Approve Agreement for Technical Services with Tammy Rush to Serve as District Liaison for the National Mathematics Professional Development Impact Study, 2007/2008 (Curriculum and Instruction Division)

We request approval of the Agreement for Technical Services with Tammy Rush, to serve as district liaison for the U.S. Department of Education Mathematics Professional Development Impact Study. On June 12, 2007, the School Board approved Agenda Item E-2.07 to participate in the Impact Study during the 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 school years.

Duties of the district liaison include, but are not limited to, serving as the primary contact with the Impact Study Team for all aspects of the project; coordinating the scheduling of institutes, seminars, and coaching professional development sessions; and assisting the study team with data collection (including identifying local staff to be trained as classroom observers, collecting student rosters in advance of each test administration, and working with schools to distribute required notices to parents of students who will be tested, identifying rooms within each school in which to administer the student test, observing individual student data from district records and including scores on accountability).

The Impact Study will evaluate whether a comprehensive content-based inservice professional development program can substantially improve 7th grade mathematics instruction in rational numbers and thereby improve students’ mathematics achievement.

The four middle schools receiving professional development are Buchanan, Pierce, Progress Village and Shields. The four control group middle schools are Adams, Burnett, Madison, and Williams. The study provides professional development to approximately 20 seventh-grade mathematics teachers at no cost to the district.

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

Funds of $11,662.23 for this contract are available through the divisional special revenue/federal programs budget, Project 1158.

The evaluation phase of this project will begin in the 2007/2008 school year and continue through 2008/2009. The district's Assessment and Accountability Office has reviewed and approved this study and will communicate with AIR throughout the evaluation process. A copy of the evaluation report will be provided to the District.