THE DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
2000s
Introduction
The decade of 2000 saw the continued push for reform in mathematics education. In 2001 and 2009, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) released its? “Principles and Standards for School Mathematics” (PSSM) and “Curriculum Focal Points” which expanded on the work of the previous standards documents. Particularly, the PSSM reiterated the 1989 standards, but in a more balanced way, while the Focal Points suggested three areas of emphasis for each grade level.
President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind bill in 2001. This bill led to massive testing in the classrooms across the nation. The bill also led a group of governors and state departments of education to develop the Common Core State Standards. One of these states was Iowa where the “Iowa Core Standards – Mathematics” was written and implemented. The documents mentioned above were intended to give teachers clarity on what topics to teach and when to teach them. They were also intended to provide clarity and further emphasis to the suggested changes regarding how mathematics was taught.
The Malcolm Price Laboratory School mathematics faculty became knowledgeable of all these documents and reflected on their professional roles as teachers, developers of curriculum, and leaders of professional groups giving presentations and workshops as service.
The Department of Mathematics teaching faculty during this decade included Megan Balong, Suzanne Buckwalter, Jennifer Burton, Sheryl Dekutoski, Anne DuChene, Dennis Kettner, James Maltas, Kelly Nelson, Sue (Bock) Runyon, and Josh Wilkinson.
TEACHING
The secondary mathematics program for grades 7-12 at Northern University Middle School (NUMS) and Northern University High School (NUHS) at MPLS continued to focus on teaching mathematics as an integrated whole and to help students construct their own mathematical understandings. The faculty continued to provide a program where all students could study the curricular topics. A major change in the structure of the high school curriculum was implemented in 2005 due to several changes within the College of Education and the faculty’s assessment of its programs at the time. The faculty remained focused on providing the best curriculum for all students. (Note: The secondary mathematics program would comprise grades 6-12 later in the decade.)
2000s Middle School Mathematics Curriculum
The middle school mathematics program used curricular materials from the Connected Mathematics Program (CMP). CMP was developed to meet the demands of the NCTM and Common Core documents. The CMP program reflected the core beliefs about essential features of effective teaching and learning of mathematics held by the NU Middle School (NUMS) mathematics faculty.
Guiding principles of the NUMS mathematics program called for instruction that would:
Be Problem-Centered – Mathematical tasks for students in class and homework were the primary vehicle for student engagement with the mathematical concepts to be learned.
Identify Big Ideas and Go for Depth – Ideas were explored through these mathematical tasks in the depth necessary to allow students to make sense of them.
Be Coherent– The underlying concepts, skills, or procedures supporting the development of key ideas were identified and included in an appropriate development sequence. The curriculum built and connected from Problem to Problem, Investigation to Investigation, Unit to Unit, and Grade to Grade.
Intertwine Conceptual and Procedural Knowledge – The curriculum helps students grow in their ability to reason effectively with information represented in graphic, numeric, symbolic, and verbal forms and to move flexibly among these representations to produce fluency in both conceptual and procedural knowledge.
Develop Skills and Concepts as Needed – Concepts and skills were developed, as appropriate, to solve interesting and challenging problems.
PUBLICATIONS
MPLS mathematics faculty continued to author publications and create projects that helped local, state, and national school districts along with other educational entities, work through the process of change in mathematics instruction and provide the best education for all students.
Advanced Mathematics / Physics
James Maltas and Karen Couch Breitbach
2000-2003
James Maltas and Karen Couch Breitbach implemented a course titled “Advanced Mathematics / Physics” that integrated a high school physics course and an advanced mathematics (or pre-calculus) course. This integration was novel, and no materials existed that accomplished this integration. Maltas and Couch from the beginning had to develop their own curricular materials. They presented this integration at local and state mathematics and science conferences. These presentations generated an interest from other mathematics and physics instructors who were interested in offering this course in their schools.
Maltas and Couch, with support from the UNI College of Education and the UNI Office of the Provost, wrote and published curriculum materials for the course that they were then able to share with other instructors and schools. After six years of implementation and feedback they revised their curriculum materials.
“Building a Strong BASE of Support for All Students Through Coplanning”
SERVICE
The MPLS mathematics faculty were involved in both the writing and field testing of the new mathematics curriculum. They were asked to make presentations and provide workshops for school districts to help in their implementation of change.
Development of Core-Plus Mathematics
2nd Edition
James Maltas
2002-2003
Learning Laboratories Initiative – New Schools Project
North Carolina Department of Education
James Maltas
2008
North Carolina’s Department of Education chose James Maltasto be a member of its Learning Laboratories Initiative advisory and visitation team. The Department sought to identify “model schools” in the state that were successfully making changes in both curriculum and instruction. These designated model schools or “Learning Laboratories” could be visited by other schools nearby and interactions could be initiated. The advisory team set up criteria that potential schools needed to meet. These criteria were sent to potential schools, and those that wished to be designated a model school applied to the Department of Education. After initial screening, twelve schools were chosen for visitation. The visitation team visited each school’s classrooms and talked with administrators, teachers, students, and parents. The team then wrote summaries and evaluations of each school that were sent to the Department of Education where the final decision was made.
STEM in the Afternoon
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