Washington, D.C.—The Department of Mathematics at Northeastern State University has received a $3,000 innovation grant from the ExxonMobil Foundation to improve the mathematics education of teachers. Members of the grant’s planning team are: project director Steven C. Wilkinson, Darryl Linde, and Luke Foster of the Department of Mathematics, Louise White, Assistant Dean of the College of Education, and Jane Hammontree of Tulsa Community College.  

The grant, announced at the recent National Summit on the Mathematical Education of Teachers, will allow the planning team to design and present workshops to establish a partnership between the University and area two-year colleges and to prepare the faculty from the University and area two-year colleges to incorporate the ideals and strategies set forth at the National Summit.

According to last year’s Glenn commission report Before It’s Too Late, the most direct route to improving mathematics achievement for all students is better mathematics teaching. The ExxonMobil Foundation is offering a total of twelve grants nationwide in support of the belief that the mathematics community can lead the way in providing good models for building the kinds of cooperative efforts needed for long-term improvement of teacher education.  

An annual average of 2,400 students transfer to NSU from two-year colleges for the completion of their college education.  During the redesigning of the lower-division courses at NSU, it became clear that the University has a critical need and desire to develop a stronger working relationship with the two-year colleges in the surrounding area. 

NSU has traditionally been one of the 20 largest programs for teacher education in the nation and prepares more teachers for certification than any other institution of higher education in the state. In addition, NSU prepares more Native American Indian teachers than any other institution in the United States. Each year the College of Education and Teacher Education faculty from across campus work with more than 700 licensed teachers in their first year of teaching by serving on Residency Year committees.  The State of Oklahoma has been recognized nationally for this program begun 15 years ago to provide support as individuals make the transition from student to certified teachers.