SU Hosts National Workshop for Mathematics Teachers

SALISBURY, MD---Teachers, school administrators and college professors from throughout the country recently visited Salisbury University for a mathematics teaching workshop funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

During the national workshop, participants teaching kindergarteners through college seniors learned about and experienced SU’s Allied Delmarva Enhancement Program for Teachers (Math ADEPT), a professional development tool for middle school math teachers.

Designed to meet the needs of today's math teachers and the national and state standards-based curricula, the program was launched in fall 2001, also with NSF funds.

Drs. Homer Austin and Harel Barzilai of SU's Mathematics and Computer Science Department secured grant funding for the project’s initiation. They serve as co-directors of Math ADEPT in partnership with school systems in surrounding counties and members of SU's Education Department.

The workshop, which included educational teams from Texas, New York, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland and Michigan, concluded with presentations in which the participants outlined their program for adapting the ADEPT model to their local and regional needs.

We were very pleased at the attendance at the workshop and the wide variety of states and school- university partnerships represented, and are excited about SU's Math ADEPT program serving as a national model for helping increase the performance of middle school students in their mathematics classes,” said Barzilai.

SU's Math ADEPT team continues to be in contact with the workshop participants, Through the workshop’s assessment program, a follow-up phase is planned in late spring 2006, spearheaded by Dr. Randy Groth, a mathematics educator in SU's Education Department.

I eagerly await the results of this assessment and look forward to learn how the various implementations have progressed,” said Austin.

For more information call (410) 543-6140 or 410-543-6471 or visit the Math ADEPT Web site at www.salisbury.edu/community/adept.