Idaho State University Regional Mathematics Center and Pocatello/Chubbuck School District #25 announce partnership to enhance mathematics teaching in local schools

Idaho State University’s Regional Mathematics Center has partnered with Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25 to provide training to help elementary and secondary teachers improve math instruction.

Through the partnership, the center will provide 500 hours of support, including one-on-one coaching with teachers, half-day content-based courses for all kindergarten through eighth grade and algebra teachers. Coaches will also be trained in each school to provide one-on-one support regularly.

Cory Bennett, an assistant professor in the College of Education and director of the ISU Regional Mathematics Center, said the program will help teachers improve their content knowledge, so they can better help their students learn concepts needed to achieve Idaho’s new core standards, implemented last year.

“We are trying to provide the best support we can for teachers, so they can support their students. We ask a lot of our teachers, more than most people realize,” Bennett said. “In order to improve our students’ math knowledge, we have to improve math instruction.”

Elementary teacher and math coach Carri Thomason says that the Regional Math Center has already helped not only her, but her peers and students. Many teachers, she said, are excited to learn math at a deeper level. The excitement has reached the student level as well.

“They’re getting really excited about math,” she said. “They want to talk about it. They want to learn.”

Teacher and math coach JoAnn Huber said she is grateful to have the expertise of the Regional Math Center, and access to the latest research on math instruction.

“We get to take advantage of the knowledge of the regional math center, and take it to the classroom,” she said.

The Idaho State University Regional Mathematics Center is funded through a grant from the Idaho State Department of Education and provides free mathematics support to all K-12 public school teachers, schools, and districts in Regions 4, 5, and 6. The nature of this free and focused support includes in-class feedback and modeling of lessons, school-wide workshops, Professional Learning Community guidance, and continuing education credit courses for re-certification and district-wide conferences.

Contact: Dr. Cory Bennett, Assistant Professor, ISU College of Education (208) 282-3674, or Shelley Allen, Community Relations and Communications, Pocatello/Chubbuck School District (208) 235-3257