About the Project

The major goals of the McDaniel College EMS&TL Project are to fully establish the McDaniel College graduate program leading to an MS degree in elementary mathematics teacher leadership, to develop a clearinghouse relative to elementary mathematics specialists and their work and preparation, and to ensure the continuing professional development and mentoring of a cadre of mathematics teacher-leaders and elementary school mathematics specialists in Maryland. Additionally, the project seeks to determine the impact of mathematics specialists and mathematics teacher specialists on student achievement and school and school district improvement regionally, statewide, and potentially, nationally.

This is a proposed multi-year project, with the formal establishment of the Elementary Mathematics Teacher Leadership Program as a stand alone program within the McDaniel College graduate degree offerings during the 2009-2010 academic year. It is hoped that this recently completed initiative will serve as a catalyst and model for other area institutions as well as provide the momentum to move the Maryland State Department of Education to acknowledge and support the certification of elementary mathematics specialists. This effort too seems to be moving forward. An important element of the EMS&TL Project has been the creation of a project clearinghouse to not only collect and analyze data relative to the impact of the work of the EMS&TL project, but also to locate and disseminate information relative to similar projects and to begin to document the impact of mathematics teacher specialists and elementary mathematics specialists on student learning and school and school district effectiveness on a national, and to some extent, international level.

The EMS&TL project has multiple components: (1) establishing and maintaining the project clearinghouse; (2) revising established McDaniel College courses and developing new ones relevant to the MS degree program elementary mathematics specialists; (3) planning and delivering annual summer seminars focusing on mathematics content, pedagogy, and leadership issues for elementary mathematics specialists within the region and state; (4) participation in the Maryland Council of Teachers of Mathematics and National Council of Teachers of Mathematics conferences, plus additional regional symposia and workshops (as relevant); and (5) annually assessing the project's work and impact. The EMS&TL work also involves the development of interactive, online leadership modules for elementary mathematics specialists. This work, initially supported by the Cisco Learning Institute (CLI) is in conjunction with an effort in mathematics and pedagogy at the University of Michigan.

The EMS&TL work with the University of Michigan extends the work of the Project in developing leadership modules with a particular emphasis on mathematics content and the myriad of relationships which teacher leaders and specialists encounter. Project Director, Francis (Skip) Fennell, and colleagues Jon Wray, Howard County (MD) Public Schools, and Beth Kobett (Stevenson University) lead the effort in developing leadership module(s) based on the experiences of a cadre of experienced mathematic specialists from the region. The leadership modules are currently being piloted regionally and will soon be reviewed nationally. This work will be a component of the University of Michigan project which focuses on the mathematics content and pedagogy background of elementary teachers. Dr. Fennell is the Project Investigator (PI) of the EMS&TL project. Jon Wray is serving as project manager and Beth Kobett as lead consultant for the work. This project will run for two-and-a-half years. It began in the Spring/Summer of 2009 and will continue through early Summer of 2011.