by Dana Pomykal Franz, PhD, and Colby Lamb, MTEP Research Hub members
Each year MTEP 2.0 team Networked Improvement Communities, or NICs, are asked to complete team reports. These reports are extremely important for the Research Hub as we continue to investigate how the use of NICs may provide support, accelerate, and ultimately sustain secondary mathematics teacher preparation program transformation. The reports also provide teams with useful information about their progress. The MTEP 2.0 Team Report asks groups to reflect on their aims, the work their NICs have engaged in during the past year, and to highlight potential dissemination opportunities and possible goals for the upcoming year.
Improvement science specifically promotes the idea of learning while doing. MTEP 2.0 provides a vehicle through the use of the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles for each NIC to engage in an iterative, cyclical process aimed at continuous improvement for secondary mathematics preparation. As our NIC teams engage in their own PDSA cycles, we are learning what is working and what is not working. We are learning that we share similar aims despite our very different institutional cultures and environments as we participate in MTEP conferences, NIC-casts, Bootcamps, and interact with Change Coaches. Ultimately, we are learning as we share challenges that we can learn from each other and even partner on work. In the word cloud generated from driver diagrams submitted in last year’s team reports, we can see that many teams share the themes of a focus on recruitment, retention, and equity.
Taking time to reflect on the past year’s work of each NIC provides an opportunity to systematically document the work the NICs have accomplished. In the rapid pace of our work and with so many different demands, we lose sight of the important work that has been accomplished. Looking back over our year and documenting our progress gives us time to recognize and even celebrate the work. Similarly, our MTEP Research Hub uses the team reports to document the power of our collective NICs. It is through collecting team reports (and other requested documents), that MTEP 2.0 can study growth, support NICs, build partnerships, and ultimately support broad transformation of secondary mathematics teacher preparation.
This year’s MTEP Team Reports are due June 28, 2024. Team leaders can submit their team report by clicking the link in the email requesting report submission.