RMEv2n1 2-6-2003
This issue is the last to be prepared by editor Stephanie Starcher. Stephanie has just completed her comprehensive exams and has begun work on her dissertation. Congratulations and thanks, Stephanie! The new RME editor is Melissa Gholson, a doctoral student at Ohio University, and a former elementary school math teacher from Mingo County, West Virginia. Volume 2, number 2 (the next issue) will be the first to appear under Melissa’s editorship. Melissa can be reached at
FEATURE
Teacher Education Initiative Boosts Math Preparation Programs in Appalachia
By Karen Mitchell, Marshall University
Focus on programs in smaller colleges and universities.
To successfully meet its primary objective, the TEI must confront several challenges. In the Appalachian region of the four states it serves – West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio – are 93 two- and four-year colleges and universities. All 93 institutions offer mathematics courses that might ultimately be part of a student's work toward a degree in mathematics education. Sixty-six offer degrees in mathematics education at the middleand high school levels.
Consequently, the first challenge faced by the TEI is to learn more about the nature of mathematics courses, mathematics teacher preparation programs, and faculty at all these institutions. The TEI is currently conducting an Internet and catalog search. This search will be followed by a survey, interviews from a representative sample of the institutions, and a needs self-assessment. The data collected will be analyzed with assistance from ACCLAIM’s Research Initiative and a landscape study of the region’s capacity will be published.
The data will also be used to determine where the TEI can assist the institutions. For example, if a particular course in the mathematics preparation programs of several institutions is regularly canceled or not offered at all because the class enrollment at individual institutions is too small, the TEI might aid in the development of a web-based course that could be offered to students from more than one institution.. With an
overview of the institutions in the four-state region, the TEI will be in a position to broker an exchange of resources that might take the form of summer workshops, shared courses, or other structures that will be detailed by the data.
that, because of their size, face considerable limitations in both human and material resources. Faculty at smaller institutions may lack colleagues with whom to discuss issues relative to the teaching and learning of mathematics and mathematics teacher preparation. They may also lack support from their institutions to attend conferences or other forms of professional enrichment. Mathematics preservice teachers enrolled at smaller schools face the same isolation. The TEI will begin to address this issue by bringing conferences with both nationally known and regionally distinguished speakers to the four-state region. By alternating the location among the four states, faculty members and preservice students from the 93 institutions will regularly have an opportunity near their home institutions to engage in discussions and hear presentations relevant to their concerns about mathematics and mathematics teacher preparation. The TEI will sponsor two conferences a year, one in the early fall and the other in the spring. Participants for the fall conference will be mathematicians, mathematics educator, rural educators, and researchers interested in or involved with the mathematics teacher preparation programs at their institutions. The first fall conference, Mathematics Teacher Preparation in Appalachia, was held in Lexington, Kentucky on August 16-17, 2002. During this successful conference four nationally recognized speakers – Thomas Cooney, Alan DeYoung, Denise S. Mewborn, and Lew Romagnano – made presentations about
The participants for the spring conference will be preservice mathematics teachers, their college and university faculty, award-winning middle and high school mathematics teachers, and mathematics teachers who have begun their teaching career within the last three years. The first spring conference will be held at Marshall
University in Huntington, West Virginia on February 21-22, 2003. The spring conferences are designed to afford preservice students an opportunity to discuss mathematics teaching with other students and with their future colleagues. The conferences will also have presentations of interest to all the participants. The spring 2003 conference, Mathematics Teachers in Appalachia -- Future and Present, will include presentations dealing with the integration of mathematics pedagogy and mathematics content.
The conferences of the TEI provide a conduit to the Center’s other initiatives. As teacher educators become aware through the conferences of the other Center activities, they may become ACCLAIM scholars to serve on doctoral committees, develop courses, conduct workshops, facilitate Professional Development Teams, engage in research projects, or teach graduate courses. Mathematics teacher educators, K-12 teachers, and preservice teachers who participate in the conferences may decide to enroll in one of the advanced degree programs offered by the Capacity Building Initiative or join a
NSF funding for ACCLAIM will ultimately end. The final challenge, therefore, is to find a way to continue theconferences, workshops, and other projects begun by the TEI that proved beneficial beyond the period of the NSF funding. For this purpose the TEI plans to establish an organization called the Appalachian Association of
Mathematics Teacher Educator (AAMTE). This organization will be an affiliate of the national Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE). It will be an
organization of mathematics teacher educators, mathematicians, researchers, K-12 teachers, and administrators who are interested in examining the issues that must be confronted to ensure quality mathematics teacher preparation in Appalachia. The recruiting process for the AAMTE has already begun. At the first fall conference in August, 72 people expressed interest in joining the AAMTE. Ideally, the AAMTE will provide the necessary structure to continue the activities of the TEI well into the future.
