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The Division of Curriculum and Instruction has a Math Program that services both the elementary and secondary levels of our school district. This program exists to assist teachers in their professional development in the area of Mathematics. Curriculum Development The driving force behind our Math curriculum is our K-12 Content Standards and Performance Indicators. These standards represent what every student on Guam should know, be able to do, and care about in Mathematics at specific grade levels. These standards build on those developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), PREL (The Pacific Resources for Education and Learning), as well as the expertise of local teachers. The Math Cadre of the LARM (Language Arts, Reading, and Math) Project empowered Math teachers from both the elementary and secondary levels to design a Math Curriculum Alignment. This alignment correlates and aligns our district’s K-12 Content Standards and Performance Indicators with national standards (NCTM), SAT-9 standards, and the adopted textbooks, Math Plus from Harcourt Brace. It is in the process of completing a Math Curriculum Guide with unit plans and lesson plans utilizing our K-12 Content Standards and Performance Standards, and national standards (NCTM) as a tool to aid teachers in their weekly and quarterly lesson planning of instruction. |
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Program Development The Math Program at the Division of Curriculum and Instruction provides leadership and support services for all levels, K-12, with respect to curriculum, programs, and staff development. Because of the need of teachers to be trained in the content area of Mathematics, and the urgency to raise our students’ test scores in the area of Math, the Division of Curriculum and Instruction has begun to develop two professional development programs to address these needs. The Math MENTOR (Mathematics Education for Novice Teachers: Opportunities for Reflection) Program is a 5-year professional development program whose primary purpose is to develop in novice teachers the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to be effective teachers of mathematics, thereby decreasing the length and trauma of their induction into the profession and increasing their commitment to teaching as a profession. |
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Professional Development The Math Program at the Division of Curriculum and Instruction provides assistance to increase teacher effectiveness and competency to achieve greater student outcomes. It also coordinates in-service, workshops, seminars, course offerings for the professional development of the teachers in our school district. For school year 2003-2004, the Division of Curriculum and Instruction had conducted a Math Plus K- 5 “New Math Trends” Workshop Training. This training was conducted by Harcourt Brace, the publisher of Math Plus. The trainer was former Guam educator, Ms. Dixie Schurle. Her return to Guam was focused on rejuvenating our elementary teachers (K-5) in the newest Math trends. |
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Math MENTOR Project Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) received a grant of $1,999,968 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under teacher enhancement programs to implement the MENTOR Project. Building on the work accomplished in Project DELTA, MENTOR Project staff will work with the Department of Education, as well as institutions of higher education (IHEs), in the state of Hawaii’s and 9 U.S. affiliated Pacific island communities of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas (CNMI), the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM: Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap), Guam, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and the Republic of Palau. The Math MENTOR (Mathematics Education for Novice Teachers: Opportunities for Reflection) Program is a 5-year professional development program whose primary purpose is to develop in novice teachers the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to be effective teachers of mathematics, thereby decreasing the length and trauma of their induction into the profession and increasing their commitment to teaching as a profession. This will be achieved through the establishment of a mentoring program in which experienced mathematics educators, or mentors, work with novice teachers to develop their understanding of mathematics learning and teaching. For this project, a novice teacher is defined as someone with three (3) years of less teaching experience. The goals of the MENTOR Project are in: Developing experiencing mathematics educators’ understandings of the roles and responsibilities of mentors, as well as of effective mentoring processes; Developing experienced mathematics educators’ skills as mentors, as well as their abilities to design and implement professional development models that foster professional growth in novice teachers; Increasing mentors’ and novice teachers’ mathematical content knowledge, as well as their understanding of associated pedagogy; Increasing novice teachers’ ability to plan, implement and assess instructional sequences that reflect an understanding of the principles of standards-based mathematics learning and teaching; Developing novice teachers’ and mentors’ abilities to reflect critically on their practices and on their growth as educators. |
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Program Contact For more information, please contact the following:
You may also contact the Curriculum and Instruction Division at the following:
Program Resources Program Affiliates
Other Organizations Mentioned |
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