Guiding Evidence-Based School Improvement
Guiding Evidence-Based School Improvement
Lesley University' Center for Mathematics Achievement has collaborated with a wide range of Massachusetts school districts on a variety of professional development projects. These projects vary from Master’s level courses in mathematics and the teaching of mathematics to leadership development, workshops and consultation. Evaluation designs centered on quantitative analysis of both teacher and student performance prior to and following the intervention components and qualitative analysis of the processes of professional development and the application of project interventions in classrooms. See Selected Reports for more.
Project Contact: Dr. Hilary Kreisberg, Director
Email: hkreisle@lesley.edu
STEM-Connect, a U.S. Department of Labor-funded program of the University’s College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, develops and provides versatile, hybrid on-line, and campus-based certificates leading to careers in STEM-related fields. The programs are designed specifically to offer new opportunities to non-traditional adult learners, with priority to veterans and Trade Adjustment Assistance-eligible workers. Evaluation activities included an implementation analysis using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods focused on three levels of evaluation activity—formative, descriptive, and operational — and an outcomes/impact analysis of project effects using a mixed-methods, qualitative and quantitative approach. See Selected Reports for more.
Project Contact: Luis Garcia, Ph.D., Director
Email: luis.garcia@uvm.edu
The Vermont Mathematics Initiative, begun at the University of Vermont, has been a statewide program for teacher development in mathematics since 2000. In 2006 Dr. Meyers and colleagues at the Vermont Institutes conducted a longitudinal, quasi-experimental evaluation of program effects. They found statistically significant and important gains in students’ mathematics performance from 2004 through 2010. The evaluation of this program in more than 40 Vermont school districts continued with annual reports submitted to the U.S. Department of Education and the State of Vermont. See Selected Reports for more.
Project Contact: Dr. Judi Laird, Director
Email: jlaird@burkevt.net
The UVM Noyce Scholars program, funded by the National Science Foundation, recruits and prepares STEM professionals, with an emphasis on the application of scientific, mathematical, and engineering thinking and practices, to become secondary STEM teachers. The project is a partnership among several programs at UVM, and regional high-need high schools. Noyce Scholars engage in year-long school-based internships, participate
in monthly seminars, learn about the importance of research and discovery in mathematics and science and ways to model these practices in their own teaching. The project includes a longitudinal research study to investigate the impact of the program on recipients as teachers and teacher leaders their retention in the teaching profession, and the impact of the project on STEM and education faculty and programs at UVM. See Selected Reports for more.
Project contact: Dr. Regina Toolin, Director
Email: Regina.Toolin@uvm.edu.