Meet The Teacher Education Initiative Advisory Panel
TEI Advisory Panel reflects diversity of expertise.
Because the primary work of the Teacher Education Initiative is with mathematics teacher preparation programs and their impact on the number and quality of mathematics teachers in the Appalachian regions of West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio, the TEI advisory panel needed members with a wide range of expertise. Consequently, the TEI panel consists of the two TEI co-directors; authorities on mathematics,
mathematics education, state education policies, and issues of education in rural
member of the ACCLAIM internal evaluation team; the ACCLAIM principal investigator; and the ACCLAIM project director.
Dr. Bill Bush, ex-officio member Professor of Mathematics Education
College of Education and Human Development ACCLAIM Project Director
University of Louisville Louisville, KY
Dr. Barbara W. Grover
Associate Professor of Mathematics Ohio University
Athens, OH
Dr. Rodger Hammons
Professor and Chair of Mathematical Sciences Morehead State University
Morehead, KY Dr. Judith H. Hector
Professor and Dean of Mathematics Walters State Community College Morristown, TN
Dr. Michael Howard, ex-officio member ACCLAIM Internal Evaluator
Inverness Research Associates
Dr. Karen Karp
Mathematics Education
President Elect - Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators University of Louisville
Louisville, KY Dr. Thomas J. Klein
Associate Professor of Mathematics Education ACCLAIM TEI Co-director
Marshall University Huntington, WV
ACCLAIM Principal Investigator University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN Dr. Karen Mitchell
Associate Professor of Mathematics ACCLAIM TEI Co-director
Marshall University Huntington, WV Marilyn S. Rogers
Regional Coordinator of Technical Assistance Regional Education Services Agency, RESA IV Summersville, WV
Dr. Don E. Ryoti
Foundation Professor of Mathematical Sciences Eastern Kentucky University
Richmond, KY Dr. Keith C. Smith
West Virginia Director of AEL
Project Director of Coalfield Rural Systemic Initiative Charleston, WV
Dr. P. Mark Taylor
Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN Dr. Jeffrey J. Wanko
Assistant Professor of Teacher Education Miami University
Oxford, OH
Dr. Mary Jane Wolfe Professor of Mathematics University of Rio Grande Rio Grande, OH
FEATURE
Three-week session for math educators, including those in colleges and universities.
The Appalachian Collaborative Center for Learning, Assessment, and Instruction in Mathematics (ACCLAIM) announces a summer Leadership Institute for mathematics educators in Appalachia and in Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia. School administrators, middle and high school teachers, and community college, private college, and state university faculty with strong backgrounds in mathematics are encouraged to apply.
The Institute will be held weekdays from July 7 through July
25 in Lexington, Kentucky. During this three weeks, workshop sessions will be facilitated by national experts from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Missouri, and Appalachia on topics such as standards-based instruction, curriculum, and assessment, models of job-embedded professional development, and leadership development in mathematics education.
Participants will receive $1800 in stipends, free room, board, and travel, and a library of resources to conduct professional development. Information and an application are attached to this email and also can be downloaded from our website at www.ACCLAIM-Math.org. Applications are due on Friday, March 14. For further information, contact Dr.
Bill Bush at [email protected].
RESEARCH LENS School Between the Cow Pies
and Dorothy Almond Sterrett
Two sisters share their childhood experience of rural schools, provocatively.
The rural experience in America is often sniffed through the honey-scented haze of nostalgia. The hard work, the isolation, the limited opportunities, the manure, and the narrow view of life are glossed over. Small rural schools have produced some excellent scholars, but perhaps in spite of the education offered and not because of it. When we envision a rural school, we don’t see a quaint building in a setting of wild flowers. We remember a cold-in-winter, hot-in-fall and spring, poorly kept collection of buildings between the cow pies.
