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CMAG - COEHS University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh Project Shield

This website was developed to serve as a resource for teachers participating in the Closing the Math Achievement Gap Project (CMAG), a federally funded professional development program through the College of Education, University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh (funded through Title II A & B). The purpose of the CMAG Project is to increase the mathematics achievement of special needs Native American students. This population is targeted because of the disproportional number of Native students receiving special education services. The intention of the project intervention (the Mindsong Math Professional Development Program) is to prepare special education teachers to effectively teach mathematics to their Native American students.

Closing the Math Achievement Gap

The goal of MindSong Math is to empower children and youth with such deep understanding and appreciation of mathematics that math concepts and ideas resonate in their minds like music. When children achieve this level of confidence, they do not approach mathematics with dread. Rather, they enjoy the mental choreography of problem solving.

This goal can be accomplished when:

Each student believes that s/he can do mathematics.
Each student sees the relationship of mathematics to his/her world.
Each student is able to monitor her/his own thinking and communicate that thinking effectively.
Each student is willing to persist in problems solving.
Each student grows in understanding of mathematical problem solving, concepts and skills.

Closing the Math Achievement Gap integrates:

Culturally Responsive Mathematics
Cognitively Guided Instruction
Hands-on-Geometry
Context Situated Algebra
Technology

CMAG Faculty and Support Staff

Judith Hankes, Ph.D., Project Director (hankes@uwosh.edu)
Stacey Skoning, Ph D, Special Education (skonings@uwosh.edu)
Gerald Fast, Ph.D., Mathematics Education (fast@uwosh.edu)
John Beam, Ph D, Mathematics  (beam@uwosh.edu)
Deb Talkington, Web Master