VCU Researchers receive $10 million in National Science Foundation Grants

By Mike Porter

The National Science Foundation has awarded $10 million in grants to Virginia Commonwealth University researchers in the Department of Mathematics & Applied Mathematics to lead new initiatives to improve student learning in middle schools and rural elementary schools in Virginia. 

The initiatives will prepare teachers to serve as mathematics specialists who in turn coach other teachers. In addition, research will be conducted to determine the impact of the specialists on the nature of instruction and student learning of mathematics. 

The research and development effort will be carried out by VCU’s Department of Mathematics & Applied Mathematics and the School of Education, in collaboration with the University of Virginia, Norfolk State University, Longwood University, Virginia Tech, the University of Maryland, the Virginia Department of Education, the Virginia Legislature, the Virginia Mathematics and Science Coalition and participating school systems.

The five-year grants will build on the success of an earlier NSF-supported research effort led by the VCU Department of Mathematics & Applied Mathematics to improve elementary school math instruction and student learning and achievement in urban and suburban Virginia communities through the introduction of mathematics specialists.

“Our prior research allowed us to scientifically analyze performance by comparing test scores of students in schools with a mathematics specialist to scores from schools without a specialist,” said William E. Haver, Ph.D., professor of mathematics. “Our research showed that mathematics specialists positively influence student achievement over time and the success of that effort has allowed us to secure additional NSF funding to broaden the scope of our research to include middle schools and schools in rural areas.”

Up until this time the use of mathematics specialists has been mostly concentrated in urban and suburban systems.

“Many small, rural systems don’t have math specialists,” said co-investigator Reuben W. Farley, Ph.D., emeritus professor of mathematics. “We’ll prepare people (in rural districts) to be coaches and support them once they’re there. And we’re expanding our research into middle schools to see if we can replicate the results of our elementary school program.”

One of the grants, nearly $5 million, will support the creation of the NSF Mathematics Partnership Institute, which will be offered to 50 outstanding middle school teachers from districts across the state. Each teacher will participate in a 66-day institute offered over three consecutive summers and will earn 33 graduate credits during the sessions and subsequent academic years. The teachers also will earn a master’s degree and receive certification as a mathematics specialist.

The other grant will help to establish a mathematics specialist program in rural Virginia elementary schools and provide continued support for specialists in small school systems. The program will incorporate distance learning to reach participants in remote areas not within commuting distance of a university.

“Research indicates that one of the greatest determinants of high achievement in mathematics is the presence of an early positive experience in learning mathematical concepts,” said Beverly J. Warren, dean of the VCU School of Education. “The math specialist program helps to ensure that more children will have the opportunity to engage in high quality and positive mathematics learning during their formative elementary and middle school years.”

The National Science Foundation is an independent agency created by Congress in 1950 and is the funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities.  In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, the National Science Foundation is the major source of federal funding.