Embracing the Vision: Our Work with Teachers Implementing GPS

Abstract: In 2005, three Kennesaw State University mathematics education faculty members began a series of workshops titled “Implementing the Georgia Performance Standards [GPS]: Embracing the Vision.” This workshop series has been underwritten by Georgia’s Teacher Quality Higher Education Program. The first series of workshops began with 6th grade teachers the first year the GPS was implemented and the project has been funded each subsequent year since its inception. Currently, we are working with Math III teachers as they implement the course for the first time. The initial focus for the project was on conceptual understanding versus procedural understanding, writing tasks that facilitate students’ conceptual understanding, assessment, and resources. While we have maintained these foci, we have found it necessary to emphasize mathematical content development and the process standards due to the needs of the participants. In this paper, we discuss the structure of our workshop series, focusing on process standards and mathematical content. We provide a specific example of a task we used with participants in our first Math III workshop to illuminate the features of our work