Teachers Assisting Students to Excel in Learning Mathematics (TASEL-M)
has been developed by a partnership that includes California State University-Fullerton,
the Orange County Department of Education, Orange Unified School District,
Fullerton Joint Union High School District, and Garden Grove Unified School
District. TASEL-M is a standards-based, data-driven program designed
to improve students' academic performance in mathematics by giving their
teachers the knowledge and tools to accurately diagnose students' deficiencies,
assess their progress, adjust the curriculum and pedagogy, and transform
the departmental culture to maximize student learning in mathematics.
The partnership seeks to improve the mathematics performance of 14,000
students (approximately 70% of these students are from underrepresented
minority groups) at four low-performing high schools and seven feeder
middle schools. TASEL-M focuses on these students' ninety mathematics
teachers, roughly one-third of whom have emergency or supplemental credentials
and neither majored or minored in mathematics. Strategies employed to
raise student achievement include: using data to get results; improving
classroom assessment; teacher coaching and mentoring; and increasing pedagogical
content knowledge. The nature and form of the comprehensive professional
development activities are expected to change administrative practice
in the school and in the classroom, effecting a cultural change that creates
a sustainable climate of improvement and achievement.
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