Mathematics Specialists as Teacher Leaders

STEM 661

Dr. Sueanne McKinney

 Math Minutes
• What do you think your
greatest ability is in regards
to teacher leadership? For
example, I think mine is the
ability to build meaningful
relationships.
 Agenda
• Introductions
• Review Syllabus and Course Requirements
• What is the Role of the Mathematics
Specialist?
• What does the Research Say?
• What are Textbook Adoptions?
The Role of the Mathematics Specialist
• Take a moment to read about Ms. Doyle and Ms. Crane. What
do you think?
• What are your roles?
• Professional Development
• Modeling
• Co-Planning
• Co-Teaching
• Reviewing Student Work
• Mentoring
• Coaching
• Study Groups or Lesson Studies
• Leader of School Program
• Curriculum Review
• Textbook Review
• Professional Reading/Writing
• Grant Funding
• “Building Instructional Capacity”
 Research Findings
• Transition from Expert Teacher to Novice
Mathematics Specialist
• The Importance of Interpersonal Skills
• Social Forces
• Communication and Trust
• Content and Pedagogical Knowledge
• Coaching Strategies
• Assessment
• Research and Resources
 Reviewing Textbooks for Adoption
• What do I look for? What do I base my judgments on?
• Content Analysis
• Instructional Analysis
• Teacher and Student Resources
• Presentation
• Diversity
• Relevant
• Other Ideas?
• Let’s Make a Rating Scale!
• Identifying a Sense of Purpose. Part of planning a coherent curriculum involves deciding on its purposes and on what learning
experiences will likely contribute to achieving those purposes. Reviewers determine how effective the material is at conveying
a unit purpose and a lesson purpose and justifying the sequence of activities.
• Building on Student Ideas. Fostering better understanding in students requires taking time to attend to the ideas they already
have, both ideas that are incorrect and ideas that can serve as a foundation for subsequent learning. Reviewers determine how
well the material specifies prerequisite knowledge, alerts teachers to commonly held student ideas, assists teachers in
identifying student ideas, and addresses misconceptions.
• Engaging Students. For students to appreciate the power of mathematics and science, they need to have a sense of the range
and complexity of ideas and applications that mathematics and science can explain or model. Reviewers determine how well
the material provides a variety of phenomena or mathematical contexts and makes them vivid to students, particularly through
an appropriate number of firsthand experiences.
• Developing Ideas. Science and mathematics literacy requires that students see the link between concepts and skills, see them as
logical and useful, and become skillful at using them. Reviewers determine how well material justifies ideas, introduces terms
and procedures, represents ideas, connects ideas, demonstrates/models procedures and applications of knowledge, and
provides practice opportunities.
• Promoting Student Thinking. No matter how clearly materials may present ideas, students (like all people) will devise their
own meaning, which may or may not correspond to targeted learning goals. Students need to make their ideas and reasoning
explicit, hold them up to scrutiny, and recast them as needed. Whether or not the material is effective in promoting student
thinking is determined by how much the material encourages students to explain their reasoning, guides students in their
interpretation and reasoning, and encourages them to think about what they've learned.
• Assessing Student Progress. Assessments must address the range of knowledge and skills that students are expected to learn, as
well as the kinds of applications and contexts in which such knowledge and skills are useful. Reviewers determine how well
assessments align with the learning goals addressed in the material, assess students' ability to apply them, and use assessment
to inform instruction.
• Enhancing the Learning Environment. Providing features that enhance the use and implementation of the textbook for all
students is important. Reviewers determine whether the material provides teacher content support, establishes a challenging
classroom, and supports all students.