School Board Agenda Item

Approve Participation in a U.S. Department of Education Mathematics Professional Development Impact Study During the 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 School Years. (Division of Student Services and Federal Programs)

The U.S. Department of Education has commissioned the Mathematics Professional Development Impact Study (“Math PD Impact Study”) to evaluate whether a comprehensive content-based inservice professional development program can substantially improve seventh-grade mathematics instruction in rational numbers and thereby improve students’ mathematics achievement.

The study will focus on seventh-grade teachers who are already using one of three widely-used mathematics textbooks, specifically: Prentice Hall’s Connected Mathematics Project, Prentice Hall’s Mathematics or Glencoe’s Applications and Concepts. The intervention will take place during the 2007/08 school year and the evaluation phase will begin in the 2007/08 school year and continue through the following school year 2008/09. The study also involves testing of students in M/J2 Basic classes in the eight randomly selected schools that would participate. Students will be sampled using a procedure similar to that used in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The sampling procedure requires the release of student names and identification codes to the project evaluator in advance of testing. Board approval is necessary to release this information. (see attachment for further details)

The study provides professional development for approximately 20 seventh-grade mathematics teachers at no cost to the district. The study provides grant funds to offset participation in the data collection activities.

GOAL 2 - The percentage of students scoring at Level 3 or higher on the FCAT mathematics will increase a minimum of five percentage points.

Funding for this project is provided by the U.S. Department of Education, contracted through the American Institutes for Research (AIR), one of the organizations conducting the evaluation. AIR (www.air.org) is a not-for-profit corporation in Washington D.C., with a long history of conducting applied research and providing technical support in education. The grant funds provided by the study in the amount of $38,520 will offset all direct costs associated with study coordination as well as substitute teacher costs needed to release teachers for professional development activities. AIR will also provide direct payments to teachers to compensate them for time spent outside of their normal work hours to complete study activities.

The evaluation phase will begin in the 2007/08 school year and continue through the following school year 2008/09. the district's Office of Assessment and Accountability will communicate with AIR throughout the evaluation process and will be provided with a copy of the final evaluation report.

Lynn R. Fell Grants and Research Operations Officer (813) 272-4880	Gwendolyn L. Luney Assistant Superintendent, Student Services & Federal Programs (813) 272-4878
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Hillsborough County Public Schools (Florida) * Mtg.#20070612_246 * Section E Item# 2.07