The Mid-Atlantic Center for Teaching and Learning Mathematics is renewed for an additional five years. The Mid-Atlantic Center is a consortium led by members of the mathematics and education faculties of three research universities and three school-system partners: the University of Delaware, the University of Maryland, the Pennsylvania State University, the Delaware State Department of Education, Prince George's County (MD) Public Schools and the Pittsburgh (PA) Public Schools. The University of Maryland is the designated grantee institution.
The three central tasks of the Center are to:
1. Design and operate an innovative program of doctoral and postdoctoral studies preparing leaders for mathematics education work on teacher preparation and professional development, curriculum, policy and research. 2. Develop and evaluate alternative models for mathematical education of pre-service teachers and professional development of in-service teachers in K-12 schools. 3. Study the processes of teacher preparation and professional development to determine critical factors in successful programs.
The central theme of the renewal effort is to gain a better understanding of the relationship between teacher content knowledge (in mathematics) pedagogical knowledge and effective classroom practice. The research agenda focuses on the three questions:
1. What are the critical mechanisms through which teachers develop mathematical and pedagogical knowledge from content and methods courses and internship experiences? 2. How do practicing teachers draw on and continue to develop mathematical and pedagogical knowledge in the course of their professional work? 3. How does teacher mathematical and pedagogical knowledge influence student achievement?