[Vena] My first experience with school was on my sixth birthday. I started first grade; there was no kindergarten. First and second graders met in the same room with
one teacher. We met in a one-room school, one of several that had been dragged in from
the country and added to the grounds of the brick town school. I had on a new brown
and white checked dress that my mother had made—with pockets. She said all my
dresses had to have pockets now for my handkerchief.
(hoping the bridge did not collapse), and get in again on the other side. Going around would have added 30 minutes to the route, and the bus driver wanted to get back to his farming as quickly as possible. At any rate, we did make it to school each day. The first, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders got off the bus at the first town (population 492), and the second, third, fourth and fifth graders rode the bus six more miles to the next town (population 212).
My first weeks of school were a bit of blur—literally. A trip to the closest big
town resulted in eyeglasses, which cleared up things considerably. Work for first and
second grade was on the board, so I did them both. The printing practice was a bit of a
bore but the writing (cursive) was neat. Arithmetic was the fastest to do and I had lots of
time to read books!
Of course, with a limited number of buses, school officials decided to run double routes, so some of us got to school long before the bell rang for first class. The second run was for the “town” kids. Then in the afternoon we “country” kids had to wait at school for the bus to take the townies home and then come back to get us.
I argued to anyone who would listen and to some that didn’t, that if they took us
home first, the townies could walk home instead of waiting and they could save money
but . . . We left home at 7:00 a.m. and got back home around 4:30 p.m. This schedule did
It did not take long to discover that I was not going to be a top-of-the-class scholar like my sister. I was a very average student who had difficulty learning to read and spell. They placed me in the only class they had for slow learners, special education. That did not last very long, but they did not know what to do with me. Only through my mother’s persistence did I learn to read well enough to get by. I was in college before I learned that dyslexia was a learning disability that fit all the problems I had experienced.
I mostly remember trying to find something else to read. I always finished my
assignments before the class was over and did not understand why anyone had
homework. I especially liked the “story problems” in math class because we never had
more than 10 of them to do and I could finish really fast—more time to read.
I can remember a few nightmare assignments. In fifth grade we were to learn the states and capital cities and how to spell them. This in itself was a huge assignment, but to add to the stress, we had to do it in front of the class – horrors!! I managed to
complete the assignment barely within the allotted time only because of nightly sessions at home at the kitchen table. I learned multiplication tables in the same manner.
Nightmare math assignments occurred in seventh grade, with huge numbers of long division problems for homework: more hours at the kitchen table.
The best math classes were when we got to cipher. The teacher would pick one
student to go to the chalkboard, and that student got to pick an opponent. The teacher
person to get two wins got to pick the next opponent and the loser had to sit down.
Usually, I was the last one standing!
I discovered in seventh grade that my interest and talent lay in sports. I made the basketball team. I had to wait until ninth grade to play softball. Our school was not big enough or rich enough to field a football team, but we did have a track -- sort of. It was a cinder track, and after watching a guy fall while jumping hurdles, I decided I was not going to do that. The physical education curriculum consisted of softball, baseball, basketball, volleyball and track. I thought this was fine until I got to college.
In high school I discovered algebra and, even better, geometry. This stuff was so
neat—the laws of exponents thrilled me—seeing how zero and negative numbers worked
as exponents convinced me that mathematics was my future. Our teacher was a history
teacher who had been teaching math for many years, but she never taught anything
beyond algebra II — no trigonometry, no analysis. Only three years of high school
mathematics were offered.
My high school career was completed without any real trauma, if you don’t count almost failing shorthand. I knew I was never going to be a secretary, but there were really no other classes to take and you had to have enough credits to graduate. Girls were not allowed to take shop classes. I already knew how to cook and sew, so that left
College was a shock. My high school had been woefully inadequate. I had no
experience in speech and debate; I had never written an essay; and the college had
switched to “new math.” I had never heard of a set and of course, not sine, cosine, or
tangent. I did have an excellent vocabulary, great skills of concentration and lots
determination. I graduated with a degree in mathematics (with honors) and accepted a
job teaching in a small rural high school.
