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MSP of SW Pennsylvania
The Math and Science Partnership of Southwest Pennsylvania is a strong and integrated collaboration linking broadly distributed suburban and rural school districts with an assemblage of small to medium sized colleges and universities in the region. Together they are committed to improving the understanding and knowledge breadth of Mathematics and Science for all students in K-16. The awardee and organizing principle for this Partnership is the Allegheny Intermediate Unit (AIU) a publicly funded service agency intermediary between local school districts and the State Department of Education.

Over five years this award will serve 134,000 K-12 students and more than 8,500 higher education students, including pre-service teachers. The emphasis of this partnership is on improving the quality of the Math and Science Educator workforce. Working in concert, district and college level leadership cadres will develop a Science Curriculum Framework to be disseminated to schools along with an already developed Mathematics Curriculum Framework.

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Project Contributions

Life After an MSP: Lessons Learned about Building Capacity for On-Going Reform
"What does it mean to build a legacy or to accomplish sustainability? Is it about relationships that survive the churn of inevitable personnel change? Is it about creating capacity at…
Perspectives on Deepening Teachers' Science Content Knowledge: The Case of the Southwest Pennsylvania Math Science Partnership
"The Southwest Pennsylvania MSP's work in deepening teacher content knowledge has scalability and sustainability at its core. The project focuses its efforts on preparing teacher leaders, involving national experts from…
Featured Paper Session: Sustaining Momentum for Improvement
The MSP of Southwest Pennsylvania is a comprehensive, K-12 math and science MSP funded in 2003. It involves urban, suburban and rural settings across the 11 counties surrounding the city…
Teacher Leader - A Story of One, Representing Many!
This paper addresses the following claim(s): "The SWPA MSP, which is currently operating in its seventh year, project recognizes through data collected from a large number of Teacher Leaders the…
Learning Lab: Connecting Learning and Practice
This paper addresses the following claim(s): "The theory of action that underlies the MSP logic model is premised on the idea that student achievement in mathematics and science can be…
Teacher Fellows: A Sabbatical Program for School District Teachers at a Small Liberal Arts College
This paper addresses the following claim(s): "The claim is that the TF program was a successful professional development experience for school district teachers. The required course work provided an accessible…
Sustaining Momentum for Improvement
This paper addresses the following claim(s): "By actively engaging educators in extended, collaborative learning experiences focused on strengthening the teaching and learning of mathematics and science, SW PA Math Science…
Preparing Teacher Leaders to Facilitate Professional Learning Communities
This paper addresses the following claim(s): "Preparing teacher leaders to facilitate the learning of colleagues offers a different lens to examine typical professional development practices. SW PA MSP claims there…
Exploring the Maturation of Systems Reform: A Seven Year, K-12 Case Study Analysis of Teacher and System Reform Variables
This paper addresses the following claim: "The K-12 case studies are designed to add depth of contextual understanding to the other data sources. This paper describes the K-12 case study…
Math matters: Which is why our teachers must know how to teach it
This commentary from Nancy Bunt, PI of the MSP of Southwestern Pennsylvania, argues that Americans must have a firm understanding of mathematics in order to adequately grapple with real economic…
Focus on Science, Math Pays Off - Pittsburgh Tribune Review Article
Posted by: Matt Freedman. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ran an article heralding several Southwestern Pennsylvania MSP schools for their student achievement, linking their progress with the Math & Science Collaborative.
Professional Development Participation and the Role of Administrator Involvement in the MSP of SW Pennsylvania
"This study reinforces findings in the literature showing positive relationships between administrative leadership in central offices and the professional growth and development of school staff. The findings...
MSP of Southwest Pennsylvania: Year Three Evaluation Report
Posted by: LeeAnne Krause. This is the second year evaluation conducted by the Assessment and Evaluation Team of SWPA MSP and published by RAND Education, a unit of RAND Corporation. "In 2002, the National...
Evaluation Report, Year 2
This is the evaluation conducted by RAND Education, a unit of RAND Corporation, on the MSP of Southwest Pennsylvania, Year Two (2004-2005). "This Math Science Partnership, funded by the U.S....
PI Narrative for Annual Report- SWPA MSP, Year 3
This is the PI's project narrative for the year 3 MSP of Southwest Pennsylvania Annual Report to NSF. "Having completed Year Three and having experienced a successful site visit, Southwest...
SWPA MSP Highlights
Posted by: Kevin Kelly. Highlights of the MSP of Southwest Pennsylvania project, summarizing project activities, goals, and objectives.
Using Evaluation as a Bridge for Partnership Development
"In this article, we report on work thus far (Years One and Two) of the Southwest Pennsylvania Math Science Partnership in using evaluation as a "bridge" to support and encourage...