The Coalition for Higher Standards Math Partnership Program
Project Director/Principal Investigator: Dr. Anne M. Collins
Director of the Center for Math Achievement and Director of Mathematics Programs Graduate School of Education
Description
The project is a partnership of three universities – Lesley, the University of Vermont, and the University of Massachusetts-Boston - the advocacy group Mass Insight, and MA school districts. Through multiple grants, the project serves Revere, Saugus, Malden, Brockton, and New Bedford from 2003 to 2007; and Haverhill, Fall River, Holyoke, Fairhaven, Somerville from 2006-2009. The goal of this project is to raise student achievement in mathematics by strengthening teachers' familiarity with math content and the application of content to the classroom. The project uses MA state Title IIA funding to provide an intensive, three-year course of study for coaches and instructional resource specialists and other teacher leaders in the participating districts, helping to create the cadre of well-trained, math-literate specialists required to help teachers apply elements of a larger, comprehensive math reform program most effectively in the classroom. Over the three years of this Title IIA project, participants will enroll in six courses, each consisting of 45 class hours and each carrying three graduate credits from Lesley University.
The project has been central to improving teacher quality and the effectiveness of math teaching strategies in two urban, high-need school districts within the Southeast region: New Bedford and Brockton. Somerville has joined the partnership for the final year of this three-year project. This work is a key aspect of a larger, comprehensive initiative organized by Mass Insight Education called the Math Achievement Partnership – an effort to produce systemic change in mathematics teaching in participating districts. New Bedford has been a particularly active member of this Partnership, sending virtually all of its K-6 teachers through 12 days of corollary intensive training conducted by MIE instructors in the district over the past three years.
Through its newest Title IIB grant, The Coalition for Higher Standards Math Partnership Program focuses on improving teacher quality in the high-need districts of Haverhill, Holyoke, Fall River, and Fairhaven. Teachers from Middleton and Winchester are also participating. A previous Title II grant program served teachers in Revere, Malden and Saugus, and on a space available basis the partnership served smaller numbers of teachers Peabody, Gloucester, and Canton. Approximately 70 teachers from across these districts have completed the intensive three-year program, and 55 of them chose to complete additional Calculus courses beyond the originally planned sequence. The primary focus is on teachers in grades 4-8, with additional teachers from both lower and higher grade levels also enrolled in the program. The specific goal is to provide strong, intensive, and sustained professional development leading to improved instructional practice and satisfying requirements for professional licensure and/or HOUSSE plans in Middle School Mathematics.
Young Artists Program at the Art Institute of Boston
Project Director/Principal Investigator: Ms. Diana Arcadipone
Associate Dean for Extended Programs
Art Institute of Boston
Description
Young Artists Program (YAP) provides art education and career training to artistically talented, financially disadvantaged high school students from Boston and the surrounding area. YAP provides scholarships and much-needed stipends to students aged 15-18 for professional-level training during the summer and the following school year in multiple visual arts disciplines. It complements high school art programs by offering intensive, small classes and facilities not available in most large urban public schools. In 2006, funding from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as several foundations provided funding for tuition, fees, materials and stipends for 35 students from Boston area high schools. In 2007,50 scholarships were provided through private foundation grants including funding from AGM Summer Fund, The Carl & Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation, The Ralph Bradley Foundation and the Butler Foundation.
Program goals are to:
- Motivate students to complete high school and prepare for post-secondary education;
- Inform students and encourage their consideration of career options in the visual arts;
- Expand students' understanding of the value of the arts in their own lives and in society;
Summer classes are held Monday through Friday on AIB's Boston campus at 700 Beacon Street, which is readily accessible by public transportation. Morning sessions run from 9:30-1:00. Afternoon classes begin at 2:00 and end at 5:30. Classes range from traditional visual arts foundation courses (figure drawing, painting) to specialized arts (bookmaking, photography) to computer-based training in such marketable skills as graphic design, digital imaging, animation, digital photography, and video production. Courses provide both aesthetic and skill-based training in a context that caters to the particular interests of this age group. Beginning summer 2007, lunch hours will be scheduled with a pre-college faculty artist talk with an emphasis on the professional career of each faculty. AIB pre-college faculty are mentors/advisors to each scholarship student. Summer 2007 will launch individual meetings with faculty mentors.The programconcludes with a culminating exhibition of student work.
A key element of the program is that high school students participate in a college-level educational experience where they earn a grade on a college transcript. Most courses are for one college credit, and all are taught by AIB adjunct faculty. During the school year, students are invited to participate in classes held on AIB campus on Saturdays. During the fall and winter semesters students are encouraged to continue within a particular visual arts discipline or to try a new discipline. Scholarship students are funded for additional course work.
Community-Based Environmental Research
Project Director/Principal Investigator: David Morimoto
Division Director, Natural Science and Mathematics
College of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies
Description:
Students in undergraduate Community-Based Environmental Research courses perform research in Cambridge with the goal of involving residents and using nature to build community while gathering important and useful scientific information. Funding to Lesley University from a federal UDAG grant to Area 4 in Cambridge will support work in Area 4 from summer 2007 to spring 2008 for community training for urban naturalists to assist next fall's Environmental Field Research class in choosing study questions and performing the work in the neighborhood, as well as to develop nature-based activities to bring the Cambridge community together. Naturalists to be trained include Area 4 adults, Lesley students, and both staff and members of the Cambridge Science Club for Girls and The Cambridge Boys and Girls Club.
In 2006-2007 this work took on an international dimension with opportunities for community service in Guyana. Michel Schindlinger and David Morimoto traveled to Guyana where they performed research on parrots and began the development of community work with Amerindians in that country (funded by a private grant from the Nuttall Ornithological Club). Potential opportunities exist for teaching, teacher education, ecotourism development, and ecological research in Guyana. A second trip in 2008 (funded by a Lesley Faculty Development grant) will be devoted to continuing the development of community-based work in Guyana -research, sister community/school relationships, distance learning, community service experiences for Lesley students.