This Leadership Activities project will provide enhancement and professional development experiences for 35 exemplary secondary school mathematics teachers from the south-central Pennsylvania area. The overall project goals involve the updating and deepening of the participants' mathematical backgrounds and teaching methodology, the networking of the participants, the conduct of in-service workshops by the participants in their home schools, the dissemination of the project materials and results to nearby school systems, and the investigation of the modelistic approach within a well-planned documentation, assessment and evaluation effort. Participants will be selected through recommendations provided by educational specialists in the Intermediate Units, which provide services to 72 school districts. Participants will study the theory and practice of mathematical modeling, as well as the teaching of school mathematics emphasizing mathematical modeling and problem solving during a 5-week workshop on the Capitol Campus. In small group sessions they will work together to apply their new understandings to develop plans and materials for implementing mathematical modeling into their own teaching. Further, they will collaboratively plan for the half-day workshop each is required to conduct for their school colleagues. During the Autumn follow-up, they will be observed and assisted by project staff in their own classrooms. They will conduct the workshop for peers, attend three half-day symposia on mathematical applications presented by guest industrial mathematicians, and prepare written reports of all project activities. The participants will be recognized and honored, and they will earn eight graduate credits.
