by Liza Bondurant, PhD, MTEP Mississippi Team Leader
The Mississippi MTEP team’s driver diagrams led them to focus on two areas during Fall 2023: recruitment and partnerships. Regarding recruitment, the mathematics teacher educators wanted to recruit more secondary mathematics teachers to enroll in their undergraduate or graduate programs. Some of their recruitment PDSA cycles included (1) preparing and testing different versions of recruitment scripts, (2) personalizing and using Get the Facts Out (GFO) resources, (3) learning strategies at the American Association for Employment in Education conference, and (4) recruiting at the Mississippi Council of Teachers of Mathematics (MCTM) annual meeting (see image). Current Mississippi State secondary mathematics teacher candidates enrolled in Bondurant's Secondary Mathematics Methods course used personalized GFO materials and recruitment scripts to share information about the Mississippi State programs at a table at MCTM. Many teachers expressed interest in the Mississippi State graduate programs and gathered materials about the programs.
Regarding partnerships, the team engaged in several PDSA cycles, such as (1) fostering symbiotic relationships with 7-12 math teachers in local schools, (2) committee work with the Mississippi Department of Education, (3) service to professional organizations, (4) cross-institutional research collaborations, and (5) meeting with mathematics teachers, supervisors, and teacher educators across the state. Members of the MCTM, the Mississippi Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, and the Mississippi Mathematics Specialist Network met to discuss initiatives the team wants to collaborate on in the coming year. The most popular ideas were a book club for continuing education credits and a task force focused on state licensure. The Mississippi team appreciates MTEP’s support and looks forward to diving into more PDSA cycles in 2024!
To learn more about what Liza and the Mississippi MTEP are doing, watch this video.
Want to share what your team is accomplishing? Submit an article idea to this link.