This requires a comprehensive set of strategies addressing all aspects of the educational system. Thus, the partnership has been working to systemically change what is happening in mathematics education across the east Alabama region (cf. Kim, Crasco, Smithson, & Blank 2001). The project design addresses five primary components, including: (1) curriculum alignment, (2) teacher leader development, (3) intensive professional development, (4) outreach to stakeholders, especially parents, and (5) improvement of teacher education.