News from NKU...

Tuesday - September 20, 2011
For immediate release...


HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Northern Kentucky University has been awarded a $97,289 extension grant from the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) to support the Northern Kentucky Mathematics Specialists Project, which works with elementary and middle grades teachers and administrators in 11 northern Kentucky school districts to develop content and pedagogical expertise in mathematics through rigorous, faculty-led courses and job-embedded professional development.

The project, originally funded for two years by the KDE, has included three-week summer institutes in 2010 and 2011 taught by teams of NKU faculty and acknowledged teacher leaders providing participants with 12 graduate credits in mathematics content and pedagogy as well as collaborative action research and leadership projects addressing recognized needs in each district and conducted by teams of teachers, administrators and NKU faculty.

The project also includes monthly collegial meetings during the academic year and quarterly planning and assessment meetings.

At the end of two years, NKU submitted a variety of evaluation measures to KDE, including the impact of the project on teachers' understanding of mathematics, adoption of research-based best practices, leadership development and student learning in each project classroom. On the basis of these data, the KDE awarded this extension grant to support project activities for an additional school year.

The extension grant, the maximum amount and time extension available through KDE, will enable continued planning and collaboration between NKU math education faculty and local teachers, and culminate with a regional mini-conference on the teaching and learning of mathematics during May 2012.

The Northern Kentucky Mathematics Specialists Project grant is co-directed by NKU faculty Drs. Ted Hodgson and Sara Eisenhardt. NKU faculty Beth Noblitt and Sarah Kasten serve as principal instructors for the project and have been instrumental in the planning and implementation of project activities.

### NKU ###