College was a shock. My high school had been woefully inadequate. I had no experience in speech and debate, writing skills were non-existent and my expertise in long division was unappreciated. I had no knowledge of tennis, golf, soccer, field hockey, archery, gymnastics, swimming or dance. Somehow I managed to survive and get through the classes I needed. I graduated with a degree in physical education and accepted a job in a large high school in St. Louis County.
[Vena and Dorothy] In our experience, rural schools can give you a minimal basic education, if you are academically talented or if someone sees that you get it. I credit my education to God-given talent and great determination. I credit my education not to the hours I spent in the classroom, but to the hours I spent at the kitchen table.
[Editor’s notes] These two stories – they are different are they not? – raise lots of issues, but each resolves its narrative in a similar way (ascribing success to familial strength). These stories and the accompanying interpretations may not resemble yours at all. For our part, we’ve published this article as a provocation, and not as a position paper or as proper research. Email your responses to the new RME editor, Melissa Gholson:
[email protected] . We hope to receive critique, reflection, and contextualization—writing
Robert Moses Sheds Light On Math Literacy By Stephanie Starcher (RME Editor)
During a recent interview, Robert Moses talked with us about his work with the Algebra
Project and discussed what ACCLAIM might learn from his experiences in math
education reform.
Math literacy is the key to equal citizenship and economic access – at least that’s what Robert Moses, a torchbearer in the Civil Rights Movement and founder of the nationally renowned Algebra Project, is saying in his book Radical Equations: Math Literacy and Civil Rights (co-authored by Charles E. Cobb, Jr., 2001). Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Robert Moses by telephone to discuss the book, his work with the Algebra Project, and how his experiences with math education and community organizing might provide insight for those of us seeking to raise math literacy in rural places. His thought-provoking responses to our questions are summarized here.
Can you provide our readers with an overview of the Algebra Project?
The Algebra Project is a network of people who are working to boost math literacy
amongst young students. People involved in the Algebra Project believe math literacy is
a key to economic and political access. The Algebra Project ultimately seeks to motivate
young people to demand math literacy in a way much like Civil Rights leaders helped
African Americans claim their right to vote. The Algebra Project uses the organizing
strategy of the Mississippi Voting Strategy. The argument is sometimes made that certain
opportunities because of their own apathy. If young people demand math literacy, such
an argument disappears.
You describe the efforts of the Algebra Project as “quiet work in out of the way places and commitment of organizers digging into local communities” (p. 4). ACCLAIM focuses its math education reform efforts specifically in the rural context. How does ACCLAIM “dig into” rural communities?
The Algebra Project operates from the bottom up. Organizers need to become part of the
setting they are seeking to change. A lot of the voter registration movement took place in
the rural Mississippi Delta – rural places are able to give strength to such efforts. The
organizer needs to be come recognized as a person working on a specific objective.
There must be consensus in the community that the objective is important so that the
organizer can have status. Any change effort has to focus on the people.
You make reference to how you go about getting people to support the Algebra Project’s mission. “If you really want to do something with somebody, you have to first make a personal connection” (p. 32). How do regional centers, like ACCLAIM, go about making connections with rural people?
The key is utilizing the energy and efforts of your young people. The Young People’s
Project is an extension of the Algebra Project network and is comprised of young math
literacy workers trying to increase the level of math achievement in other young people.
ACCLAIM is a network of universities, and universities have students. Student activism
Radical Equations includes your personal accounts of working with struggling math students. When describing these experiences, you comment that “as you become more and more accomplished in math, you become more and more distant from the younger students” (p. 102). What implications does this have for how we train math educators to work with rural students?
The young people themselves have to be engaged in the process of educating the math
teachers. The Young People’s Project actually promotes math education through
families and entire communities so that a culture of math literacy exists beyond the
school walls. It takes at least a couple of years to change the instructional practices of a
traditional teacher. As you prepare teachers to teach differently, there must be an
ongoing support system in place. The Algebra Project reform efforts include classroom
visitations and teacher follow-up.
