With a variety of stakeholders in tow, a School of Education OCEAN partnership with Rea Elementary and the Newport-Mesa Unified School District is improving teaching and students’ mathematical thinking and reasoning.
When a world-class School of Education, local K-12 teachers, principals, students, and district administrators come together and “row in the same direction,” truly astonishing results are generated.
That’s what’s happening between the UCI School of Education, Newport-Mesa Unified School District (NMUSD), and Rea Elementary. Together, a team is implementing and facilitating professional development for Rea Elementary teachers to support a school-wide improvement effort that will ultimately improve mathematics teaching and learning.
The project team features several key stakeholders, including: UCI School of Education Professor Rossella Santagata and doctoral student Jiwon Lee; Jody Guarino, School of Education lecturer and mathematics coordinator, Orange County Department of Education; Duane Cox, Rea Elementary School principal; and John Drake, assistant superintendent and chief academic officer, NMUSD.
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From left: John Drake, Jiwon Lee, Jody Guarino, Rossella Santagata, and Duane Cox.
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“Our ultimate goal is to improve children’s learning, and teachers work closely and directly with them,” Santagata explained. “But the school leader is extremely important because he/she motivates the teachers and provides the time and settings for teachers to continue to learn and grow. Go up one more level, and if the district isn’t on board, then the school leader’s impact can be limited.
“So, what teachers do in their classroom is not always solely their choice; changes to improve teaching quality must be supported by school and district leaders – everyone must be on the same page for improvement efforts to be coherent and effective.”
