Improving Alaska Native Elementary Students' Math Performance

University Of Alaska Fairbanks Campus, Fairbanks AK

Investigators

Abstract

This three-year Teacher Retention and Renewal project seeks to improve the mathematics performance of Yup'ik Eskimo and urban Native students through four basic strategies: (1) improving teachers' content and pedagogical knowledge, (2) involving teachers in action research, (3) recruiting (and retaining) mentor/novice Alaska Native teachers, and (4) researching teacher training effects and its relationship to teachers' knowledge and student performance. The principal vehicle to accomplish these goals is a National Science Foundation sponsored curriculum, "Adapting Yup'ik Elders' Knowledge." This curriculum includes culturally relevant topics such as salmon fishing, kayaking, orienting and navigating. Including Native knowledge in the classroom may decrease the long-standing tension between school and community, which often leads to high teacher turnover. The instructional components of the project include three-week Summer Institutes, follow-up workshops in the communities, online support and community math activities. The Summer Institutes are devoted to the integration of culture, pedagogy and content knowledge through the use of the Adapting Yup'ik Elders' Knowledge curriculum. Through hands-on and inquiry-oriented sessions, participants generate questions, work in peer-assisted groups and keep journals as they explore mathematics, teaching and culture. As a teaching tool, the project uses videotapes from Alaskan classrooms, from other classrooms using culturally-based math programs and from international studies on math teaching and learning. Participants of the Summer Institutes receive credit for three University courses: Geometry and Spatial Reasoning; Algebraic Thinking; and Pedagogy, Content and Culture. The follow-up workshops occur in each community and involve teachers, elders, students and families. To further support the mentors and novice teachers, there are three audio conferences during the school year and on-line support via the use of Blackboard. The project also involves a large research study. The Principal Investigator uses both quantitative and qualitative research methods to investigate (a) the relationship between the teacher training component and teacher knowledge, attitude and performance, and (b) the effects of these processes on Alaska Native and Yup'ik student mathematics learning.