CaMSP Demo Grant

This website is part of the "Preparing for Success in Algebra" Demonstration Center located in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). The California Department of Education has funded the Demonstration Center as part of the California Mathematics and Science Partnership (CaMSP). There are two demonstration centers for mathematics and two centers for science in the state. The LAUSD Demonstration Center is offered through a partnership among the district, the University of California Professional Development Institute (UCSD), UC Irvine, San Diego State University, and The San Diego Mathematics Project. The San Diego County Office of Education provides research and evaluation support. (Learn about the project leadership team in the Highlights section). District leaders and faculty work together to look at district data and develop professional development and classroom tools that address the needs of English learners in mathematics classrooms.

Focus

The LAUSD CaMSP Demonstration Center is building a model of professional development for teachers working with English learners in mathematics classrooms. The center hopes to impact student achievement and reduce the achievement gap by improving teacher subject matter knowledge in mathematics and language development. The Center focuses on mathematics and language development content together. Throughout this website, you will see connections between mathematics, language, and pedagogy.

Icons

Throughout this site you will find resources for you and your colleagues. These resources can be used for personal learning and for professional development in department or PLC meetings at your school site. In addition there are classroom resources to help your students prepare for the upcoming California common core standards. The LAUSD Demo site is focused on improving the mathematics achievement of all students with a special focus on English learners.

You will see the following icons next to resources that address the key components of this site:

	Personal Learning/Professional Development
	Classroom Resources
	California Common Core Standards
	English Learners

About Us

Los Angeles Unified School District

Susan Tandberg is the Principal Investigator for the LAUSD Demonstration Center. Secondary Mathematics Coordinator Shirley Guzman and Center Director Jack Bloom lead the collaboration between the district and the university partners.

University of California Professional Development Institute

Gretchen Laue is director of the UC Professional Development Institute located at the University of California San Diego. Laue was the lead architect of the 1999 UC teacher training initiative that has become the state model for standards based professional development in reading and mathematics. Laue is recognized throughout the state for her work with Professional Development for English Learners.

Dolly Casco is the Associate Director of the Professional Development Institute. She began her teaching career at La Presa Junior High School as a Spanish and mathematics teacher. Casco was named Chairperson of the Spanish Department and was responsible for all aspects of the district's English language development. In that capacity, she directed four Title VII Grants. In 1990, as Curriculum Director at San Diego County Office of Education, she coordinated the English Language Development Transition and the Family Literacy Project. Casco was the Associate Executive Director of California Reading and Literature Project (CRLP) from 1995 to 2000, where she coordinated and facilitated the work of project sites throughout California and the development of the Instituto de Literatura en Espanol.

San Diego State University

Rafaela Santa Cruz is the director of the San Diego State University/Claremont Graduate University Ph.D. Program. Dr. Santa Cruz is a Mathematics Education and Doctoral Program faculty member, a College of Education Faculty Student Mentor and Director of the San Diego Mathematics Project. Dr. Santa Cruz received her Ph.D. in Educational Administration, from the University of Arizona, her M.S. in Special Education, from the University of Southern California, and her B.S. in Mathematics, from the University of Arizona. Dr. Santa Cruz taught for nine years at Tucson High School. After receiving her doctorate she was hired as a senior research analyst at San Diego State University. The following year she was hired as a faculty member in the Secondary Education Department. Currently she teaches methods of teaching mathematics for elementary, secondary, and Spanish bilingual students, educational psychology for secondary students, and statistics and research methods for doctoral students. The focus of Dr. Santa Cruz's research and professional growth activities has been to seek solutions to the achievement gap of Latino students, particularly in mathematics. She is the director of San Diego Mathematics Project, a leadership staff development program for teachers of mathematics. Dr. Santa Cruz is also involved with a student recruitment program, B-FIRST, at San Diego High School and directs the College of Education Faculty Student Mentor Program, a student retention program for underrepresented students at SDSU.

John Elwin is a mathematics professor at San Diego State University, as well as a faculty advisor to the San Diego Mathematics Project (SDMP). He has a background in Physics and later received his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Oregon State University in 1969. In collaboration with University of California Professional Development Institute, he has worked on several grants as a mathematics presenter and advisor, including the 2006-2009 Access to the Core project, funded by the California Postsecondary Education Commission, as well as the current California Mathematics and Science Project grant entitled "Preparing for Success in Algebra."

University of California, Irvine

Robin Scarcella is a professor in the School of Humanities at the University of California at Irvine where she also directs the Program of Academic English/English as a Second Language (ESL). While she has taught ESL in California's elementary, junior high, and high schools, she has primarily taught ESL at the university level. She teaches courses on bilingual education and ESL methodology. She has written two ESL textbooks and several methodology volumes. She has also edited over twenty-five ESL textbooks, ten workbooks for middle school and high school English learners in social studies classes, and several research volumes. She has written over twenty-five research articles that appear in such journals as The TESOL Quarterly, Brain and Language, and Studies in Second Language Acquisition. She has contributed to The English-Language Arts Content Standards for California Public Schools and The Reading/Language Arts Framework. She is a member of the English Learner Advisory Committee of California's Board of Education as well as a member of various committees of California's STAR Testing Program, including the California English Language Development Test Committee. Her most recent volume is Accelerating Academic English.

San Diego County Office of Education

Shannon Coulter from the San Diego County Office of Education, Learning Resources and Education Technology Division will serve as the local evaluator for the project. The local evaluator will evaluate the Center activities and the impact of Center support on current and potential CaMSP projects. The local evaluator will provide periodic reports on the status of the Center to the advisory team and to CDE, will submit a progress report in the sprint to CDE, and submit an annual report to the federal government on the Center's implementation and impact.

Shannon Coulter has worked for the past ten years in different educational settings designing research-based evaluations, developing instruments, and conducting evaluations that seek to determine the effectiveness of academic programs. Dr. Coulter currently works in the assessment division of the San Diego County Office of Education where he oversees several grants related to assessing the impact of school programs on student achievement.