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Wisconsin ESEA Title II
Improving Teacher Quality Program

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Grant Competition for Institutions of Higher Education in Wisconsin

Previously Funded Projects:
2008-09

Funded Projects for 2009-10

The following projects are being funded by subgrants awarded to the sponsoring institutions by the University of Wisconsin System. Funding for this program is provided by a grant to the University of Wisconsin System by the U.S. Department of Education under ESEA Title IIA Higher Education Professional Development Program. These Wisconsin Improving Teacher Quality project activities will take place during the summer of 2009 and the 2009-10 academic year.

Information for each project is listed in this order:

  • Institution of Higher Education
  • Project Title
  • Grade Level
  • Project Director (e-mail address)
  • Local Education Agencies (LEAs) Involved
  • Brief description of the project

For further information contact the director of an individual project or Phil Makurat, Wisconsin ESEA Improving Teacher Quality Program Coordinator, at 262-472-5802 or makuratp@uww.edu.

University of Wisconsin-Madison
Earth Partnership for Schools (EPS) WI RESTORE: Expanding and Strengthening the
Schoolyard Restoration-Education Model for Wisconsin.
Grade Level:  Kindergarten through 12th Grade
Cheryl Bauer-Armstrong
LEAs served:  Specific High Need LEAS include Milwaukee, Little
Chute, Clayton, Hillsboro, Bayfield. All LEAS and the 76 districts currently implementing EPS

School-wide teams of K-12 teachers with regional support staff from UW-System Education and Science Departments and environmental educators will participate in a professional development graduate-level leadership institute at UW-Arboretum and continue education through 3 new EPS Regional Facilitating Centers and 3 existing EPS Facilitating Centers.

Through EPS Leadership and Regional Institutes, teachers will infuse new teaching techniques into science, math, language arts and other core subjects and experience activities aligned to state standards that involve students in inquiry-based problem solving. Teachers will benefit from EPS Facilitating Centers’ technical and professional expertise, team building, staff development, curricular support, and networking opportunities. College and University faculty and environmental educators will learn the EPS approach to high quality teacher professional development including content, process, student driven learning, adult learning guidelines, leadership development and group process skills.

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
UW-Green Bay/Einstein Project Science Education Institutes
Grade Level:  K-5
Scott Ashmann
LEAs served:  School districts in Northeast Wisconsin

Participants will engage in a summer science education institute to enhance their science content knowledge and learning new ideas and skills related to science teaching, student learning, and assessment to then design a new science unit or re-design an existing science unit based upon the concepts and principles addressed during the summer institute. The science content knowledge of the participants will be enhanced, along with their knowledge and skills to teach science using an inquiry-based approach. Dates and Times of Project Activities: Summer institutes will occur in early August. Implementation of a newly designed or re-designed science unit will occur during the subsequent academic year.

University of Wisconsin-Platteville
Using Data to Scaffold Early Literacy and Early Math Integration
Grade Level: PK-3
Gwen Coe
Michael Anderson
LEAs served: All 31 LEAs in CESA 3

Participants will attend college credit courses on best practices in early literacy and early math integration Pre K-3, using data to scaffold and differentiate instruction. Participants will return to their school districts to provide in-service and mentoring to other teachers in their buildings.

Participants will learn the best practices for assisting their students to achieve higher mental competencies in reading and writing and math. Demonstration teachers will be identified and receive additional onsite classroom visits to deepen their understandings and practice so they may serve as models for CESA 3 and the State. District administrators will also receive in-services.

University of Wisconsin – Whitewater
Building a Community of Mathematics Educators Through Lesson Study
Grade Level: K – 8
Fe Evangelista
William Mickelson
Laura Moranchek
LEAs: Aldrich Middle School, Beloit; Milton West Elementary, Elkhorn School District, other LEAs in Southeastern Wisconsin

A summer workshop on one of two content areas - Data and Probability or Algebraic Thinking –and learning to conduct lesson study, and implementation of at least 2 study cycles during the year.

Participants increase their strategies on how to incorporate statistical thinking or algebraic thinking in the curriculum, improve teaching through participation in lesson study teams, and broaden their perspectives on mathematics education through collaboration.

