Dana Center Higher Ed In Brief

January 2017 Issue

Martha’s Message

As we embark on the second half of the academic year, I am struck by how national events can remind us of the vital work we all do—day in and day out in classrooms, on campuses, and with policy leaders—in improving students’ lives across our nation.

There are times, of course, when we feel overwhelmed by the urgency and pressures of our work and events. It is precisely at moments like these that we want to gain strength from our accomplishments and take pride in the progress we’ve made over the last year.

In 2016…

The Dana Center launched the DCMP resource site, a comprehensive website designed to guide and inform stakeholders implementing mathematics pathways.
All five of the DCMP mathematics courses are now on the Pearson MyMathLab platform.
Holly Frankum, whom we featured in our October In Brief, graduated from Sam Houston State University this past December. It has been a remarkable journey for Holly. Like many students, finding the right math pathway was critical for Holly’s academic success, and we are excited to see what’s in store for her.
Our colleagues at the College of Natural Sciences’ Freshman Research Initiative at The University of Texas at Austin received the Gold Award for STEM education and the Silver Award for "Presence Learning" in a worldwide competition that attracted more than 800 submissions from 56 countries.

We look forward to a productive 2017 as we work with you to ensure that students have equitable access to and opportunity for success in rigorous mathematics pathways that are aligned to their future aspirations. Together we will work to ensure that ALL students in higher education will be:

Prepared to use mathematical and quantitative reasoning skills in their careers and personal lives,
Enabled to make timely progress towards completion of a certificate or degree, and
Empowered as mathematical learners.

Martha Ellis, Interim Director
Higher Education Services

Call for abstract proposals at MAA MathFest 2017
Audience: Administrators and faculty

We received a great response from this year’s DCMP co-hosted JMM Themed Contributed Paper Session (TCPS), “Innovated Strategies to Inspire and Prepare Potential STEM Majors Who Are Not Yet Ready for Calculus.” The session was a success, drawing twenty-four papers for presentation. Coming up at Mathfest 2017, we are co-sponsoring another TCPS, “Connecting Introductory Mathematics Courses to Students’ Intended Majors and Careers,” with CRAFTY & BIG SIGMAA committees.

We encourage everyone who is interested to submit a proposal for a 15-minute presentation. Please go to www.maa.org/mathfest/abstracts and follow the instructions (Themed Contributed Paper Session #7). Abstracts are due on April 30, 2017.

College Prep Mathematics Regional Collaboration
Audience: K–12 and Higher Ed policymakers, faculty, and administrators

Attention, Texas community colleges! For the second year, the Dana Center is working with colleges to offer professional development and instructional resources to districts implementing the College Prep Mathematics Course aligned to the Texas Success Center’s College Preparatory Math Content Framework to prepare students for all mathematics pathways. To learn more about our supports and how to join the project, please contact Lindsay Fitzpatrick.

Speaking of transition math courses, we are seeing that transition math courses are gaining traction across the country, as emerging trends in higher education are maturing and sending strong signals to K–12 about the mathematics preparation students need to be college ready. David Bressoud, Director of the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (CBMS), will be speaking to Urban Mathematics Leadership Network district representatives on February 7 on this topic, particularly the rush to Calculus. In addition to his CBMS leadership role, Bressoud was also on the content design team for the DCMP STEM Prep pathway.

TPSE Math and DCMP Staff Join Forces Again to Support Math Leaders
Audience: Administrators and faculty

The Dana Center is proud to support TPSE Math’s work to transform undergraduate mathematics education by bringing together 2-year and 4-year mathematics chairs and other stakeholders positioned to implement meaningful change. On March 10–11, TPSE Math will hold its second Chairs +1 Conference where the focus will be on upper-division mathematics pathways and new teaching strategies and technologies. Several Dana Center staff members will facilitate the meeting’s breakout sessions.

TPSE Math will release a report of the meeting, including promising practices from the field and recommendations for action. Stay tuned!

Spotlight Resource:
Find an easy-to-use, interactive display of Pathways Curricular Resources on the DCMP resource site. These resources can be readily shared with math faculty across institutions to prompt discussion and facilitate building consensus about desired characteristics of course materials.

Welcome Paula Talley

We are very excited to announce that Paula Talley has joined the DCMP as Implementation Lead. She will lead work in Arkansas, Missouri, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Washington to support the math task forces implementing their recommendations. She will support communications, resource development, and advocacy.

Paula has more than 20 years of experience teaching mathematics at both the high school and college levels. Prior to coming to the Dana Center, Paula was the Division Director for Student Success at Temple College.

What’s your favorite ...
...movie? Grease...book? Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ...dish? All Mexican dishes

Name a place that you’d like to travel in your lifetime. Italy

What’s something that would surprise people to learn about you? I have a small ranch in Lampasas with red sheep, black buck, and 5 pet donkeys. I also have 3 miniature dachshunds and a cat at home.

Will we be reading about you in a future In Brief? Come join our team!

We are looking for dedicated, dynamic individuals to join the Dana Center, which includes the following two evaluation and research positions.

Mark your calendars:

Three upcoming opportunities to join us in learning about mathematics pathways:

If you can’t join us, follow us @DCMathPathways.

Congratulations!

Dr. Stephanie Andrews is the recipient of the Lone Star College-Kingwood Faculty Excellence Award. For the past three years, we have witnessed her hard work and commitment to faculty and students in her role as DCMP faculty ally and professor of the DCMP courses.

She was selected based on classroom observations by her peers and students' surveys.

Follow the Dana Center on Twitter

Whether you want to stay more connected with the DCMP or you want to learn more about the Dana Center’s K–12 work and our initiatives supporting underserved students, you’ll want to check our Twitter feed.

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