DEVELOPING ANOTHER GENERATION OF CLASSROOM LEADERS
How do you effectively change the ways that teachers teach and students learn? Change requires dynamic leadership with the vision, knowledge, and skills to move educators and students to be accountable for learning. The Michigan Mathematics and Science Teacher Leadership Collaborative (MMSTLC) is a program that was built to encourage high level teaching and learning throughout the state by developing leadership capacity in local schools. By building on the expertise and extending the skills and knowledge of promising teachers to provide leadership, and by building partnerships among these teachers and content experts in mathematics and science, we are creating an infrastructure to support teaching and learning in these disciplines for the 21st century. The MMSTLC is providing resources and programs that support teacher leaders and other educational decision makers to promote change based on research documented best practices and strategies.
BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS TO SUPPORT TEACHERS, STUDENTS, AND SCHOOLS
How can schools and teachers effectively improve their own practice with limited resources? Tighter budgets, limited time, and greater workloads produce an environment that is difficult for teachers to learn about and implement new practices and content. MMSTLC is addressing these challenges by developing partnerships among content experts and educational organizations. All have unique skills, knowledge, and experiences that can support schools in enhancing their mathematics and science education programs, and ultimately, improve student achievement. Whether it is from professors working with teachers to increase their knowledge of physics, or from lead teachers and administrators reviewing student data to decide how to incorporate new curriculum materials, the partnerships developed through MMSTLC will benefit all participants and sustain improvement.
GIVING EDUCATORS THE TOOLS AND SKILLS TO ENHANCE TEACHING AND LEARNING
How can teachers be supported in their effort to change classroom practice? Teachers need models to work from, experts to guide and mentor them, and schools that seek effective ways to provide these learning opportunities. To help our new educational leaders, the MMSTLC is addressing all of these issues. Research-based professional learning resources that address the most critical content and pedagogical issues for middle grades teachers are being created specifically for these leaders and their colleagues from higher education and Michigan’s Mathematics and Science Centers. These leadership teams are supported through extensive professional development support, including online tools and leadership mentoring. We are providing these teacher leaders with tools and resources that focus on using inquiry and teaching mathematics and science for proficiency and understanding and that can be used to support fellow teachers in ensuring that all students are given the opportunity to learn and appreciate these content topics.