University of Wisconsin-Platteville
Using Authentic Assessment to Develop Prompt and Effective Interventions to Improve Student
Understanding and Achievement: Ensuring That No Child IS Left Behind
Grade Level: Pre-K - 12
Jodean E. Grunow
Michael Anderson
LEAs served: Weston; School District of Beloit; all 31 LEAs in CESA 3

Participants will attend workshops designed to help them gain knowledge of authentic assessment of students' conceptual understanding and interpretation of resultant data, to facilitate interpretation of large-scale assessment results gleaned from the WINSS Web site, and, through lesson study and analysis of effective instructional strategies, to formulate ways to address identified needs with prompt and effective interventions to, first of all, inform best practices in their own classrooms and, then, to share those findings with colleagues in mentoring/collaborating venues.

In addition to the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and credits acquired, participants will have the opportunity to receive on-site assistance, to mentor/collaborate with peers and colleagues in their own districts and neighboring districts, and they will be asked to share their resulting knowledge with pre-service teachers, student teachers, and interns.

University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh
Closing Math Achievement Gap (CMAG) for Native Americans
Grades K-12
Judith Hankes
LEAs served: Bowler; Menominee Indian, Lac du Flambeau, Seymour and Wisconsin school districts

Each year, the CMAG Project will feature 10 days of face-time workshops with math instructors, plus 3 days of on-site classroom visits from those instructors. Participants will also develop and implement lesson plans and units that incorporate Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) principles covered during summer workshops. Project activities will increase participant teacher knowledge in math content, process and formative assessment that align with national and state math standards, and with PI 34 standards. Participants will become skilled with applying CGI principles designed to provide more culturally appropriate math instruction to learning disabled and other Native students who struggle with more traditional math instruction. The project will enroll 20 teachers from the partnership LEAs (and other LEAs if slots remain available), primarily special education teachers who

University of Wisconsin - La Crosse
Using the Local Environment to Integrating Mathematics with Non-Fiction Writing to Enhance Student Learning
Grade Level: 4th-8th grade
Dr. Jennifer J. Kosiak
Bonnie L. Jancik
LEAs served: Open to all Wisconsin LEAs, priority to La Crosse School District and highneed districts.

Thirty teachers complete an 18-credit technology-supplemented curriculum that uses the local environment as the vehicle to provide integrated, inquiry-content and pedagogy training in mathematics and non-fiction reading and writing. will also be immersed in differentiated teaching strategies. Participants will: 1) increase content knowledge in mathematics language arts; 2) receive pedagogical training for integrating writing and reading comprehension strategies into math instruction; 3) apply pedagogical knowledge through implementing classroom accommodations for students with diverse learning needs; 4) enhance reflective practice via the development and implementation of action research plans.

University of Wisconsin-Madison
Inquiry for the 21st Century (Inquiry 21)
Grade Level: 4-5
Daniel W. Lauffer
LEAs served: Madison Metropolitan School District, Delavan-Darien School District

Inquiry for the 21st Century is a professional development model for science education leaders and teachers working collaboratively to support inquiry science teaching and learning with students in grades four and five. Teachers and supporting administrator participants will engage in a 4–day summer institute, using a collaborative lesson study approach to align a science inquiry from their existing curriculum to implement with facilitated online support in fall, including ongoing inquiry teaching support through the school year. Participants, both teachers and collaborative teams of district science leaders and STEM / STEM education faculty, will benefit from engaging in networked and integrated professional learning communities with a shared goal to understand and be able to effectively implement science inquiry to support learners’ understanding of science concepts, the nature of science and science inquiry as described by the Wisconsin Model Academic Standards, using the critical thinking skills called for by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.

University of Wisconsin-River Falls
Student Learning Through High Quality Content Instruction
Grade Level: 1-12
Mary Manke
Robin Murray
LEAs served: Prescott Public Schools, Ellsworth Community Schools, River Falls Public Schools, Hudson Public Schools, St. Croix Central Public Schools, New Richmond Public Schools, Somerset Public Schools, Osceola Public Schools, New Auburn Public Schools, Augusta Public Schools

Participants will learn new content knowledge from UWRF faculty, apply it to creating teaching units using Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction, and to designing pre and post assessments to measure student learning, and receive support in implementing those units in their classrooms.

