Elementary Mathematics Specialists and Teacher Leaders Project

"We need elementary school mathematics specialists, elementary classroom teachers who know and understand mathematics and can effectively mentor their colleagues. Given the need for students with a mathematics and science background and interest, this project is a first step in that direction, with multiple national implications."

- Dr. Francis (Skip) Fennell
Professor, McDaniel College and Project Director

News and Updates

Standards for Elementary Mathematics Specialists: A Reference for Teacher Credentialing and Degree Programs was shared at the Fourteenth Annual Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE) Conference in Irvine, CA on January 28, 2010. The AMTE Elementary Mathematics Specialists (EMS) project group shared an overview of the standards including how to use the recommendations to advocate for EMS. Overviews of the EMS&TL project and the K-5 Mathematics Specialists Academy were provided. Click here to download the presentation slides from the EMS Pre-Conference session.

The EMS&TL project staff are in search of information about existing district-level mathematics specialist models. For more information visit the District Level Programs page.

About the Project

The major goals of the McDaniel College EMS&TL Project include the following:

the establishment and maintenance of a web-based clearinghouse on issues of importance for elementary mathematics specialists and their supervisors;

providing ongoing professional development for elementary mathematics specialists in the region and nationally;

fully establishing the McDaniel College graduate program leading to an MS degree in elementary mathematics teacher leadership.

In addition, the 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 multi-year project will, hopefully, 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.

The CISCO Learning Institute (CLI) component of the EMS&TL Project involves developing leadership module(s) to be piloted regionally and nationally and become a component of the University of Michigan CLI project which focuses on the mathematics content and pedagogy background of elementary teachers. Project Director, Dr. Francis (Skip) Fennell is engaging a subset of the McDaniel College EMS&TL staff as a core team whose work is to create the leadership modules in partnership with the the University of Michigan design team. Professor Fennell oversees all work and is the Project Investigator (PI) of the EMS&TL project. Jon Wray is serving as project manager and Beth Kobett as lead consultant.

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