Early Math Teachers Celebrate ‘Critical Thinking, Not Correct Answers’
With math literacy a must for most jobs in our knowledge economy, Secretary Duncanhas called math teachers “our nation-builders of the future.” Yet, just 40 percent of 4th-graders and 35 percent of 8th-graders are proficient in math, according to the latestNational Assessment of Educational Progress.
Student Richard Mitchell III and his dad, Richard Mitchell Jr. enjoy a math game that uses the Candy Land board game with kindergarten teacher Heather Gustafson during a Family Game Evening at Jose de Diego Community Academy.
Aimed at increasing young students’ proficiency in math, Chicago’s Erikson Institute is transforming how teachers in pre-K through 3rd grade approach mathematics lessons through a research-based training funded by a five-year, $5 million Investing in Innovation (i3) Development grant awarded by ED in 2010. i3 “Development” grants support new and high-potential practices to improve student learning, and pairs that support with funding to evaluate the impact of the practices.
Through Erikson’s Early Mathematics Education Project, teachers are trained to lead “classrooms that celebrate critical thinking, not correct answers,” according to Erikson Senior Instructor Rebeca Itzkowich. For this i3 grant, teachers at eight public elementary schools in Chicago are participating in the professional development, which will ultimately support more than 4,500 students each year.
The project’s professional development includes learning labs, individualized coaching, school-based learning groups, and classroom implementation. Erikson’s professional development model produced almost three additional months of mathematics learning during a school year, in comparison to a matched contrast group, and helped teachers
What is ED’s Stance on Using Testing Data in Teacher Evaluation?
A recent letter to the Department of Education from a teacher in Cincinnati contained a quote that really struck me: “It is not at all that I am afraid of what my test scores might reveal. I am more concerned about what my student’s test scores will not reveal.”
Unlocking Human Potential: The Cost of Conflating Potential and Performance
Assistant Deput
Celebrating International Education Week!
Each year in November, we pause to celebrate International Education Week (IEW). The U.S. Departments of Education and State started IEW in 2000, to recognize and reflect on our interconnectedness and the importance of education to all of us around the globe, and as I look at recent developments around the world I see that this focus is even more relevant and compelling today.