Benefits to participants include the acquisition of new content knowledge, the development of improved curriculum planning, instructional delivery and assessment skills, the creation of new teaching units for their own use, and increased ability to improve student learning.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Mathematics Fellowships for Middle Grades Teachers: Strengthening Teachers’ Content Knowledge and Instructional Practices
Grade Level: 5-8
Kevin McLeod
DeAnn Huinker
Henry Kranendonk
LEA Served: Milwaukee Public Schools

Teachers of mathematics in the middle grades will complete a program leading to a MCEA mathematics focus area minor and Wisconsin licensure endorsement by completing up to eight mathematics content courses and a mathematics education seminar, developing a teaching portfolio, and taking and passing the Praxis II middle school content exam.

Participants will increase their knowledge of and proficiency in the mathematics content needed for teaching mathematics in middle grades and will obtain the UWM mathematics minor for MCEA majors, and those participants with a MCEA license or its equivalent will be able to add a mathematics endorsement to their teaching license, thus becoming highly qualified to teach middle grades mathematics under the definition of No Child Left Behind.

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
The Mohican People: Their Lives and Their Lands—a social studies curriculum unit for 4th and 5th graders in Bowler and Gresham Public Schools
Grade Level: 4 and 5
James Oberly
LEAs served: Bowler Public Schools; Gresham Public Schools

Teachers and support staff in Bowler and Gresham Schools will learn and implement a new curriculum —The Mohican People: Their Lives and Their Lands” that helps Native American and non-Native students to learn about the history and culture of the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican people of Shawano County. Teachers, support staff, and pre-service UWEC paraprofessionals will learn a new curriculum that is designed to meet Wisconsin Model Academic Standards and to help bridge the gap in learning outcomes between Native American and non-Native students.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Balancing Reading/Language Arts and Science Teaching (BR/LAST)
Grade Level: K-8
Tracy J. Posnanski
William F. Kean
LEA Served: Milwaukee Public Schools

Balancing Reading/Language Arts and Science Teaching (BR/LAST) is designed to improve teacher quality in the areas of reading/language arts and science. The underlying premise of the project is to co-jointly develop teacher instructional skills in reading/language arts and science and ultimately impact student achievement in the subjects.

This project is designed to develop teachers’ literacy instructional skills, broadens literacy instruction in core subjects such as science, and provides a mechanism for interdisciplinary instruction and school-based instructional leadership. The objectives of the project are to emphasis, provide information, develop activities and school-based classroom experiences that demonstrate to teachers that science can be used as a reference when building student’s reading/language arts skills (i.e. through such mechanisms as establishing links between inquiry and problem solving strategies that can be used in reading/language arts and science teaching and learning).

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and CESA 10
Building Connections Through Lesson Study: Across the K-12 Mathematics Curriculum, Teacher-to-Teacher; District-to-District
Grade Level: K-12
Diane K. Masarik
Michelle Parks
LEAs served: New Auburn and Augusta are the high needs districts that will be involved.
Additional districts will be invited to participate.

Participants involved in the grant will complete a full lesson study cycle including researching best practices related to teaching and learning as well as leadership opportunities related to connecting teachers and districts face to face and online. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of mathematics pedagogy and mathematics content from a K-12 perspective.

Cardinal Stritch University
Merging the Design and Implementation of an Urban Literacy Center with Teacher Professional Development Internships
Grade Level: 1-5
Molly Shiffler
LEA served: Milwaukee Public Schools

Urban teachers will be trained and mentored to tutor minority children of poverty and translate successful literacy intervention strategies into their classrooms. Teacher participants will learn new strategies for closing the achievement gap in reading, and both tutees and classroom students will demonstrate progress in reading achievement.

University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
4K LEAPS: 4-year-old Pre-Kindergarten Literacy Education and Parenting Skills
Grade Level: Pre K
Lenore Wineberg
LEAs Served: Oshkosh Area School District, Menasha School District, North Fond du Lac School District

Participants will focus on current research on emerging literacy skills, production and implementation of classroom modules and improvement of children’s achievement, and serving as Early Literacy Community Ambassadors.

Participants will re-examine the theoretical base on which their classroom practices is predicated, morphing existing practice and extending research—based practice into their settings.