The Rocky Mountain Middle School Math Science Partnership: 15 Months to
Highly Qualified is a Partnership comprised of three core partner Colorado
school districts, Jefferson County, Brighton, and Mapleton, and the University
of Colorado at Denver (CU-Denver) as the lead institution. Supporting
partners include the University of Denver (DU), the Metropolitan State
College of Denver (MSCD), and the Colorado State University (CSU) with
affiliations to Ft. Lewis College, the Front Range Board of Cooperative
Educational Services, and four school districts: Adams County 14, Englewood,
Elizabeth, and Gilpin County. Over the five years of the project, approximately
600 teachers will be involved and 26,400 students in grades 6-8 will be
impacted. The Rocky Mountain Middle School Math Science Partnership (RM-MSP)
will increase student achievement in high quality mathematics and science
coursework and reduce the achievement gap between minority and non-minority
middle school students by focusing the combined expertise of seven school
districts and four higher education institutions on implementation of
challenging curriculum taught by highly qualified and diverse teachers
in grades 6-8. Invoking the motto, "15 Months to HQ" (highly qualified),
this project will institutionalize the development, adaptation, and implementation
of university coursework, which will boost the content and pedagogical
knowledge of middle school mathematics and science teachers. The RM-MSP
goals are to:
--Enhance Teacher Quality through intensive professional
development that is grounded in scientifically-based research and tightly
linked to quality instructional materials, and which results in certification
for teaching mathematics or science in the middle grades and a corresponding
endorsement in mathematics and science at the state level;
--Enhance
Access to Challenging Curriculum ensuring that all middle school students
in the partner districts will have equitable access to challenging curriculum
by supporting teachers and their districts in the implementation of challenging,
research-based curriculum and providing outreach, intervention and research
in "differentiated instruction," particularly as it relates to Native
American and Hispanic students; and
--Enhance the Teacher Pipeline through
institutionalized improvements in pre-service preparation and recruitment
focusing on expanding the supply and diversity of highly qualified middle
grades teachers of mathematics and science.
In order to obtain these
ends, the RM-MSP is characterized by the weaving together of the following:
--Summer
Academies for teachers utilizing RM-MSP grant-developed university credit
courses taught by science and mathematics disciplinary faculty;
--Structured
Follow-up to support teachers in translating enhanced content knowledge
into instructional practice;
--State Endorsements for middle grades teachers
of science and mathematics;
--Dissemination of summer academy courses
on-line via a content delivery system integrating video/audio/lecture
content to allow for access beyond the partner districts, particularly
in rural areas;
--Outreach and Interventions for middle grades and high
school students involving summer camps and academic year content enrichment
labs;
--Research on the impact of camps on the content knowledge of student
participants;
--Grant-developed content courses incorporated into the
core curriculum offerings for all students in liberal arts and sciences;
and
--Recruitment of pre-service teacher candidates with demonstrated
talent in the mathematics and/or the sciences through designated departmental
advisors who work to identify high ability undergraduates within partner
institutions, as well as those in community colleges.
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