TEKS-Aligned Concepts of Unit and Representational Fluency in K-8 Mathematics

A Teacher Quality Project at the University of Texas at Arlington

Since 2006, the Department of Mathematics at the University of Texas at Arlington has had funding from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to provide professional development for teachers of K-8 mathematics through the Teacher Quality program. Participants in this project earn up to 18 hours of graduate credit (3 courses per year, for up to 2 years) in K-8 Mathematics Education which can be applied to UTA's Master of Education program in Curriculum and Instruction. Each year, a new cohort of approximately twelve teachers enters the program, interacting through the classes with the cohort that entered a year earlier. We presently have funding to continue the project for the 2012-2013 program year.

For further general information on program offerings, participant benefits and responsibilities, as well as on applying to the UTA Graduate School, click here. (School districts must have an agreement with us in order for their teachers to be eligible for grant support. UTA presently has agreements with Arlington and Fort Worth. If you represent another district, feel free to contact us.)
Further information on applying to the UTA Graduate School can also be found at http://grad.uta.edu.
Further information on the K-8 mathematics education graduate program at UT Arlington can be found by clicking here.

2012-2013 Cohort:

Applications for the 2012-13 program year were accepted from April 24 through May 18. We have offered funding to 22 participants, including the 12 returning participants.

Applications (currently closed):

Applying to participate in this funded program requires doing four things:

Completing this online application form.
Completing this signature form (2 pages), which requires the signatures of both applicant and applicant's principal, faxing a copy to the Project Director, Dr. Theresa Jorgensen, at (817)272-5802, and presenting the original to her at the first meeting of the fall course.
Filing a Letter of Intent with the applicant's ISD mathematics department and, for AISD teachers, the AISD Title I office

Applications are not considered complete until all these first three components are complete. In addition, all selected applicants must complete an application to the UTA Graduate School, which includes having transcripts of prior university work sent directly to UTA from the institution(s) where the work was performed. The application for admission to the UTA Graduate School is completely separate and independent of applying for grant funding. Selected applicants must be successfully admitted as graduate students at UTA in order to participate in program activities. Selection for TQ support does not guarantee admission to the UTA Graduate School, and is contingent upon successful admission and registration. We suggest you wait to pay the application fee to the graduate school until you have received and accepted an offer of support through our TQ grant. NOTE: Applicants must apply for admission either as a degree-seeking M.Ed. candidate in Curriculum and Instruction, with a concentration in K-8 mathematics education, or as a non-degree-seeking "special student" in mathematics, with a concentration in K-8 mathematics education.

In accordance with funding guidelines, preference in selecting TQ applicants will be given to:

teachers whose students are primarily minority or economically disadvantaged;
teachers who need additional coursework in mathematics to meet the recommended 24 college credit hours in this discipline;
teams of 2 or more teachers applying from the same campus.

Project objectives:

(1)Teachers will know more deeply the mathematics underlying concepts of unit through focus on the role of unit in number and operations, and algebraic reasoning.
(2)Teachers will be able to design, implement, and communicate to peers lessons (including appropriate assessment) that center instruction around students articulating and discussing their own ideas and thinking, individually and together.
(3)Teachers will demonstrate growth in representational fluency.
(4)Teachers will demonstrate growth in their ability to identify, use, and analyze their own, and their students', mathematical ideas and conceptions related to units.
(5)Teachers will be able to identify instructional strategies from mathematics education research literature for meeting the needs of a diverse group of learners.

For further information please send e-mail to tq@mathed.uta.edu, or phone Dr. Christopher Kribs Zaleta (K-8 Program Director, 817-272-5513) or Dr. Theresa Jorgensen (2012-2013 TQ Project Director, 817-272-1321).

Past Cohorts

2006-2007: 22 teachers from Arlington ISD and Fort Worth ISD participated in the project during the 2006-2007 year. Six participants completed the six-course program in 2007. Teachers in this cohort made 11 presentations at CAMT 2007 (click here for the schedule).

2007-2008: Ten new participants joined the project for the 2007-2008 project year (June 2007 through May 2008), with ten others returning from the previous year. The latter group completed the six-course program in May 2008. This cohort gave 10 presentations at CAMT 2008 (click here for the schedule).

2008-2009: The 2008-09 cohort included ten returning participants as well as twelve new ones, with teachers from Arlington, Fort Worth, Mansfield, and HEB ISDs. Returning participants completed the six-course program in May 2009. The teachers in this cohort made 11 presentations at CAMT 2009 in Houston (click here for the schedule).

2009-2010: The 2009-2010 cohort included eight returning participants as well as fifteen new ones. Coursework began in August 2009 and ran through late June 2010. Participants made 14 presentations at CAMT 2010 in San Antonio (click here for the schedule).

2010-2011: The 2010-2011 cohort included thirteen returning participants as well as seven new ones. Coursework ran from August 2010 through June 2011. Participants made 11 presentations at CAMT 2011 in Grapevine (click here for the schedule).

2009-2011 MSTTPA Cohort: A separate grant, also funded by THECB, supported a cohort of 23 FWISD elementary math coaches to complete the program in K-8 mathematics education during the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years, under the auspices of the UT Arlington Mathematics Teacher Preparation Academy. This academy was funded by the MSTTPA program, a sister program to TQ.

2011-2012: The 2011-2012 cohort included eight returning participants as well as 14 new ones. Coursework ran from August 2011 through June 2012. The 2011-2012 cohort also included nine returning participants who had already completed the six-course graduate program in K-8 mathematics education. These participants engaged in a year-long seminar focused on Teacher Questioning in Mathematics.

Last updated August 7, 2012