CTB/McGraw-Hill Provides Teaching Support to Los Angeles Schools Using Mathematics, YES!™ Training Tools
Workshops Support District's Culturally Relevant and Responsive Education Initiative and Help Educators Teach to California's Math Standards
PRNewswire
MONTEREY, Calif.
Sep 7, 2005
CTB/McGraw-Hill today announced a new four-year, $9.75 million contract with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to provide mathematics professional development for classroom teachers. This program is offered in accordance with California Assembly Bill 466, which provides funding for professional development requiring teachers to attend 40 hours of on-site training workshops.
To date, over 1,100 LAUSD classroom instructors have attended these ongoing five-day workshops, entitled AB466 Mathematics Professional Development Institutes. The Institutes are constructed around CTB/McGraw- Hill's Mathematics, YES!™ suite of professional development tools, which have been customized to the needs of LAUSD teachers and students. The customization for LAUSD emphasizes strategies to better assist English language learners and standard English learners in the classroom, through education principles in which students' culture is reflected in the content of lessons, tasks, classroom environment, and home/school communications.
"We are very pleased with our partnership with CTB/McGraw-Hill. While visiting the Institutes, I saw first hand that our need for a customized Mathematics Institute was taken seriously. Our teachers told me that they found every session worthwhile and will apply the lessons learned in their classrooms immediately," said Ronni Ephraim, Chief Instructional Officer, LAUSD. "We are pleased that more than 4,000 teachers will attend the AB466 Mathematics Professional Development Institutes this year. Many are asking if we will be able to provide this type of professional development on an ongoing basis. That is a true tribute to the quality of the professional development and the partnership that has been formed."
The goals of the Institutes are to help LAUSD's teachers:
* Understand California's Mathematics Content Standards and Framework
* Effectively use the LAUSD Mathematics Instructional Guide
* Apply new content knowledge while implementing state-adopted materials
* Increase students' achievement as measured by the California
Standardized Testing and Reporting program
"We're proud to help LAUSD address the needs of diverse classroom populations, and enrich educators' instructional experiences as students gain proficiency in grade-level mathematics standards," said Mostafa Mehrabani, president, McGraw-Hill Assessment and Reporting. "LAUSD demonstrates best practices by modeling effective mathematics teaching strategies for all learners, especially English language learners."
About Mathematics, YES!™
First launched in 2002, Mathematics, YES!™ is an accredited continuing education course composed of materials easily used by individual teachers and instructors of facilitator-led discussion courses. All courses are written by nationally recognized content specialists and contain videos of actual classroom instruction, analyses by educational experts, and interactive lessons. These elements introduce content concepts and encourage teachers to connect lesson plans to real-life contexts. Classroom-tested materials provide K-8 instructors with model classroom lessons exhibiting best teaching practices. Mathematics, YES!™ helps elementary and middle school teachers enhance content knowledge and teaching strategies, and gives teachers an opportunity to provide students with a solid mathematics background for later instruction in algebra and other advanced courses. The standards-based programs cover a variety of mathematical strands including: number and operations, algebra, geometry and measurement, and data analysis and probability.
About CTB/McGraw-Hill
As the nation's leading publisher of standardized assessments for pre- school, elementary, middle, high school, and adult education, and standards- based assessments for customized state programs, CTB/McGraw-Hill LLC offers a broad range of assessments, software and services. CTB/McGraw-Hill LLC is part of McGraw-Hill Education's Assessment and Reporting group, and is owned by The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), a global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's and BusinessWeek. Founded in 1888, the Corporation has more than 300 offices in more than 40 countries. Sales in 2004 were $5.3 billion.
Additional information is available at http://www.mheducation.com/ and www.ctb.com.
SOURCE: CTB/McGraw-Hill
CONTACT: Kelley Carpenter
Director, Public Relations
McGraw-Hill Assessment and Reporting
831.393.7196
kelley_carpenter@ctb.com