This Center for Learning and Teaching (CLT) project focuses on the best approaches to teach urban students mathematics. The Center will form an interdisciplinary scholarly community from the perspectives of mathematics and mathematics education, urban studies, urban education and social and environmental psychology. The CLT is a partnership between the State University of New Jersey, the City University of New York, the University of Pennsylvania and local school districts in New York City, Newark, Plainfield and Philadelphia. Other partners include Lincoln University, University of Pittsburgh LRDC, Bank Street College of Education, Education Works and the Merck Institute for Science Education.
The Center will develop a comprehensive, research-based framework to achieve effective mathematics education for all students. The framework will include multiple perspectives on urban children's mathematical learning and development; urban teachers' learning, development, beliefs and expectations; community interactions with influences on children, teachers and schools in relation to mathematics; and the preparation of doctoral-level mathematics education leaders with the knowledge, experience base and long-term support to bring about success in the nation's urban schools. The Center's flagship program is a two-year, intensive, multi-university Seminar/Practicum on mathematics in urban environments. This Mu Seminar will be a team-taught, multidisciplinary experience that includes mentored field internships. The Center will also offer an in-depth MILE program (Mathematics Institutes for Leaders in Education) designed to develop urban teachers' knowledge of mathematics, how it is learned, how it may be best taught, and to enhance their leadership skills and understanding of urban communities. Over 300 teachers from participating school districts will participate in the MILE program over the life of the CLT. While the MILE program and the Mu Seminars will address the full range of school mathematics, there will be special emphases on rational numbers and discrete mathematics as contrasting domains.
