Virginia Department of Education (VaDOE)
Mathematics and Science Partnership Program (MSP)

VaDOE-MSP Goals and Outcomes
The Virginia Mathematics Specialists Project is a Virginia Mathematics and Science Partnership (MSP) grant lead by P.I. Loren Pitt that received an initial award in 2004 and supplemental awards in 2005, 2006, and 2007. The initial partnership was led by the Virginia Mathematics and Science Coalition (VMSC) and included eight colleges and universities, and 26 school divisions. The overarching goal was to train the first cadre of Virginia’s Mathematics Specialists.

VaDOE-MSP Action Plan
The VaDOE grants have supported the initial development of five core mathematics courses and the first of three educational leadership courses. These courses are being offered across Virginia in both two-week residential settings and as numerous on-site university courses both in summer and academic year sessions.  

In Summer 2007, the Office of Mathematics Outreach will be facilitating residential institutes at
University of Virginia, Hampden Sydney College, and Emory and Henry College.  This program offers a “Fast Track” to teachers who have master’s degrees for the K-8 Mathematics Specialist endorsement which are described in the newly revised Virginia Licensure Regulations for School Personnel.

The three lead universities, Norfolk State University (NSU), the University of Virginia (U.Va.), and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), agreed to work collaboratively and develop the core of a master’s degree program for K-8 Mathematics Specialists. The proposal defined this core as a sequence of five mathematics courses developed especially for Mathematics Specialists and one leadership course. The five mathematics courses are:

• Numbers and Operations


• Rational Numbers and Proportional Reasoning


• Geometry and Measurement


• Functions and Algebra


• Probability and Statistics

These courses are designed with the specific goal of addressing the needs of K-8 Mathematics Specialists. They are meant to provide a profound understanding of the basic mathematics that is taught in schools, as well as providing participants with an understanding of how children develop their understanding of this mathematics, and how to evaluate their students’ understanding in ways that can inform teaching.

The mathematics and leadership courses are being developed following a model that has been used successfully by the VMSC in professional development projects for a number of years. A development team is assembled consisting of five to ten individuals from higher education and the schools. The teams include teachers, mathematicians and mathematics educators, and mathematics supervisors. Working together, they identify the course goals and identify and/or develop appropriate materials. Detailed syllabi and instructor materials are then pieced together. In advance of teaching the courses, an instructor training session is held involving instructors from all the sites. During these sessions, the future instructors are guided through the materials to ensure that the course materials and the purpose of the various activities are understood by the instructors.