Essential Mathematics for Middle School Teachers

Essential Mathematics for Middle School Teachers (EMMST) is a project in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics   at James Madision University supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) program.

EMMST supports the new Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies   (IDLS) major at JMU.  The IDLS major is recommended for students interested in early or middle grades education.  The IDLS major requires a collection of lower-division courses along with two upper-level concentrations.

These courses are also a portion of a program at JMU leading to an Algebra I   add-on endorsement.

For more information, contact DavidCarothers   at JMU.

FIPSE Presentation

San Diego Presentation

EMMST Development Teams:

MATH 207 Mathematical Problem Solving Initial offering: Spring 2002	Jeanne Fitzgerald and Judy Kidd,  JMU Ginger Carrico, Montevideo Middle School
MATH 304 Principles of Algebra Initial offering: Spring 2001	Carter Lyons, JMU Kathy Buracker, Pence Middle School
MATH 305 Principles of Geometry & Measurement Initial offering: Fall 2001	Robert Hanson, JMU Bruce Hemp, Fort Defiance HS (formerly of S. Gordon StewartMiddleSchool)
MATH 306 Principles of Analysis Initial offering: Fall 2002	David Carothers, JMU Bruce Hemp, Fort Defiance HS (formerly of S. Gordon StewartMiddleSchool)
MATH 307 Principles of Probability and Statistics Initial offering: Spring 2002	Steve Garren and Mike Deaton, JMU Virginia Healy, Thomas Harrison Middle School

Consultant for all teams:  Lou Ann Lovin, JMU-School of Education


Resources:

Middle School Mathematics Specialist Program
Illinois State University



The ISU Middle School Program is a comprehensive major program for prospective middle school teachers in a department with a large mathematics-education emphasis.  JMU seeks to provide a model for adapting to somewhat smaller programs in which mathematics credits are more limited.


Sample of Other Resources:

Mathematics for MiddleSchool Mathematics Teachers, Portland State University

Middle School Mathematics Concentration, East Carolina University

Teacher Preparation Archives, Case Studies of NSF-Funded Middle School Scienceand Mathematics Teacher Preparation Projects, CIRCE, College of Education,University of Illinois, 1993

Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School , a journal of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences report on the Mathematical Education of Teachers


Objectives

EMMST seeks to provide a program meeting teacher preparation content standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, MAA recommendations,  and recommendations of the Conference Board on the Mathematical Sciences Mathematical Education of Teachers report for grades 5-8 in a context emphasizing effective teaching. 

Data compiled by the Virginia Mathematicsand Science Coalition indicate that over the next decade the state willannually require 150 new mathematics/science teachers in the middle schools,but that as of 1998 Virginia colleges and universities were annually preparingonly15 new mathematics/science teachers per year. .

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 9952799.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.