Original Vision

The Colorado Mathematics Middle School Teacher Enhancement Project (COMMSTEP) built upon the successful work of the Colorado Statewide Systemic Initiative (CONNECT) and TEAM 2000, a high school teacher enhancement project. This four-and-one-half year project was designed to support 300 teachers in 40 Colorado schools in the implementation of standards-based instruction and assessment through the use of exemplary NSF-supported middle school mathematics curricula. Funded in April 1999 through this year, COMMSTEP's primary goal was to upgrade middle school teachers' knowledge and skills in order to improve the mathematics achievement of all their students.

To reach this goal the project provided professional development for mathematics teachers in 42 middle schools in 14 school districts across Colorado. The professional development program had several components -- a two-week summer institute, monthly workshops for sixth grade teachers, quarterly workshops for seventh- and eighth-grade teachers, and monthly classroom visits by teacher mentors. Teacher mentors were key planners and instructors for the summer institutes and school-year workshops. The mentors followed up with teachers during classroom visits to reinforce workshop goals. In addition, administrators attended one-day sessions during the summer institute which focused on curriculum implementation, evaluation of standards-based mathematics classrooms, and alignment of adopted curricula with Colorado mathematics standards and state assessment program.

COMMSTEP focused on middle schools because it is a pivotal time for students' development of positive attitudes toward mathematics. In addition, student success in middle school mathematics provides a foundation for access to higher-level mathematics courses.

The key objectives that enabled COMMSTEP to meet its goals focused on teachers, administrators, students, and parents.

As a result of participating in COMMSTEP, teachers:

• understand national, state, and district content standards for mathematics;
• possess increased mathematical content knowledge;
• effectively use a variety of instructional methods to meet the needs of diverse student populations;
• assess student understanding using a variety of techniques; and
• understand and use graphing calculators.

As a result of participating in COMMSTEP, administrators:

• understand the implications of aligning content standards, curriculum, instruction, assessment and professional development; and
• support building-level curriculum implementation.

As a result of their teachers participating in COMMSTEP, students:

• possess increased confidence in their ability to do mathematics; and
• demonstrate increased achievement on standards-based assessments.

As a result of their children participating in COMMSTEP, parents/guardians:

• support and participate in local parent nights; and
• demonstrate increased support for mathematics standards and standards-based classroom practices.

Given that COMMSTEP worked in multiple districts, sustainability efforts varied from district to district. Nevertheless, seventy-five percent of participating districts have moved to district-wide curriculum adoption from piece-meal curriculum adoption at the building level. In addition, districts have developed plans to provide professional development for new teachers as well as continued support for veteran teachers at the conclusion of COMMSTEP. Several districts and schools are identifying lead teachers to assist in the support and coaching of new teachers. In other cases, strong building leadership and teacher commitment guarantee sustainability.

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