Math Early On
Math Early On, funded by the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, involves a partnership between the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) and the Educares of Nebraska, part of a national network of high-quality child care centers for low-income children from birth to age 5. The goal of the Math Early On project is to offer professional development opportunities that build on the past successful professional development efforts of UNL’s NebraskaMATH and its Primarily Math initiative.
Math Early On improves mathematics instruction for young children by providing a comprehensive approach to making a culture of math visible and alive throughout the day in programs serving young children. This work is accomplished through improved math instruction, enriched math environments, integrated math and literacy activities, home-school partnerships and pedagogical documentation.
From 2016-2019, Math Early On worked with the teachers at Educare of Lincoln, keeping the overall focus similar to research from prior years, when researchers worked with Educares of Omaha. As the project winds down, the research team will commence plans to expand Math Early On to the nationwide Educare Learning Network Initiative and explore future opportunities with the Buffett Early Childhood Institute.
NebraskaMATH
NebraskaMATH was a statewide partnership that worked to educate and support Nebraska's K-12 students and teachers at critical junctures, with an overall goal of improving achievement in mathematics for all students and narrowing achievement gaps of at-risk populations. Core partners included UNL, Grand Island Public Schools, Lincoln Public Schools, Omaha Public Schools, Papillion-La Vista School District, and Nebraska's Educational Service Units. The partnership grew to include teachers and administrators from many other Nebraska school districts as well as mathematics and mathematics education faculty from many Nebraska colleges and universities. Key grant-funded programs include Math in the Middle; Primarily Math, an initiative for K-3 teachers; Nebraska Algebra, an initiative for Algebra I teachers; and New Teacher Network, an initiative for new secondary teachers of mathematics. In addition, NebraskaMATH promoted the Nebraska Math and Science Summer Institutes, which uses local funds to continue offering professional development opportunities for teachers beyond the level that is possible using grant funds.
Noyce Teaching Fellowships for Math Teachers
A three-year, $1.5 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant awarded to Nebraska (PI Wendy Smith), University of Kentucky (PI Brett Criswell), University of South Carolina (PIs Jan Yow and Christine Lotter), and Stony Brook University (PI Greg Rushton) in 2018 will be used to study teacher leadership trajectories. The overarching goal of this collaborative research project is to contribute to the currently-limited understanding of STEM teacher leadership by thoroughly examining the influences of teacher leadership development on the persistence and professional trajectories of Noyce Master Teaching Fellows (MTFs).
Since 2011, Nebraska's Noyce Master Teaching Fellows and Teaching Fellows have engaged in a wide variety of teacher leadership as mathematics teachers in high-need schools and districts across the state. From becoming math coaches and leading professional development for peers, to giving presentations at national conferences and chairing curriculum committees, the 30 MTFs and 13 TFs demonstrate through their accomplishments the accumulation of efforts by the Center for Science, Mathematics and Computer Education to form school-university partnerships that can provide opportunities for teacher leadership.
OPS Teacher Leader Academy
The NebraskaMATH Omaha Public Schools Teacher Leader Academy (OPS TLA) is a partnership between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Omaha Public Schools. From 2013 to 2017, the OPS TLA programs formed a community of OPS mathematics teachers (grades K–12) dedicated to strengthening mathematics teaching and learning in OPS classrooms. Thanks to the generous support of The Sherwood Foundation® and the Lozier Foundation, OPS teachers who teach mathematics were eligible to apply for fellowships to cover the full cost of tuition and fees for graduate courses offered by UNL’s summer NMSSI program and online course offerings during the fall or spring semesters approved by OPS TLA. To accommodate OPS teachers, each summer some NMSSI courses were offered either in Omaha at the TAC Building or online. NMSSI in-person courses are offered in a concentrated one- or two-week format, thus protecting much of the teacher’s time in the summer for other activities.
Summit on Math and Science Education
The Nebraska Summit on Math and Science Education assembled teacher, district, and state leaders in math and science education to discuss successful models and strategies for more inclusive programming and meet with local and national educational leaders. The pre-session will offered hands-on robotics activities for mathematics and science classrooms. The program grew to focus more on diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM education in order for Nebraska PK–12 leaders to respond to changing student demographics in ways that will produce culturally relevant curriculum and responsive practices that support all students.
The Summit features four distinguished plenary speakers. In addition to the keynote speeches, concurrent breakout sessions addressed issues in elementary, middle, and secondary math and science education; teacher preparation; professional development for math and science teachers; STEM education for multi-language learners; and assessment. Funding support provided by the NebraskaSCIENCE Program of Excellence and the Math and Science Teachers for the 21st Century Program of Excellence.
