Team of the Quarter: Mississippi State

by Meghan Leadabrand, MTEP 2.0 project coordinator, and Liza Bondurant, Mississippi State MTEP team co-leader

This quarter, we are excited to highlight the incredible work of the Mississippi State MTEP as the Team of the Quarter. This networked improvement community (NIC) is making strides in addressing relationship building and developing a shared vision among NIC members to support program transformation.

Overview of the NIC

• Participating institutions: Mississippi State University (MSU), Mississippi University for Women, Jackson State University, University of Southern Mississippi, Lowndes County School District, and Harrison County School District
  
• Team members: Seven members make up the team, including four mathematics teacher educators, two K-12 mathematics teachers, and one mathematician.
  
• Focus area: Mississippi State has engaged in work focused on program development, equity, recruitment, retention, and partnerships. The team’s specific goals are to improve recruitment, retention, and partnerships among its member institutions by having at least 10 candidates in the undergraduate 7-12 methods courses (see image), zero candidates failing any mathematics content courses, and zero unfilled 7-12 secondary mathematics positions by 2030.
  
• Duration of work: The Mississippi State team NIC has been a member of MTEP since 2020.

• Choosing a meaningful reading for the team NIC
  During the fall 2024 semester, members of the NIC held regular discussions around Disrupting Injustice: Navigating Critical Moments in the Classroom by Lateefah Id-Deen and Esther Song. The team chose this book because Id-Deen had presented it at the annual Mississippi Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators symposium, and it includes writing by a Mississippi high school teacher about his teaching experiences.
  
• Measuring participants’ perceptions of injustice
  John Sutton, MTEP 2.0 external evaluator, helped Mississippi State develop pre- and post-survey items to measure participants’ perceptions about disrupting injustices. The Qualtrics survey used a Likert scale and true/false questions to investigate participants’ beliefs in their abilities and willingness to recognize and disrupt injustices in mathematics education.
  
• Supporting continuing education for participants
  The Mississippi State team used social media (see flyer) and email contact lists to recruit participants for the book club. They were pleased to have three educators join the book club who had not previously participated in any NIC activities. The NIC worked with book club participants’ institutions to provide continuing education units for participants. After last year’s MTEP Improvement Science Bootcamp, they developed a Free Canvas course shell for participants, which includes the pre- and post-surveys and modules with weekly discussion boards. The team used the discussion prompts conveniently provided at the end of each chapter in the book for the weekly discussion prompts.
  
• Sparking engagement through informal club meetings
  "The book inspired conversations about how we can make our classrooms more inclusive and equitable," said Liza Bondurant, co-team leader and associate professor of secondary mathematics education at Mississippi State University. "We talked about the importance of treating students fairly, recognizing their identities, and avoiding stereotypes. We also discussed challenges, such as rigid curriculum, large class sizes, and a lack of resources. An invited speaker, Jerica Jurado, founder and executive director of Nth Education Partners, facilitated our second-to-last meeting. Esther Song (one of the authors of Disrupting Injustices) works for Nth too and has worked with Jerica for many years. Jerica shared several resources developed by Nth Education Partners with us. Jerica also listened to our stories and provided us with helpful advice."

• "The thought-provoking discussions…provided a platform to engage deeply with my peers on sensitive yet crucial topics," said Shirley Burnett, mathematics educator at Jackson State University. "These conversations challenged my perspectives and inspired me to reflect on my own practices as an educator."
  
• "I loved that we were all able to share personal experiences related to injustices, as well as share ideas on better ways to address those injustices, learn from them, grow from them, and hope to protect others from dealing with them in the future," said Donna Williams, elementary school educator in Harrison County School District.
  
• "As a middle school mathematics teacher at a Title I middle school and an instructor of pre-service elementary education teachers," said Monica Grady of Lowndes County School District, "I am always seeking to grow and better myself for my students. Through this experience, I have come to realize that I am often my students’ primary advocate, and it is my responsibility to challenge inequities and drive change. One key takeaway has been a deeper understanding of how systematic barriers impact students’ opportunities and the critical role that inclusive equitable practices play in mathematics education."
  
• "Discussing injustices...that I have witnessed throughout my experience teaching mathematics 6-12 and at the university level was an additional way to make an impact on the teachers in Mississippi," said Bonnie Oppenheimer, mathematics department chair and professor at Mississippi University for Women. "It is very important for our teacher interns to recognize the injustices they see in their field experiences, and to try to become teachers who can disrupt injustices."
  
• "Getting to know the mathematics educators who participated in the book club was wonderful. Together we formed a safe and supportive community. We shared deeply personal experiences. I think we helped each other recognize and respond to mathematics education injustices," said Bondurant.