Supporting Urban Science and Mathematics Educators

1. Birmingham Houston Memphis Supporting Urban Scienceand Mathematics Educators

2. SUSME is a partnership including 3 urban universities:

3. And 3 urban school systems: Birmingham City Schools Houston ISD Memphis City Schools

4. Supported by: The National Science Foundation Teacher Professional Continuum Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings

5. Problem • Half of new teachers leave teaching during their first 5 years • Turnover is highest in urban schools and high poverty schools • 20% of teachers in high poverty schools leave each year

6. Problem “Teachers new to working with inner-city students in schools with large numbers of minority and lower income students are especially prone to attrition. This effectively insures that students in the nation’s most challenging classrooms will continue to get its least qualified teachers.” - Fideler and Haselforn, 1999

7. Problem University of Tennessee Study (1996) found: “Children who had the most effective teachers 3 years in a row posted academic achievement gains that were 54% higher than gains of children who had the least effective teachers 3 years in a row.” - Wong, 2004

8. Possible Solution Provide effective support for beginning teachers through mentoring and induction programs.

9. Project Goals • Develop and implement models for beginning science and mathematics teacher induction and support. • Determine which mentoring models are most effective in urban environments. • Enhance the content knowledge and pedagogical skills of secondary science and math teachers. • Prepare secondary teachers to understand the environment of urban classrooms and communities. • Prepare qualified, experienced teachers to serve as mentors and teacher leaders in their schools and districts. • Contribute to the research-based understanding of preparing and supporting science and mathematics teachers in urban systems.

10. Project Goals Goal 1: Develop and implement models for beginning science and mathematics teacher induction and support. Three Mentoring Models • In-school “buddy” model • In-school extra time for support • External full time mentor

11. Mentoring Environments

12. Characteristics of Mentoring Models

13. SUSME Training Focus

14. Beginning Teacher Support • Mentor • Orientation provided by school system • SUSME project web site • Science and mathematics content courses offered by each university • Training in Lesson Study (Year 3) • Participation in Lesson Study collaborative groups (Years 3&4)

15. Mentor Teacher Support • One week summer mentoring institutes (Years 1&2) • Follow-up academic year workshops (4) • SUSME project web site • Science and mathematics content courses offered by each university • Training in Lesson Study (Year 3) • Participation in Lesson Study collaborative groups (Years 3&4)

16. SUSME Main Page

17. SUSME Collaborative Wiki

18. SUSME Current Focus: Lesson Study Lesson study is a professional development process that Japanese teachers engage in to systematically examine their practice. The goal of lesson study is to improve the effectiveness of the experiences that the teachers provide to their students. Source: Lesson Study Research Group lsrg@Columbia.edu

19. A Focus on the Examination of Lessons The core activity in lesson study is for teachers to collaboratively work on a small number of “study lessons.” These lessons are called “study” lessons because they are used to examine the teachers’ practice.

20. Working on a Study Lesson: • Research and preparation: A group of teachers researches and jointly develops a detailed lesson plan for the study lesson. • Implementation: One teacher teaches the study lesson in his/her classroom while other group members look on. • Reflection and improvement: The group meets to discuss their observations of the lesson, review student work, and revise the lesson. • Second implementation and reflection: (optional but recommended) Another teacher teaches the revised study lesson in a second classroom while group members look on. The group meets again to discuss and refine the observed lesson.

21. Group Meetings (Research & Preparation) (Implementation) Study Lesson (1) (Reflection & Improvement) Group Meetings (Implementation) Study Lesson (2) (Optional) (Reflection & Filing of Records) Group Meetings Average time= 10-15 hours in about 3 weeks Working on a Study Lesson:

22. SUSME Adaptations of Lesson Study for Urban Schools • Mentors and their beginning teachers make up content-specific study groups • Study groups of 4-8 teachers meet to create lessons (math and science) • One member of group teaches the lesson to her students while lesson is videotaped • Study group meets to review video and critique and refine lesson • Refined and tested lessons are posted on SUSME website for use by any teacher

23. Challenges • Adapting to frequent changes in three major urban school systems and universities • Collection of evaluation data • Finding time to meet to plan and analyze lessons • Scheduling and filming videos of lessons in urban science and math classes

24. Opportunities • Improve the professional lives of beginning teachers through comprehensive induction programs • Develop skilled mentor teachers who will be valuable assets to their school system • Establish learning communities in schools that will systematically work to improve instruction • Assemble a library of classroom videos available for use in mentoring and professional development • Contribute to the national understanding of how to support beginning teachers in urban environments

25. For more information contact: University of Alabama at Birmingham David Radford, PI dradford@uab.edu University of Houston John Ramsey, CoPI jramsey@uh.edu University of Memphis Shirley Key, CoPI skey@memphis.edu