Growing Teacher Leadership in Mathematics for Underserved Schools

Bank Street College Of Education, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

The project aims to address the national need of preparing highly effective mathematics teacher leaders to serve in underserved schools. The project proposes to allow practicing teachers to pursue a master’s degree in math education and continue to grow their teacher leadership through four years of professional learning. This project responds directly to national issues in mathematics education focused on recruitment and retention of mathematics teacher leaders of color. Therefore, this project focuses on the recruitment and support of racially and ethnically diverse, exemplary practicing mathematic teachers to become Master Teaching Fellows (MTFs). Project activities will engage them in the growth of their identities as mathematicians and teacher leaders who can influence the mathematics teaching within their schools and across the district. The project will also investigate the following questions: How can efforts focused on increasing the racial literacy of current mathematics teachers support their teacher leadership development? In what ways will teacher leaders embrace an equity stance in their work with colleagues? Policymakers, school administrators and teachers know that Students of Color (SoC) continue to face barriers to postsecondary success, and Teachers of Color (ToC) have high attrition rates despite national efforts. The essential question the project will grapple with is: How can a graduate program and sustained professional development address and potentially redress the effects of systemic and structural barriers that can limit or eliminate opportunities for non-white teachers teaching mathematics? This project at Bank Street Graduate School of Education includes partnerships with Gonzaga University’s Department of Mathematics, professionals at New York Hall of Science (NYSCI), and New York City's Department of Education (NYC DOE). This project aims to provide scholarships to enable 14 high-achieving math teachers to complete a Master of Science degree in mathematics leadership. The project includes a full scholarship for the final 14 months of the 16-month program, followed by four years of professional learning, during which teachers will receive an annual salary supplement of 10,000 as they continue as classroom teachers. The goal of the project is to recruit and support exemplary math teachers in growing their identities as mathematicians and teacher leaders in order to influence the mathematics teaching within their schools and across the district. Bank Street’s partners at the NYC DOE have expressed a strong need for mathematics educators, teacher leaders, and school and district leaders who embrace a learner-centered approach to mathematics education. This project will contribute to building a pipeline of strong math teachers who can influence the way schools and districts approach the teaching and learning of mathematics. Evaluation will include the progress towards the objectives of the master’s degree and to collect summative data to document the effectiveness of the project’s mathematics teacher leaders. Faculty and students will submit proposals to various conferences and publications to promote the work of the project. This Track 3: Master Teaching Fellowships project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts. It also supports research on the effectiveness and retention of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.