The goal of the program is to increase the numbers of 10th grade students in 5-unit classes in schools where teachers participate in the program
In order to further widen the pipeline of potential students and increase their readiness for 5-unit study in high school, junior high school students need to build a solid foundation of mathematics knowledge and skills. In recent years, the middle-school curriculum has been significantly revised in line with this need, to include tasks that invite exploration and mathematical reasoning. Teaching practices now need to adapt and to raise the cognitive bar for students in their classrooms.To do so, the Technion is proposing a professional development program for 80 middle school teachers. The program will focus on how to construct and orchestrate a classroom-based discourse so that teachers are better equipped to diagnose student thinking and misconceptions and to adapt their teaching accordingly. It will be based on a methodology (“five practices”) which was developed by the Learning Research and Development Center (LRDC) at the University of Pittsburgh.
The method proved to enhance instruction, by conducting lessons with high-cognitive demand tasks, including clinical monitoring of students’ work, and leading to productive classroom discussions. The proposed program, which will be advised by experts from LRDC will include professional development workshops, routine school-based professional learning communities, and training of a cadre of instructional coaches that will specialize in assisting teachers in implementing the method in their classrooms.
The program will be operated in collaboration with the Tel Aviv District of the Education Ministry. The program team will include five regional instructors of the District, who will adapt content and tools to the Israeli curriculum. Initially 20 teachers will be trained to use the material and methods, and coached over a period of two years to implement high-level tasks and discourse in their classrooms. In a second stage the regional instructors will lead professional development courses for an additional 60 teachers. Following their training, the 60 teachers will participate in group and individual instructional coaching workshops, including lesson observation and feedback, both live and filmed.
The goal of the program is to increase the numbers of 10th grade students in 5-unit classes in schools where teachers participate in the program. A continuous evaluation process will measure the progress towards this goal, in addition to an in-depth analysis of teaching practices.