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).
Reflections from the end:
In reflecting on the strategies and activities used to accomplish the BEAMM goals, the following promoters and inhibitors were identified:
- Utilizing and building the mathematics knowledge and skills through professional development experiences for all the LEA's teachers.
Promoters:
Leadership: Each district has created a strong team of teacher leaders to help support the initiative. These leaders work with administrators in developing and implementing the district's action plan; training and mentor new teachers, educational technicians, and substitutes; and facilitate after school reflective practice sessions. One important leadership component is the BEAMM Advisory Board. The BEAMM advisory board is a project advisory group that includes an administrator and classroom teachers from each site, project Principal Investigators (PI's), MMSA mathematics specialists and the project evaluators. This group assists the Project Director and the PI's to plan and implement the activities of the project. The board meets four times a year.
Inhibitors:
Geographic Location of the Sites:
Both the distance between the BEAMM sites and use of different programs inhibits teacher and administrator networking. Using technology as a communication tool has progressed little over the last two years.
Mobility of Administrators:
Although the teacher leaders have mostly remained in the same district, administrators have turned over at a high rate. The districts with the people and structures (i.e. curriculum coordinators/assistant superintendent, and other administrators) to shepherd and support the change process are having the greatest success. A smooth change in administrative personnel requires time and energy to gain a sense of commitment and understanding of the intent and goals of the project.
| Mobility of Administrators |
| District |
Superintendents |
Curriculum
Coordinator/ Assist Superintendent |
Principals/
Assistant Principals |
| |
Total # |
# of
Changes |
Total # |
# of
Changes |
Total # |
# of
Changes |
| District 1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
3 |
| District 2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
| District 3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
2 |
| District 4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
5 |
| District 5 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
| District 6 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
| District 7 |
1 |
1 |
x |
x |
2 |
2 |
- Providing support for the adoption and implementation of curriculum programs as a way to implement exemplary mathematics instruction.
Promoters:
The implementation of a program has raised awareness by administrators, and teachers for the need for a cohesive approach to improving the mathematics education of their students.
Inhibitors:
The needed growth by teachers to reach and practice investigative mathematics in their classrooms is larger than originally thought. By focusing on the individual lessons rather than the unit as whole, many teachers have become more mechanical than investigative in their implementation. There appears to be a gap between teachers' knowledge about reform practices, and their demonstrated practice. However, there is an indication that investigative practices in the classroom are increasing (see chart).
- Institutionalizing assessment, reflection and improvement in instruction as a regular part of teacher activities.
Promoters:
Federal/State requirements:
The NCLB and Maine's Comprehensive Assessment System requirements have proven to be both prohibiting and inhibiting to this BEAMM goal. The requirements have renewed the emphasis on mathematics at each of the districts especially at the sites that have been implementing a program for several years. The focus on assessment has provided an avenue to readdress instruction and investigative mathematics. The inhibiting factor being the sites' need to develop and score performance based assessments.
Inhibitors:
Mobility of Teaching Force:
Teacher turn-over leads to a large number of staff in need of Level I training. Planning professional development for groups with a variety of needs is a challenging process. The new staff members are often very eager to participate.
Suggestions based on lessons learned
Questions for visitors
- What strategies would you suggest for connecting small schools over large distances where face-to-face meeting is challenging?
- How do you build the capacity when leadership and teaching staff is a moving target (i.e high mobility)?
- Is there a particular amount of time in professional development (50, 100, 200 hours) that returns a positive level of instructional change in the classroom? Or is the level of change by teachers more related to the type and quality of the professional development, such that some teachers need more and others much less?
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