The goal of the project is to create recommendations to support large-scale, system-level implementation of professional development initiatives aligned with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM). They emerged from the work done under the project, which provided the opportunity for experts from diverse fields to collaboratively address the challenge of providing high-quality mathematics professional development at scale to support the implementation of the CCSSM. Over the course of the project, researchers and expert practitioners worked to integrate various perspectives on this challenge into a set of design recommendations for creating, sustaining, and assessing professional development systems for practicing mathematics teachers. Generated from the coordination of research-based knowledge in different but related fields, these recommendations build on state-of-the-art research findings from mathematics education, professional development, organizational theory, and policy.
The first and perhaps most important task of this RAPID grant was to select and invite participants to a meeting on the campus of North Carolina State University. The project started with the identification of a diverse set of expert researchers in the areas of mathematics, professional development, equity, assessment, policy, and system research, as well as “high leverage” practitioners who were informed consumers of and participants in research related to the mathematics education of teachers. These experts were selected because of the contributions their specific knowledge within their fields could make to mathematics teacher education.
All invited participants were asked to submit a 2-page brief in which they:
• described, based on their expertise and knowledge of research, what it would take to design, implement, or assess the quality of mathematics professional development that would support the implementation of the CCSSM content and practices;
• described, in some detail, one idea they had for how professional development could be done at scale (i.e., with a whole district or an entire state) to support the implementation of the CCSSM; and
• identified a small number of articles that influenced their thinking.
Participants were asked to write their briefs bringing their own areas of expertise, knowledge of research, and points of view to bear on the questions. Participants were also informed that the collection of briefs generated through this process would provide the basis for the ideas to be discussed and synthesized over a two-day, face-to-face meeting of all experts. Representatives from five national professional organizations whose missions address aspects of mathematics teachers’ professional development (Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE), Association of State Supervisors of Mathematics (ASSM), Mathematics Association of America (MAA), National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics (NCSM), and National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCSTM)) were also participated in the two-day face-to-face meeting.
Prior to the face-to-face meeting, all meeting participants were assigned to mixed-expertise small groups and received all the two-page briefs written by members of their small groups. They were asked to carefully read the set of briefs they received prior to the meeting and identify common recommendations for professional development as well as conflicting points of view. Participants were expected to come to the meeting prepared to engage in conversations among researchers and practitioners with diverse perspectives. The meeting occurred on May 12-13, at the Friday Institute for Education Innovation, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC. It brought together approximately 40 research experts as well as representatives from participating professional organizations (AMTE, ASSM, MAA, NCSM, NCTM), the U.S. Department of Education, and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. A list of all participants follows in Appendix B. The event was designed to allow for considerable interaction between participants.