TEAMS NDE Partnership
We encouraged the participation of teams of K-12 math/science teachers from the same district, to enhance the professional development experience but individual teachers were welcome to apply. Preference was given to districts whose schools were considered high-need by the Nebraska Department of Education: categorized as Needs Improvement by AQuESTT, at least 40 percent of students receive free or reduced-price meals, or a higher percentage of students than the state average were below proficient on the NeSA-M and/or NeSA-S.
Professional development was offered in Summer 2017 (June 5-9 and 12-16) and academic year 2017-18 concurrently across the state in six locations: Crete, Fremont, Grand Island, Norfolk, North Platte and Ogallala (science only). Three sets of sessions – dedicated to elementary-integrated STEM, secondary mathematics, and secondary Earth and space science, respectively – addressed content that aligns with Nebraska State Standards. Along with bolstering content knowledge in these areas, the sessions focused on raising teacher confidence and encouraging the adoption of research-backed instructional practices.
Selected teachers received a stipend of $15 per hour of class attended (10 days for 8 hours each day at $15 per hour for a total of $1,200), and teachers who lived more than 35 miles one-way from their TEAMS site received mileage reimbursement. Lodging was available to teachers who lived more than 70 miles one-way from their TEAMS site. Specific sites were Madison Middle School in North Platte for elementary and math; Ogallala High School for secondary science; Norfolk Junior High School; Starr Elementary in Grand Island; Fremont Middle School; and Crete Middle School.
Online Math Teachers' Circle
The Nebraska MTC has joined with thousands of other teachers across the nation who are part of the growing Math Teachers' Circle movement. Support for MTCs comes from the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) through the National Security Agency (NSA). This enables us to be a member of the National Association of Math Circles (NAMC). Greater Nebraska Math Teachers’ Circles (MTCs) was designed to bring together teachers of mathematics and mathematicians with the goal of discovering the excitement and richness of problem solving in deep yet accessible mathematical topics.
Building a Comprehensive Geoscience Learning Experience
NSF-funded “GeoPaths” seeks to engage more students in applied geology, through field courses and other experiential learning. This project includes summer field courses for high school students and undergraduates who are potential secondary science teachers. Contact Mindi Searls for more information.
Change in Departments and Institutions via Active Learning (Change DIAL)
This hybrid conference was held virtually and in-person in Lincoln. The conference has three central goals: 1) connect conference participants to an existing community of mathematics faculty, researchers, and administrators dedicated to educational innovation in Precalculus through Calculus 2 courses; (2) leverage these connections to share and generate knowledge of strategies for initiating, implementing, and sustaining cultural change that supports the improvement of courses in the calculus sequence; and (3) foster instructor development by encouraging participants to share highly effective instructional practices and tasks for an active learning classroom.
Noyce NebraskaSTEM Master Teaching Fellows
Funded by NSF’s Robert Noyce Scholarship Program, elementary teachers from 14 rural Nebraska high-need schools are participating in a program designed to help Nebraska teachers facilitate high-quality STEM learning opportunities for K-6 students in rural Nebraska. The teachers first completed a STEM teacher leadership master's degree (August 2019), and then have worked locally on leadership projects related to improving student outcomes in elementary STEM.
Noyce Teacher Leadership: Investigating Trajectories and Persistence (T-Lead)
This collaborative research grant collected data from eight Noyce projects that fund Master Teaching Fellowships, including two at UNL. We explored the relative influences of a variety of contextual factors on teachers' leadership trajectories and persistence as teachers in high-need schools. This project also worked to validate a measure of teacher leadership activities and efficacy with experienced teachers.
Persistence, Effectiveness and Retention Studies In STEM Teaching (PERSIST)
This collaborative grant funded workshops for current and potential future Noyce Track 4 PIs, to help foster collaborative research related to STEM teacher preparation, effectiveness and retention. In 2020, after one of the 3 spring conferences was shifted online, we used the saved funds to offer an additional set of online workshops in summer 2020. During fall 2020, we converted those recordings into a usable format and have set up an OpenCanvas "course" that people can access for free to view our webinars and access related materials.
Student Engagement in Mathematics through an Institutional Network for Active Learning (SEMINAL)
Supported by a $3 million grant from NSF, UNL is partnering with the Association for Public and Land-Grant Universities, the University of Colorado, and San Diego State to provide national leadership for institutions interested in transforming the culture of mathematics departments and adopting an active learning approach in precalculus and calculus classrooms. A shift by the UNL Department of Mathematics to active learning in freshman courses has led to a significant increase in student success.