Supporting Urban Science and Mathematics Educators

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Supporting Urban Scienceand Mathematics Educators
Birmingham Houston Memphis
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• SUSME is a partnership including
• 3 urban universities

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• And 3 urban school systems
• Birmingham City
  Schools
• Houston ISD
• Memphis City Schools

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• Supported by
• The National Science Foundation
• Teacher Professional Continuum
• Division of Research on Learning
• in Formal and Informal Settings

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• Problem
• Half of new teachers leave teaching during their
  first 5 years
• Turnover is highest in urban schools and high
  poverty schools
• 20 of teachers in high poverty schools leave
  each year

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• Problem
• Teachers new to working with inner-city students
  in schools with large numbers of minority and
  lower income students are especially prone to
  attrition. This effectively insures that students
  in the nations most challenging classrooms will
  continue to get its least qualified teachers.
• - Fideler and Haselforn, 1999

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• Problem
• University of Tennessee Study (1996) found
• Children who had the most effective teachers
  3 years in a row posted academic achievement
  gains that were 54 higher than gains of children
  who had the least effective teachers 3 years in a
  row.
• - Wong, 2004

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• Possible Solution
• Provide effective support for beginning teachers
  through mentoring and induction programs.

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• Project Goals
• Develop and implement models for beginning
  science and mathematics teacher induction and
  support.
• Determine which mentoring models are most
  effective in urban environments.
• Enhance the content knowledge and pedagogical
  skills of secondary science and math teachers.
• Prepare secondary teachers to understand the
  environment of urban classrooms and communities.
• Prepare qualified, experienced teachers to serve
  as mentors and teacher leaders in their schools
  and districts.
• Contribute to the research-based understanding of
  preparing and supporting science and mathematics
  teachers in urban systems.

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• Project Goals
• Goal 1 Develop and implement models for
  beginning science
• and mathematics teacher induction and support.
• Three Mentoring Models
• In-school buddy model
• In-school extra time for support
• External full time mentor

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Mentoring Environments
Conditions Available at Beginning Teachers School Mentoring Group Assignment Beginning Teachers in each of 3 systems
Mentor in same discipline Close proximity Common planning periods Additional release time In-school extra support time 20 science and mathematics
Mentor in same discipline No common planning No release time In-school limited support time buddy 20 science and mathematics
Some or none of the above Full time mentor 12-15 science 12-15 math
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Characteristics of Mentoring Models
Model Mentor Release Time of Mentees Mentor/Mentee Contact
In-school limited support time buddy None 1 Weekly outside of class
In-school extra support time Two daysper semester 1 Daily common planning period, observation in class twice/semester
External full time mentor Full time 12-15 Pre school and weekly in class
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SUSME Training Focus
Year Focus of training/mentoring
1 Survival
2 Strengthening content and pedagogical skills
3 Collaborative networks to improve teaching skills and student achievement
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• Beginning Teacher Support
• Mentor
• Orientation provided by school system
• SUSME project web site
• Science and mathematics content courses offered
  by each university
• Training in Lesson Study (Year 3)
• Participation in Lesson Study collaborative
  groups (Years 34)

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• Mentor Teacher Support
• One week summer mentoring institutes (Years 12)
• Follow-up academic year workshops (4)
• SUSME project web site
• Science and mathematics content courses offered
  by each university
• Training in Lesson Study (Year 3)
• Participation in Lesson Study collaborative
  groups (Years 34)

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SUSME Main Page
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SUSME Collaborative Wiki
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SUSME Current Focus Lesson Study

• Lesson study is a professional development
  process that Japanese teachers engage in to
  systematically examine their practice. The goal
  of lesson study is to improve the effectiveness
  of the experiences that the teachers provide to
  their students.
• Source Lesson Study Research Group
  lsrg_at_Columbia.edu

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A Focus on the Examination of Lessons

• The core activity in lesson study is for
  teachers to collaboratively work on a small
  number of study lessons.
• These lessons are called study lessons because
  they are used to examine the teachers practice.

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Working on a Study Lesson

• Research and preparation
• A group of teachers researches and jointly
  develops a detailed lesson plan for the study
  lesson.
• Implementation
• One teacher teaches the study lesson in his/her
  classroom while other group members look on.
• Reflection and improvement
• The group meets to discuss their observations of
  the lesson, review student work, and revise the
  lesson.
• Second implementation and reflection
• (optional but recommended)
• Another teacher teaches the revised study lesson
  in a second classroom while group members look
  on. The group meets again to discuss and refine
  the observed lesson.

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Working on a Study Lesson

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SUSME Adaptations of Lesson Study for Urban
Schools

• Mentors and their beginning teachers make up
  content-specific study groups
• Study groups of 4-8 teachers meet to create
  lessons (math and science)
• One member of group teaches the lesson to her
  students while lesson is videotaped
• Study group meets to review video and critique
  and refine lesson
• Refined and tested lessons are posted on SUSME
  website for use by any teacher

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Challenges

• Adapting to frequent changes in three major urban
  school systems and universities
• Collection of evaluation data
• Finding time to meet to plan and analyze lessons
• Scheduling and filming videos of lessons in urban
  science and math classes

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Opportunities

• Improve the professional lives of beginning
  teachers through comprehensive induction programs
• Develop skilled mentor teachers who will be
  valuable assets to their school system
• Establish learning communities in schools that
  will systematically work to improve instruction
• Assemble a library of classroom videos available
  for use in mentoring and professional development
• Contribute to the national understanding of how
  to support beginning teachers in urban
  environments

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For more information contact

• University of Alabama at Birmingham
• David Radford, PI dradford_at_uab.edu
• University of Houston
• John Ramsey, CoPI jramsey_at_uh.edu
• University of Memphis
• Shirley Key, CoPI skey_at_memphis.edu