Connections to Kaua‘i in Mathematics

The CRDG Mathematics Section worked on two professional development projects with the Kaui‘i District of the Hawai‘i DOE this year. The first, Mālama ‘ia ka Makemakika (Caring for Math), is a three-year mathematics partnership project involving the Kaua‘i District of the Hawai‘i Department of Education, CRDG Mathematics Section, and Kaua‘i Community College. The program, which has impacted 140 classroom teachers over the three-year grant period, focuses on mathematical concept development through problem solving. In a summer institute, teachers “unpacked” topics in number and operations in order to look more deeply into the mathematical foundations that underlie the algorithms they teach. Teachers worked in groups, used hands-on materials, and practiced questioning techniques to promote rich communication.

In the second project, a group of middle and high school teachers participated in a five-day professional development institute on the use of writing processes to teach and assess mathematical ideas. The first two days of the institute focused on writing in mathematics. During the remaining three days, personnel from the Mathematics Section observed participating teachers teaching in their classrooms and provided consultations, observed the teachers themselves implementing writing strategies, or modeled process teaching strategies.