Northern New Mexico Math and Science Academy Program

**Introduction**

The Northern New Mexico Math and Science Academy (MSA) program was
started in 2000 by the Northern New Mexico Council for Excellence in
Education (NNMCEE) in partnership with the Los Alamos National
Laboratory. MSA began with 12 core area middle school teachers from 3
districts. This year there are more than 70 teachers, including
elementary teachers, at 14 sites in 5 districts. MSA staff, Carol
Halberg Brown, Catherine Martinez Berryhill, Lorenzo Gonzales, and
cognitive coach Janice Vicente have 109+ years of experience in
education. The MSA staff design, develop, and deliver most of the
professional development.

MSA started with a focus on 7^th^ grade students, but it soon became
apparent that there is a great need to work with teachers at the
elementary level. Research continues to underscore the importance of
teacher practice and content knowledge for student achievement,
regardless of the programs or curricula being implemented at a school
site. MSA helps to implement the types of deep cultural changes in
teaching and learning that are required to bring about meaningful and
sustained increase in student learning and achievement. MSA is a
systemic reform initiative with the goal of transferring the
professional development model to the districts within three years.

**Program Description**

The teachers commit to 200 hours over their contract every year for a
minimum of 3 years. The three-year program consists of:

-   intensive training during three-week summer institutes every summer,

-   cognitive coaching training for administrators (or designees) and
    third year MSA teachers,

-   biweekly site-based meetings after school focused on developing
    common assessments and looking at student work,

-   at least four cognitive coaching cycles (pre-conference,
    observation, and post-conference) during each school year,

-   development of individual reflective portfolios focused on some
    aspect of teaching and learning (curriculum, assessment, or
    instruction),

-   biweekly online discussions based on responses to recent educational
    articles or research,

-   one Celebrations of Learning per semester where students display and
    discuss with parents and the community what they have been learning,
    and

-   four Saturday meetings with the whole MSA professional learning
    community where portfolios are shared and/or more training takes
    place.

MSA focuses on standards-based education using the most recent
research-based concepts and instructional strategies. Heavy emphasis is
also placed on assessment and data analysis. Technology is integrated at
every level, and collaboration among participants is stressed. The
program is unique because it was developed to address *comprehensively*
the complex and challenging issues of teaching and learning in Northern
New Mexico. The goal is to increase student learning and achievement by
means of improving teacher practice.

**What we have learned**

We have learned after five years that there are certain conditions that
promote the most impact on student learning. The following parameters
bring about the most measurable results:

**Teachers**

-   A cohort of a minimum of 4 teachers (preferably a grade level
    cohort, or vertical team) and a maximum of 8 teachers are needed for
    effective collaboration

-   Teachers commit to a 3 year program that includes up to 3 weeks in
    the summer and 4 Saturdays during the school year

-   Teachers commit to implementing MSA principles/concepts in their
    practice

-   Teachers commit to participating fully in all MSA activities

**Principals**

-   Principals make a 3 year commitment

-   Principals and designees (if applicable) attend the summer institute
    and Saturday sessions with their school team

-   Principals or designees coach their teachers

-   Principals or designees provide leadership support for collaborative
    team meetings

-   Principals supports creative scheduling to maximize collaboration
    time for teachers

**District**

-   District makes a 3 year commitment

-   District supports principal personnel decisions for MSA and supports
    creative scheduling to maximize collaboration time for teachers

-   District is willing to ensure that the principal or designee who has
    attended training be the cognitive coach and site leader for after
    school meetings collaborative meetings

-   District agrees to programmatic and financial commitments

-   District provides state assessment data to researchers from the
    University of California National Center for Research on Evaluation,
    Standards, and Student Testing for program evaluation.

**School Board**

-   The School Board allows MSA staff to provide the professional
    development for the program to the participating teachers and
    principals

**MSA staff provides the following MSA program components:**

-   Professional development in accordance with NCLB requirements

-   Training and planning for professional development for principals
    and MSA teachers including:

    a.  Designing and delivering the Summer Institutes

    b.  Providing subject area consultants for summer institute

    c.  Cognitive coaching training

-   Continuous support for MSA teachers and principals during the year
    through regularly scheduled collaborative meetings and classroom
    visits

-   Model lessons (if needed)

-   Direction and facilitation of online collaboration

-   Progress reports to district

-   Materials for professional development

-   Financial support in the form of stipends

-   University Master of Arts in Teaching

**Evaluation**

Evaluators from the National Center for Research on Evaluation,
Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) at the University of California,
have evaluated the program since its first year and have found that
student achievement has increased steadily for the students of the MSA
teachers who consistently implemented MSA concepts and principles. The
success of the program has resulted in New Mexico Legislative
appropriations for 2003, 2004, and 2005. Reports available at:
<http://www.lanl.gov/education/teachers/mathsci.shtml>

**Results**

**School A: 7th Grade MSA CTB/Scale Scores (n=20)\
All content areas showed statistically significant increases in scores
over the four years.**

  ------------- ------------- ------------ ----------- ------------- ------------
  **Year**      **Reading**   **Language   **Math**    **Science**   **Social
                              Arts**                                 Studies**

  **2000**      634           634          612         628           636

  **2001**      641           642          621         640           642

  **2002**      648           649          636         645           642

  **2003**      674           672          665         673           666

  **2004**      662           667          658         671           667/677

  **00 - 04**   **+28**       **+33**      **+46**     **+43**       **+31/41**
  ------------- ------------- ------------ ----------- ------------- ------------

**School B: 7th Grade MSA CTB/Scale Scores (n=51)\
Math and Science scores showed statistically significant increases**

  ------------- ------------- ------------ ---------- ------------- -----------
  **Year**      **Reading**   **Language   **Math**   **Science**   **Social
                              Arts**                                Studies**

  **2000**      631           634          623        629           634

  **2001**      642           642          634        633           638

  **2002**      646           646          642        644           646

  **2003**      658           659          656        664           656

  **2004**      659           663          661        663           662

  **00 - 04**   **+28**       **+29**      **+38**    **+34**       **+28**
  ------------- ------------- ------------ ---------- ------------- -----------

**School C: 7th Grade MSA CTB/Scale Scores (n=390)\
These scores show scores for all students. Some did not have MSA
teachers for all subjects.**

  ------------- ------------- ------------ ---------- ------------- -----------
  **Year**      **Reading**   **Language   **Math**   **Science**   **Social
                              Arts**                                Studies**

  **2000**      635           637          616        625           631

  **2001**      642           644          635        639           643

  **2002**      648           648          641        642           643

  **2003**      653           651          651        656           650

  **2004**      645           645          644        648           648

  **00 - 04**   **+10**       **+8**       **+28**    **+23**       **+17**
  ------------- ------------- ------------ ---------- ------------- -----------