Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education: Getting to the Core: Supporting Teachers' Implementation of Contemporary Mathematics in Context

This Pilot Local Systemic change project is a partnership between the University of Missouri-Columbia and the Columbia Public Schools. It supports forty mathematics teachers (grades 8-12) as they implement Contemporary Mathematics in Context (Core Plus). Using a model of professional development designed around four important issues (building teachers' knowledge base about content and pedagogy, supporting teachers in both the planning and implementation phases of instruction, and helping teachers reflect on the entire process), project staff and a Core Plus author design and implement over 200 hours of professional development over a two-year period. The project seeks to understand the professional development support and its influences on teacher knowledge and practices. The project supports building a continuing educational infrastructure in which preservice mathematics teachers can actively participate and learn about teaching mathematics in classrooms where reform curricula are being faithfully implemented.