Project AIM: All Included in Mathematics

Project AIM: All Included in Mathematics Teacher Applicant Interest Letter 2012-2013 School Year

Greetings, Thank you for your interest in Project AIM. Project AIM is a research and development project funded by the National Science Foundation. The overall goal of Project AIM is to promote mathematics communication in elementary-school classrooms as a viable approach to support all students in learning meaningful mathematics content. Our research will examine whether the program leads to teacher learning and to the facilitation of effective mathematics communication in elementary classrooms. In the 2012-2013 school year, we will offer our 40-hour professional development program for the second time, for second grade teachers. We look forward to seeing you there! The professional development will begin with a three day institute scheduled for August 13th- 15th, 2012, at the Friday Institute, NC State. There will be 7 additional sessions from 4:30-7:45 during the school year at a location still to be determined. Participation in all these sessions is required. Participating teachers will receive 4 CEUs and a stipend of $800. The content of the professional development will be aligned with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, which teachers will find especially beneficial during this transition year. Please note that this professional development has a research component attached to it. To explain what the research component of Project AIM entails, we have attached the Informed Consent Form that will be discussed with participants on the first day of the professional development to gain consent for data collection. The WCPSS Data & Accountability Office has approved this form and the information in it should help you gauge all that participation in Project AIM entails. For the 2012-2013 school year we are looking for about 80 second-grade teachers to work with us. Preference will be given to teachers who can attend the professional development in teams of two or three teachers from each school. For teachers coming in teams, preference will be given to schools with a high ELL population. Beyond these criteria, participants will be chosen on a first come, first served basis. We anticipate choosing and notifying selected participants no later than the end of May, 2012. If you are not selected for participation in the project this year, your application will remain in our files, in a secure location, so that we can contact you when other opportunities to participate in project AIM arise. If you are interested in participating, please fill out the following application and email it to Christine Taylor [email protected]. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact her. Again, thank you for your interest.

Paola Sztajn, PI Professor, North Carolina State University Project AIM Teacher Application 2012-2013 School Year

Teacher Name: Email: Phone Number: School Name:

Questions about the Professional Development  Are you available August 13-15, 2012?

 Are you able to meet seven times during the school year from 4:30 to 7:45 pm?

 Do you have a preference for meeting on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday evening?

 Is there an evening you cannot meet?

 What questions do you have about the information listed in the Informed Consent Form?

Questions about the grade you are teaching:  Are you currently teaching second grade? ______ Will you be teaching second grade next year? ______Questions about your school:  Will you be teaching at this school next year (2012-13)? ______ Are there other second grade teachers from your school also applying? ______ List the names of other teachers from your school who will be applying to Project AIM:

 What is the percentage of ELL students at your school? ______Thank you for your interest in Project AIM. When you have finished filling out this application, please return via email to Christine Taylor. [email protected]. Applications are due by April 30 th , 2012. North Carolina State University INFORMED CONSENT FORM for RESEARCH This consent form is valid April 18, 2011 – April 18, 2012.

PD TEACHERS

Title of Study: Project AIM: All Included in Mathematics Communication

Principal Investigator: Paola Sztajn

What are some general things you should know about research studies? You are being asked to take part in a research study. Your participation in this study is voluntary. You have the right to be a part of this study, to choose not to participate or to stop participating at any time without penalty. The purpose of research studies is to gain a better understanding of a certain topic or issue. You are not guaranteed any personal benefits from being in a study. Research studies also may pose risks to those that participate. In this consent form you will find specific details about the research in which you are being asked to participate. If you do not understand something in this form it is your right to ask the researcher for clarification or more information. A copy of this consent form will be provided to you. If at any time you have questions about your participation, do not hesitate to contact the researcher(s) named above.

What is the purpose of this study? The overall goal of Project AIM is to promote mathematics communication in elementary-school classrooms as a viable approach to support all students in learning meaningful mathematics content. The project’s research and development efforts will result in a 40-hour professional development program for elementary teachers. Our research will determine whether the program leads to teacher learning of both content and discourse facilitation strategies, and to the facilitation of effective mathematics communication in elementary classrooms. We will examine how to take the project to scale, offering evidence about the potential of having professional development providers across the nation offer the program to large numbers of elementary teachers.

What will happen if you take part in the study? If you agree to participate in this study, you will be asked to attend 40 hours of professional development meetings over one school year and complete a series of data collection instruments, which include interviews, questionnaires, content assessment, classroom observation, teaching videos, and collection of artifacts from your teaching. Professional development meetings will be video taped and all your written work during these meetings will serve as data for the project. As part of the research, your classroom instruction will be observed, videotaped and assessed. The completion of research-related activities beyond the requirements from the professional development course should take no more than 20 hours of your time over the school year.

Risks There should be no risk to you from participating. You may be uncomfortable with the assessment of your instruction, but we will protect the confidentiality of the research data in order to minimize any potential discomfort to you.

Benefits As a participant in this research project, you should learn strategies to facilitate mathematics discourse in your classroom practice. As a whole, the project should help develop a better understanding of how to support teacher learning of strategies to facilitate math talk in elementary classrooms. The research will directly benefit the body of knowledge in mathematics education by providing information regarding the promotion of mathematics communication in elementary classrooms. Confidentiality The information in the study will be kept confidential to the full extent allowed by law. Video recordings and work products from the professional development sessions or other research instruments and measures will be stored on secure servers and in the researcher’s office at NCSU College of Education or at Horizon Research Inc. With your consent (signature below), particular clips from the video recordings of your participation in the professional development activities or of your teaching may be shared with people beyond our project team (such as at professional meetings and teacher professional development sessions). You will not be identified by name in such presentations or materials, or in any written or oral reports of the research.

Compensation For participating in this study you will receive $800 for engagement with the project professional development and research. Participants who are completing all the required project work (participation and data collection) will be paid as follows: $300 at the end of the 2012 summer institute; $500 after completion of the professional development and all data collection requirements. If you choose to withdraw from the study prior to its completion, you will keep what you have received for the hours spent on project-related research work up to the time of your withdrawal and will not receive the remaining compensation.

What if you have questions about this study? If you have questions at any time about the study or the procedures, you may contact the researcher, Paola Sztajn, at 317 Poe Hall, Campus Box 7801, Raleigh NC 27695, [email protected], or 919-515-0369.

What if you have questions about your rights as a research participant? If you feel you have not been treated according to the descriptions in this form, or your rights as a participant in research have been violated during the course of this project, you may contact Deb Paxton, Regulatory Compliance Administrator, Box 7514, NCSU Campus (919-515-4514).

Consent To Participate I have read and understand the above information. I have received a copy of this form. I agree to participate in this study with the understanding that I may choose not to participate or to stop participating at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which I am otherwise entitled.

Subject's signature______Date ______

Investigator's signature______Date ______

Consent for Videotape Use in Presentations

I consent for short excerpts of video recording from this project, as judged useful by the researcher, to be used in professional research presentations and teacher professional development materials, as long as I am not identified by name in such presentations. I agree to have the videos in which I appear shared, with the understanding that I may choose to have certain video segments excluded from the set of videos that can be used in professional research presentations and teacher professional development materials at any time and without penalties.

Subject's signature______Date ______

Investigator's signature______Date ______