Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - The University of Wisconsin-Platteville and project director, Jodean E. Grunow, Ph.D., mathematics department, have recently received notification that the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title II Higher Education Professional Development Grant proposal, entitled "Using Authentic Assessment and Data Analysis to Develop Prompt and Effective Interventions to Improve Student Understanding and Achievement," has been funded in the amount of $210,282 over the next three years. A professional development opportunity for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade teachers, the grant funds a three-year program that will allow groups of teachers to receive training in authentic assessment and intervention development to improve student achievement and understanding, and then, in techniques for mentoring in compliance with PI-34 requirements.

The grant was written to satisfy several needs. Following a previously enacted ESEA grant, "Writing Constructed Responses in Mathematics," this grant was written in response to requests from those participating teachers to continue to use knowledge developed in that grant in an extended setting and to bring colleagues on board who wished to participate based on observed results.

"Taking the class 'Writing Constructed Responses in Mathematics' has challenged me as a teacher to focus on creative activities that require students to think, interact and respond in both critical thinking and a written form of discovery and learning. Students have responded and grown beyond my expectations which in turn has been noted by parents as 'unbelievable.' Whenever a college course brings this amount of reflection in my classroom and allows me time away from my classroom to collaborate with area teachers, I am thankful - and the fee was waived by a generous grant - thankful again!" said Gail Otte, a kindergarten teacher at Iowa-Grant Elementary School.

"The use of constructed response in the classroom is now part of how I teach on a regular basis. I believe my students have benefited from my inclusion of constructed response questions in all subject areas," said Jodi Bast, a fourth grade teacher at Iowa-Grant Elementary School and past participant in the program.

"I am pleased that a second mathematics grant has been funded. The results from the first grant were outstanding. Several of those participants were hoping to be able to continue with their work. They also wanted their colleagues to be able to have a similar experience. I have so enjoyed working with these Southwest Wisconsin teachers. They are dedicated, innovative, enthusiastic, conscientious and inspiring," Grunow said.

Additionally, the emphasis on student achievement and understanding and student/teacher/district accountability for such, as reflected in the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts-Criteria Referenced Tests and the newly enacted No Child Left Behind assessments, has necessitated deeper understanding of each student's strengths and needs. Recent focus on special needs interventions is also driving a thrust for deep understanding of individual needs. Written at the request of teachers who address these needs daily, the grant responds to helping teachers gain access to knowledge of each of these components and developing strategies to promptly and effectively capitalize on strengths and inventing interventions to immediately and efficiently address needs.

"This program allowed our team to understand the importance of having a curriculum that encompasses all six strands of mathematics. Students need to have opportunities to solve problems using mathematical processes, number operations and relationships, geometry, measurement, statistics and probability, and algebraic relationships. Assessments using constructed response allow teachers to understand students' pattern of thinking as they solve problems," said Jamie Nutter, principal of Lancaster Elementary School, who helped in the grant writing for the program.

"As I developed the constructed responses for my fifth grade students, I kept in mind the state standards, the benchmarks for Dodgeville School District and the learning goals for each unit in Everyday Math. This enabled me to do a quick assessment of student progress and check their writing skills at the same time," said Mary Jacobson, a fifth grade teacher at Ridgeway Elementary School and past participant in the program.

The grant was also written to provide opportunities for both new and in-service teachers to address the professional requirements of the recently enacted PI-34 certification and recertification legislation. PI-34 asks new and in-service teachers to develop professional development plans focused on increased understanding of the impact of teacher knowledge - beliefs, content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, content specific knowledge and knowledge of learners' cognitions. It calls for experienced teachers to learn to become mentors for teachers entering the field. Using research-based knowledge, the grant will help teachers address these needs.

"Grunow is service oriented in her approach to education, and this grant exemplifies her dedication to quality mathematics instruction. Teachers in Southwest Wisconsin will benefit from the opportunity to hone their teaching skills and, of course, their students will benefit too. This is what universities are supposed to do, serve the citizens of the state of Wisconsin," said Michael Anderson, the director of UWP's School of Education.

Open to teachers through an application process, with preference given to district teams and administrator involvement, participants will work with authentic assessment and data analysis of large-scale assessment results to develop effective interventions designed to capitalize on evidenced strengths and to address identified needs. Participants will be awarded credits (five per year for two years) both for their participation in a summer seminar and for subsequent action research in their classrooms throughout the ensuing year. The funding provides monies for substitutes, so participants can meet with team members and visit other teachers and classrooms. In addition, UWP faculty mentoring will be available to the participating districts.

Following a year of participation, the first cohort will return to the UWP campus for a summer seminar to share the findings of their year's activities and to focus on mentoring techniques that can be used with colleagues as they return to their districts for a second year of action research. Teachers who participated in the original grant and have been certified as mentors will work with a project of their choice. Administrators will have specific sessions designed to meet their needs. In the second summer of the grant, a second cohort will begin with a summer seminar to focus on the assessment/intervention components.

The grant is open to schools in the CESA #3 area and a cooperating partner, the School District of Beloit. Twenty-five to 40 participants will be accepted in each cohort. Those participants will have the opportunity to impact additional colleagues through the mentoring process in their districts.

According to Grunow, this is a unique professional development opportunity that addresses several current needs. The grant will pay for all expenses for the program. Credits earned in the program can be applied to UW-Platteville. Anyone interested in participating in this project may contact Grunow at (608) 342-1943 orgrunowj@uwplatt.edu.

Contact: Jodean Grunow, professor, UWP Mathematics Department, (608) 342-1943,grunowj@uwplatt.edu. Prepared/Formatted by: April M. Schmidt, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, schmidap@uwplatt.edu