UNC Researcher Earns $197,090 Grant to Offer Math Teacher Program

University of Northern Colorado researcher Jerry Overmyer recently earned a $197,090 grant from the Colorado Department of Higher Education to enhance teacher quality in high-need, rural school districts. The one-year grant will allow Overmyer to offer a comprehensive professional development program to high school math teachers and provide them with technology and instruction addressing state standards to improve teaching quality and student achievement in math. The program will admit 30 teachers and cover their costs of graduate-level courses and implementing technology in their classrooms. The curriculum consists of an online course beginning this spring followed by a hybrid online and face-to-face course in the summer. Teachers will then implement aspects of the professional development course in Fall 2013. The program expands on an existing course, MED 341: Tools and Technology of Secondary Mathematics, a course created for pre-service teachers in secondary mathematics education by UNC’s William Blubaugh, who is part of the project. One of the goals is to create a professional learning community of rural Colorado math teachers. Overmyer is the outreach coordinator for UNC’s Mathematics and Science Teaching Institute. For more information, visit http://mast.unco.edu/people/jerry_overmyer.php Project Name: “Tools and Technology for Rural Colorado Mathematics: Improving Teacher Quality Project” Funding: $197,090 from Colorado Department of Higher Education