You make a clear distinction between the traditional roles of university researchers and grassroots organizers.1 What would you recommend to those of us at ACCLAIM conducting research about math education in rural settings, an almost non-existent knowledge base, and how do we disseminate information about best practice?
This is a dilemma for the Algebra Project as well. Agreement on math education reform
does not exist within the math community. So when “research” recommends best
practice or reform ideas – there is still no agreement. The largest disconnect is that we
do not have institutions where we can simultaneously learn about math and the minds of
minds of the children. Unfortunately, we cannot raise the floor unless we have people
who do both. If we just write about best practice, little reform will occur. There is no
consensus on best practice. The research efforts of the Algebra Project are action-based
– stay in the classroom as much as possible. There need to be places in schools where
educators and community members can see the recommended best practices in action.
People need the look and feel of the practice.
The Algebra Project focuses on using math knowledge and skills as tools to a much larger end. How do we make these math tools meaningful to rural kids?
What has been discovered through the work of the Algebra Project is the importance and
meaningfulness of experiential learning. Math education has to be relevant to the local
culture. Experiential learning allows students to make sense of their life world using
intellectual skills. It is more than hands-on learning – reality becomes the classroom in
experiential learning. The appendix of Radical Equations provides an overview to
experiential learning processes.
When describing math literacy efforts in poor Black communities, you never refer to students or teachers being deficient. ACCLAIM abides by the same philosophy toward rural communities. How do we go about changing the paradigm of ‘rural is deficient?’
Our society has a Sharecropper Education system – people are assigned a certain class
of work or to a certain economic level. So changing the mindset that particular minority
groups are deficient isextremely challenging because it goes against the system itself.
students needs to be said to the country as a whole. Ourenergies mustfocus on the
young people caught up in these low expectations. That is what our Young People’s
Project is doing, and that is where ACCLAIM must focus.
RESOURCE REVIEW
Rural School and Community Trust Seeking Affiliations
Individuals and organizations can become affiliates of the Rural School and Community
Trust.
Through a professional affiliation program, individuals and organizations are invited to establish a relationship with the Rural School and Community Trust. The Trust is a national nonprofit organization that works with community and educational groups to improve the lifeworld of rural schools. The affiliation campaign is open to individual students and adults, schools or districts, colleges and universities, and community entities. There are benefits to members of this free affiliation: invitations to rural education training, a free subscription to the Trust’s bimonthly newsletter, and constant information pertaining to rural education, particularly place-based pedagogy and service learning. The affiliation is reciprocal in that affiliate members can share their ideas and resources with one another through electronic forums and workshop presentations.
To reaffirm your dedication to rural schools and communities, you can enroll as an affiliate at http://www.ruraledu.org/affiliate.html . If you have questions about the affiliation program, contact the Rural School and Community Trust’s Capacity Building program at (252)-433-8844.
Recent Study Makes Strong Argument For Small Schools
Knowledge Works Foundation (2002) publishes finding revealing that bigger does not
Opponents of small schools have argued that small schools are cost-ineffective, citing the economies of scale. But “Dollars and Sense: The Cost Effectiveness of Small Schools,” a recent Knowledge Works Foundation publication, provides a significant amount of data suggesting that small schools may, in fact, cost less to build and operate. The article contains discussions about schools-within-a-school as well as strategies for decreasing school size. A free copy is available at
http://www.kwfdn.org/ProgramAreas/Facilities/resources_reports.html.
Suggested links . . .
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)
McREL provides resources for rural educators, including a monthly electronic newsletter for readers interested in rural education. The informational newsletter focuses on current issues related to rural education. All past issues are available at the site’s archive. To subscribe, send your name and email address to: [email protected]. Their website is at: http://www.mcrel.org/resources/rural
Rural School and Community Trust
In their efforts to boost capacities of rural schools, the Rural School and Community Trust has developed training sessions to assist rural educators in their efforts to
American Association of School Administrators (AASA)
AASA is one of the largest professional organizations for educational leaders throughout the world. AASA funds a special interest group for rural education, particularly
leadership in rural schools. The site tracks rural legislation and includes links to other rurally relevant sites.
http://www.aasa.org/government_relations/rural
California Mathematics Project
The California Mathematics Project sponsors the California Online Mathematics
Education Times (COMET) for school leaders and math educators. The weekly journal features web resources, professional training opportunities, school-related news articles from across the country, and timely information on mathematics.
http://csmp.uccp.edu/cmp/comet
Publication Opportunities . . .
