Jennifer Bay Williams, a professor in UofL’s College of Education and Human Development, and Aaron Hill, a mathematics professor in the College of Arts & Science, have partnered with Carroll County schools to establish a program aimed at furthering mathematics education.
The program, called “All in for Algebra,” was established with an MSP (Mathematics and Science Partnerships) grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The Carroll County School District, in partnership with UofL, was awarded the $400,000 grant from the Kentucky Department of Education.
MSP grants are designed to improve the content knowledge and teaching skills of math, science, technology and engineering teachers. All in for Algebra was one of only nine funded projects through this grant.
Williams and Hill submitted the grant application in May of 2015 and it was approved in August. Their project includes lesson plans, course content throughout the year and a summer institute program. Hill wrote the program and is in charge of the lesson plans and has been implementing content for the summer program.
“It has been especially enjoyable for me to work closely with Carroll County teachers who are part of the grant. I’ve seen up close their hard work and dedication to their students and it has been fun to work on substantive mathematics that is closely connected to the curriculum they use in their classrooms.” Hill said.
Williams added that the project is focused on improving teacher content knowledge, confidence and teaching expertise, as well as increasing an administrator understanding of effective teaching. She emphasizes the importance of this project because it benefits the entire district.
“Many schools have tried lesson study (urban and rural) and can’t sustain it, and yet it is one of the few forms of teacher learning that has a lot of evidence that it impacts student learning,” she said.
Williams and Hill plan to bring the project into other schools.
