This three-year, $554,418 project extends the past work of the Rational Number Project (RNP) at the elementary school level by developing a module for teaching fractions, decimal, and percentages at the middle school level. In line with the NCTM Standards, the module is developed collaboratively by university scholars and classroom teachers on the basis of constructivist principles of learning, particularly the Lesh model of translation among multiple representations. The development takes place within classrooms in Minneapolis Public Schools, where more than 50% of the students come from underserved populations (42% African American, 13% Hispanic). To better cater to the needs of such students, an expert of culture and second language is a member of the project interdisciplinary team. The module consists of 23 lessons that cover about 4-5 weeks of instruction. It includes relevant assessment instruments/methods and written materials and video clips for teachers (online workshop). The module is first developed and piloted in an urban classroom (5th or 6th grade), where project personnel team teach it with the classroom teacher. Student data (interviews, artifacts, observations) are collected and analyzed to inform revision of the pilot module. Field test takes place in other classrooms, including teachers who use it on the basis of the written and online materials alone to examine the extent to which the materials can be adopted without intensive face-to-face professional development.
