Vote: adopted

Item Text

20. APPLY AND ACCEPT THE 2014 MATH AND SCIENCE PARTNERSHIP GRANT Apply for and Accept $443,733 on behalf of The Maricopa County Education Service Agency (MCESA) from the Arizona Department of Education, through the U.S. Department of Education (CFDA 84.366B). This grant is a collaboration of four (4) local education agencies pioneering the Formative assessment Opportunities and Content training Using a Systemic approach (FOCUS). The Grant Period is April 1, 2014 – June 30, 2015. MCESA’s indirect rate for FY 2014 is 8.3 percent. Recoverable indirect costs on this award are $32,869 and unrecoverable indirect costs are $1,232. No Budget adjustment is necessary at this time. Grant revenues are not local revenues for the purpose of the constitutional expenditure limitation, and therefore, expenditures of these revenues are not prohibited by the budget law. This action does not alter the budget constraining the expenditures of local revenues duly adopted by the Board pursuant to A.R.S. §42-17105. FOCUS (Formative assessment Opportunities and Content training Using a Systemic approach) is a professional development project that is aligned to the needs of four LEA 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade teachers (88) and students (1900). It partners the Maricopa County Education Service Agency, Apache Junction Unified School District, Higley Unified School District, Blackwater Community School, and Queen Creek Unified School District with mathematicians from Maricopa Community College and a mathematics educator from ASU. The goals of FOCUS include the following: (1) increase the number of teachers who are adequately prepared to teach mathematics and (2) increase mathematics student achievement in target schools. The objectives for the first goal include improve teacher content knowledge in the areas of arithmetic, geometric and algebraic aspects of operations, number theory, place value, rates & rational numbers, and linear functions as measured by the LMT (Learning Mathematics for Teaching assessment) and the Intel Math Content Measure (IMC); increase teachers’ use of flexible thinking to reflect the Mathematical Practices as measured by the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP); establish sustainable thriving Mathematical Learning Communities (MLCs) at each school site through teacher leadership as measured by the revised North Cascades & Olympic Science Partnership Professional Learning Community Observation Protocol; and increase teachers’ lesson analysis and analysis of student work to drive and differentiate instruction through the Formative Assessment Cycle as measured by the RTOP. The second goal’s objectives are to improve students’ use of multiple representations during instruction as measured by the RTOP, promote the use of mathematical practices during mathematics instruction as measured by the RTOP, and increase student achievement as measured by AIMS Dual Purpose Assessment or AZCCRS mathematics assessment, and district benchmark scores. The program has 88 teachers participating who serve approximately 1900 students. (C-37-14-053-G-00)

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