MANSFIELD, Ohio — Ohio State Mansfield professors Terri Bucci, Lee McEwan, and Mike Mikusa recently received a $182,575.00 grant from the Improving Teacher Quality Program administered by the Ohio Department of Higher Education.
Their project – CAMP Year 3: Collaborative Applications of Mathematics Pedagogy – will build on previous work that the scholars have conducted the past two years through previous awards.
Based at the Springmill Learning Center, the grant will provide an Algebra Project-based professional development program for kindergarten through eighth grade teachers, expanded from the Mansfield City, Lucas Local and Clearfork School Districts, now to include Galion City and Crestview schools.
Elementary teachers will attend one week of intensive coursework, followed by one week of summer lesson study connected to a math camp for district students. Teachers design lesson plans based on Algebra Project curriculum, then use the plan to teach during a summer camp, with other teachers silently observing.
After the class, teachers discuss the interaction and offer feedback.
“The focus is to provide teachers with an opportunity to see the practices learned through their course in action with children,” Bucci said.
The professors will provide monthly follow-up professional development at the schools, culminating in a conference to showcase teacher growth and student work, with the goal to create inter-district professional learning communities.
The Improving Teacher Quality State Grants Program is funded under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The purpose of the program is to increase the academic achievement of all students by helping schools and school districts improve teacher, instructional paraprofessional and principal quality.
