MMSTLC Marches On
The MMSTLC Partners received word recently that the project would not receive grant funding through the Mathematics and Science Partnership program from the Michigan Department of Education. The MMSTLC Partners are sad to announce what we feel is a premature end to the ongoing professional development efforts of the project. Our letter below to all of our participating educators expresses our feelings about this decision and the project in general:
Dear MMSTLC Participants,
We are writing to thank you for your ongoing participation and effort in the MMSTLC over the past couple years. Through this program, you have invested considerable time and effort to enhance your own instruction and developed new skills, knowledge, and capacities to help support your colleagues in addressing mathematics and science instruction. As a result of this and the new partnerships we have all formed through this effort, you and your colleagues in the project can better support teaching and learning at your schools and institutions.
We wanted to let you know that the MMSTLC will not receive additional grant funding to continue our formal networking and leadership development efforts or to financially support the ongoing implementation of program activities. Despite this setback, you all have access to a considerable set of instructional and professional development resources provided by the project, as well as the networks and relationships you have developed with others in the project. We anticipate that you will continue to use these resources and contacts to further support mathematics and science education in your school and region. If there are any questions regarding the MMSTLC program or concerns regarding specific efforts for your project or team, please contact your mentor.
In the next several weeks, we will be posting and sending you some resources related to the project, including possible support considerations that we are exploring, and information about the project as well as a list of our accomplishments. We’ll also update you on the resources we have been developing for the new project web site and upcoming webinars and other learning opportunities to find out about these new tools. Beyond this, we want to suggest that you continue to maintain contact with your team partners and their organizations, that you use the resources from the project, and look for local sponsorship or grant funding opportunities. We have attached a list of suggestions for next steps for everyone in the project. As the professional educators you are, we hope you will continue to strive to support learning and teaching in mathematics and science through these and other approaches.
Obviously, we are disappointed that we will not have the opportunity to continue to work with all of you in these efforts. This was a gratifying experience for each and every one of us, and we feel that we have all benefited through this collaborative work with you. We want you to know that the project status does not reflect on the quality of the project or the work you all have been doing, but simply on the reality and situation of funding and priorities for the state. In fact, our evaluator’s report suggests that we will continue to see the fruition of the project for years to come. We are sure that you will be a part of that.
Thank you again for the opportunity to work with you all on improving mathematics and science education in our state.
Sincerely,
Walt, Judy, Karen, Mary Ann, and Steve
The MMSTLC Partners