Superintendents:
If you are concerned with the mathematics skills of your local secondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) students and if you have not met your federal performance indicators in CTE, consider participating in a local-level pilot of the successful national Math-in-CTE program.
For the 2012-13 school year, one to two CTE schools in Maine and their partner middle and high schools have the chance to try out a local version of Math-in-CTE, involving math and CTE teachers in forging partnerships designed to familiarize CTE teachers with the math concepts embedded in their subject areas.
What’s involved: High-quality, results-proven, professional development for all of your CTE program teachers and their locally identified middle- or high-school mathematics teacher partners in the nationally proven Math-in-CTE approach. The Math-in-CTE program includes 10 days of professional development to take place during the 2012-2013 school year: five days in the summer and five days during the school year. Some of you are already familiar with the Math-in-CTE program through participation in statewide trainings by your individual mathematics and CTE teachers.
Benefits: CTE teachers and mathematics teachers work together to develop CTE lesson plans that enhance the mathematics already embedded in the CTE curriculum. CTE teachers gain increased familiarity with these mathematics concepts and the confidence and ability to teach these lessons in their own classrooms. Mathematics teachers learn practical, real-world examples for the mathematics that they teach. Both CTE and mathematics teachers gain curricular mapping and lesson plan development skills. Increased collaboration between CTE and mathematics teachers may lead to other creative, and integrated projects for their students.
CTE students taught by newly trained CTE teachers gain improved skills in mathematics.
What the Maine Department of Education provides: Experienced Math-in-CTE trainers to implement trainings and pre and post Accuplacer mathematics testing of all CTE students for the 2012-2013 program year.
What school districts/CTE schools provide and agree to: Commitment of CTE teachers and mathematics teachers, with support of their administrators, to participate in 10 days of professional development and in ongoing partnership; facility in which to provide trainings; and any meals and other teacher costs associated with participation in 10 days of professional development during the summer and school year; implementation of Maine DOE-funded pre and post Accuplacer mathematics tests for all CTE students. NOTE: Your district receives federal NCLB funds for professional development. These funds are intended for sustained professional development and can be used to participate in this work.
How to follow up: Only one or two schools/districts will be chosen for this pilot. Please complete and return by Jan. 20, 2012 the “2012-2013 Math-in-CTE Local Training Application” form available at http://www.maine.gov/education/it/mathincte/.
Address any questions to:
Doug Robertson, Maine Math-in-CTE Coordinator
Maine Department of Education
207-624-6744
doug.robertson@maine.gov
Thank you for your interest in this program and in the mathematics skills of your students!
Doug Robertson & Meg Harvey
Acting Co-Directors of Career & Technical Education
Maine Department of Education
Resources and more information
- Math in CTE web page
- Bridging the gap between math and CTE, Maine DOE Newsroom, May 24, 2011
- Program pairs math and trades, Maine DOE Newsroom, May 14, 2011
It should be noted that the assessment for the federal performance indicators is conducted in the spring of their junior year and that most CTE students are seniors and juniors. Therefore any learning that would occur in the CTE setting would affect very few students’ assessed mathematics performance. Many CTE programs and the careers associated with them need students with a good understanding of various mathematical concepts. The residential construction instructor will show the students how to use the Pythagorean Theorem for roof and stair construction before showing them how the framing square can simplify the process. Given that this a fundamental geometry theorem, all students entering this CTE program should have been exposed to it and hopefully learned it, but it is taught in many classes without practical application so it is never retained beyond the test at the end of the unit. It is in the application of knowledge where the real learning and retention of that knowledge occurs. This funding could be better directed towards professional development for all math teachers, so they may learn how to make real world applications of mathematics concepts from using ratios on an architect’s scale to understanding the X, Y and Z axis and intersecting planes by creating parts for production on a CNC machine