ACCLAIM sponsors a Working Paper Series for works-in progress relevant to its
mission. We welcome distinctive and non-trendy scholarship. Would we be interested in your work? The answer is yes if the words “rural” and “mathematics” appear often in your manuscript. Contact Craig Howley at [email protected] or Jim Schultz at
[email protected] for more information on submitting a working paper. Empirical work
UPCOMING EVENTS
National or Regional Events
February 12-14, 2003, New Orleans, LA
Economic Research Service, Southern Development Center, and the Rural School and Community Trust
Promoting the Economic and Social Vitality of Rural America: The Role of Education
Contact: http://srdc.msstate.edu or email [email protected]
March 28-30, 2003, Richmond, KY
Berea College and Eastern Kentucky University
26th Annual Appalachian Studies Conference
Contact: http://www.appalachianstudies.org or email [email protected].
International Event
June 23-27, 2002, Inverness, Scottish Highlands, UK International Rural Network Conference
Taking Charge: Rural Community Empowerment in Rural Development, Rural Health and Rural Education
HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING IN OUR NECK OF THE WOODS
Capacity Building Initiative
By Vena Long, University of Tennessee
ACCLAIM continues to provide access to advanced mathematics degrees through
graduate course offerings.
The CBI Advisory Panel met in December to continue conversations toward institutionalizing the collaborative doctorate programs. Graduate deans and financial officers from five institutions met in Lexington and worked out the next steps for official affiliation.
The doctoral cohort has completed its first distance education course taught by Dr. James Schultz of Ohio University. Cohort members are enrolled in two courses for the spring semester: History of Mathematics, taught by Dr. Reid Davis of The University of Tennessee, and Qualitative Research, taught by Dr. Jaci Webb-Dempsey of West Virginia University.
internship planning symposium involving all the area mentors. As a prelude to this meeting, all mentors will meet with the CBI staff in February to share ideas about supporting the cohort and to lay out the framework for the internship.
Work has begun on Masters level courses with conversations between Marshall University and Rio Grande. An initial meeting with Cocke County teachers was held in December, aimed at initiating a Masters level cohort centered there.
Applications have already been arriving for the 2004 cohort. Inquiries have been received from a wide range of locations stretching from Alaska to Florida. The potential for a cohort focused on middle school/elementary education with a mathematics
emphasis is being investigated. CBI looks forward to a busy 2003.
Professional Development Initiative By Stephen Henderson, ARSI
Professional Development Teams expanding in ACCLAIM region.
Eight new Mathematics Professional Development Teams are scheduled to begin their implementation in January 2003. The new sites were selected from proposals submitted jointly by a higher education institution and a middle or high school
The new partner institutions have made the following commitments for a successful PD Team site implementation:
The higher education partner will provide a faculty member and pre-service mathematics teachers to serve on the PD Team.
Higher education faculty and pre-service teachers will meet monthly with PD Team mathematics teachers.
A minimum of 80% of the mathematics teachers in a PDT school will participate in the monthly meetings and professional development activities.
Mathematics teachers will assist in supervising student teachers and other student participants from the partner institutions.
Each participating school will determine the specific program improvement needs based on the Mathematics Program Improvement Review and student mathematics performance data. The PD Team will develop a comprehensive plan identifying the focus of the year’s work, professional development needs of the inservice teachers, and professional
development activities in which the team will participate.. The higher education
project provides up to $8,000 per site to support teacher release time, stipends, travel, and resource materials needed to help create a viable mathematics learning community.
Both existing and new PD Teams met on January 8, 2003 in Lexington, Kentucky, for a working conference. Activities were designed to clarify individual team member roles, assist with data collection and interpretation, and further team development plans. Dr. Sharon Brennan, Director of Field Experiences and School Collaboration at the
University of Kentucky, was the featured presenter at the conference.
