Monday, December 14, 2009

Embassy Suites Hotel and Convention Center
Lincoln, Nebraska

The Summit offers Nebraska education and policy leaders the opportunity to take stock of the state's strengths in the area of mathematics education and to identify and begin working together on the major challenges we face.

These are exciting, times for people interested in mathematics education in our K-12 schools. Currently, mathematics teachers and their administrators face challenges resulting from the need to make "adequate yearly progress" and they are involved in discussions surrounding assessment and the revision of Nebraska's math standards. Education leaders at both the K-12 and collegiate level are working with government and business leaders as part of Nebraska's P-16 Initiative, while keeping their eye on the very prominent and fast moving initiative by the National Governors' Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers to develop a set of Common Core State Standards. College and university faculty are increasingly becoming involved in efforts to provide professional development opportunities for mathematics teachers and are working to strengthen the initial certification of new mathematics teachers.

These questions guide the Nebraska Summit design:

• What challenges does Nebraska face in mathematics curricula, standards, and assessment?
• What action is needed to ensure high quality opportunities for all students, including rural students, low income students, students from underrepresented populations, etc.?
• How can partnerships between Nebraska's K-12 education community and the higher education community strengthen K-12 mathematics education and provide Nebraska's students with a world class mathematics education at a cost Nebraska can afford?
• What mathematical and pedagogical knowledge do teachers need and how should they acquire that knowledge? How can professional development programs for current teachers be designed and structured so as to increase teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching? Do Nebraska's teacher preparation programs meet the state's needs with respect to educating a new generation of mathematics teachers able to offer challenging mathematics courses and curricula to Nebraska's students?

The audience for the Nebraska Summit includes business, education and policy leaders, university faculty including mathematicians and mathematics educators, K-12 mathematics teachers and others who are concerned with improving mathematics teaching and learning in Nebraska. The summit will showcase successful courses and programs and challenge participants to think broadly about an ambitious but achievable vision for K-12 mathematics education in Nebraska.

Major funding for the Nebraska Summit on Mathematics Education is provided by the National Science Foundation through the Math in the Middle and NebraskaMATH grants to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.