| Minnesota Council of Teachers of Mathematics An affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. |
MCTM Elementary Ongoing Professional Learning Endowment
Donations from educators and others committed to elementary ongoing professional learning allows the MTCM Elementary Ongoing Professional Learning Endowment Committee to provide ongoing professional learning opportunities for Minnesota elementary math teachers. Distributions from the Endowment are granted annually to MCTM to underwrite the development of a Professional Learning Series for K-5 elementary teachers and related instructional coaches, special education, gifted and talented staff, principals, and paraprofessional staff, with teams of teachers encouraged to participate.
While 6-8 and 9-12 teachers may participate, the focus of any programming is on the K-5 students’ mathematical development. It is recognized that change at the building and district levels require active engagement by its administrators. Programming is highly encouraged to include the participation of such individuals.
Essential Elements of programming supported by the Endowment are to support:
| Long-term professional development (over the arc of a school year, if not more than one school year). The fund does not support single event programming. |
| A focus on how K-5 students develop their mathematical thinking. |
| Teacher practices in interpreting and nurturing student development of mathematical concepts such as the developmental frameworks and learning trajectories student progress through. |
| Programming may be topical, e.g., counting principles, place value development, multiplication and division developmental strategies, fractions, geometry, or, with a focus on instructional practices, e.g., questioning techniques, student engagement, and differentiation. |
| Programming that uses best practices to involve as many teachers as possible around the state, using a range of face-to-face, hybrid, and online learning practices. |
| Teacher engagement in reflective practices such as interpreting student work samples and/or reflecting on videos of their classroom practice, etc. |
| Guiding research documents of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and related national and international research on students’ mathematical development. |
| Programming should not privilege or advocate for any commercial curricular materials and does not support direct instruction-based programming. |