Original Vision
The BEAMM (Broaden Educational Access to Mathematics in Maine) project is a partnership of seven Maine school districts, the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance, a non profit educational organization, and the Maine Department of Education (DOE). These districts, all identified in 1998 by the Maine DOE as low performing, have 37 schools with approximately 500 teachers and are geographically distributed across the state.
The goals of BEAMM are to increase student aspirations and performance in mathematics by providing professional development and high quality curriculum for all K-8 teachers of mathematics. The professional development experiences provide the opportunity for participants to increase their understanding of standards-based mathematics teaching and learning.
By the end of the 5-year all BEAMM teachers will:
- Understand mathematical ideas and pedagogy for long-term student learning and achievement.
- Create student-centered classrooms by using exemplary instruction, curriculum materials, and assessment practices.
- Reflect on their practices and participate in collegial discussions about teaching and learning.
- Work and communicate with K-8 teachers in the partner LEA's and beyond.
Sustaining the Vision
The strategies and activities used to accomplish the BEAMM goals include:
- Utilizing and building the mathematics knowledge and skills through professional development experiences for all the LEA's teachers.
All BEAMM teachers will attend 100 hours of PD. These sessions include summer institutes, one-two day district follow up days, and study group sessions during the academic year.
- Developing teacher leaders within each district for building local capacity.
A one-week institute is held each summer to support the work of new and experienced teacher leaders. The goals of the one week summer institutes include: self assessment in relation to teacher leader characteristics, developing communication skills, developing influencing strategies in one-on-one and team relationships, strategies for building a shared vision for a school, designing strategies for collegial relationships with peers at different stages of professional expertise, and designing activities for reflective practice sessions.
- Providing support for the adoption and implementation of curriculum programs as a way to implement exemplary mathematics instruction.
After various approaches and timelines of choosing a standards-based curriculum program, a summer institute was held at each of the sites. The institutes focused on different curriculum programs, but were quite similar in format and structure. In each case a mathematician, math educator, and exemplary classroom teachers were presenters and facilitators in providing participants the opportunity to explore and study the content, pedagogy, format, and assessment features of the selected programs.
- Institutionalizing assessment, reflection and improvement in instruction as a regular part of teacher activities.
Three stages have been identified to inform the professional development planning, delivery, and assessment of the level of teacher growth.
Level I: Beginning Stage of Implementation:
The first level of professional development activities continued after the summer institutes in the form of reflective practice sessions, district in-service days, and focused-participation workshops. As the implementation in the schools continued, the focus of the professional development changed to include the next stage.
Level II : Implementing with Reflection:
Teachers at this level are in the first year of using the district chosen program/units. The professional development is focused on learning issues of beginning implementation such as choosing a management system for grading/assessing, and learning the activities. Many issues that were discussed at the initial training are revisited with more in-depth questions and discussions.
Level III: Implementing with Refinement
Teachers at this level have been implementing for several years, have participated in a variety of professional development activities at the initial and reflection stages, and are very comfortable with the instructional philosophy, mathematical content, and assessment features of the program. Professional development for teachers at this level of implementation is focused on the refinement of content and instructional processes. Strategies include institutionalizing assessment, lesson reflection and improvement as a regular part of teacher activities. The teachers conduct informal classroom research and discuss best practice, peer observations, student work to improve student understanding of a concept, and enhance their own content knowledge (beyond using activities from the program).
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