The currently active PD Team sites, which began in spring of 2002, include:
York Institute, Jamestown, TN, and Tennessee Tech University
Oneida High School, Oneida, TN, and The University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Guyan Valley High School, Branchland, WV, and Marshall University
Scott High School, Madison, WV, and Marshall University
Waverly North Junior High School, Waverly, OH, and Shawnee State University
Eastern Middle and High School, Waverly, OH, and Shawnee State University
Lincoln County Middle and High Schools, Stanford, KY, and The University of Kentucky
Rockcastle County Middle and High Schools, Mt. Vernon, KY, and Eastern Kentucky University.
The new PD Team sites, which were scheduled to go on line in January 2003, include:
Ashe County High School, Jefferson, NC, and Appalachia State University
T.A. Dugger Junior High school, Elizabethton, TN, and East Tennessee State University
Soldiers Memorial Middle School, Tazewell, TN, and Walters State Community College
Trimble High School, Glouster, OH, and Ohio University
Wintersville Elementary School, Steubenville, OH, and Fransciscan University of Steubenville
Pikeville High School, Pikeville, KY, and Pikeville College
Cumberland High School, Cumberland, KY, and Southeast Community College.
Research Initiative
ACCLAIM holds first national Research Symposium in rural Vinton County, Ohio.
The Research Initiative held a national symposium that has generated 10 working papers, organized a panel for the 2003 NCTM research presession, and added a digitized collection of fulltext, online rural education articles (from the Journal of Research in Rural Education) to the Research Clearinghouse. Many new products and activities are underway.
ACCLAIM Research Symposium. Ravenwood Castle, in Appalachian Ohio’s Vinton County, hosted the first ACCLAIM Research Symposium from November 3 to November 6, 2002. The Symposium drew 10 nationally known scholars from
mathematics education and rural education together to present papers prepared expressly for the session. The Symposium served as a point of departure for lively conversations among the authors and ACCLAIM leaders and graduate students. Conversations considered questions to be posed and linkages needed to study math education in varied rural contexts. Authors included Ed Silver (University of Michigan, and editor of the
Nelson (CLT West), Hobart Harmon (independent rural education scholar), Jaekyung Lee (SUNY Buffalo), and Carolyn Mahoney (Elizabeth City State University). The
symposium papers are now being revised for presentation in the ACCLAIM Working Paper series. Availability will be announced in a subsequent issue of the Rural Mathematics Educator.
NCTM 2003. Based on papers and conversations at the November ACCLAIM Research Symposium, the Research Initiative has organized a panel for the NCTM research pre-session under Jim Schultz’s leadership. Panelists include presenters from two NSF centers prominently concerned with rural context—including mathematics educators, rural educators, and mathematicians. The session will be held Tuesday April 8, from 2:45 - 5:15 PM in rooms 007 C and D of the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio.
JRRE Articles Now Online. The Journal of Research in Rural Education is a highly esteemed research journal. Articles from its back issues are now available online as PDF files via the ACCLAIM Research Clearinghouse at the following URL:
http://kant.citl.ohiou.edu/ACCLAIM/rc/rc_sub/vlibrary/1_jrre/list.htm .
encouraged to search the ERIC database and retrieve citation material to access the articles desired (try the following URL: http://ericir.syr.edu/Eric/adv_search.shtml ).
What’s Happening Next. Scholars working on sponsored studies are collecting data. Alan DeYoung and Ann Booth have begun interviews with students and faculty in their study of the social construction of the rural high school math teacher. A team led by Edwina Pendarvis of Marshall University (and advised by Bonnie Beach of Ohio
University) has interviewed mathematically talented rural elementary students and will begin analyzing the interview data shortly. Reports from these studies are expected by the end of 2003. In addition, Larry Hatfield and Tom Cooney have proposed a four-year investigation of the relationship between rural context and math teaching and learning in Georgia. In the meantime, several scholars have submitted manuscripts that will appear shortly as Working Papers or Occasional Papers. All these teams are being asked to report on the progress of their work at the next Research Initiative Advisory Panel meeting, tentatively planned for June. Finally, a Researcher’s Guide for Studying Rural Mathematics Education has been drafted. The Guide is a hypertext document that links to key resources, most in fulltext formats.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
This material is based upon the work supported by the National Science Foundation
Under Grant No. 0119670. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations
expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the
