One of the specialist positions is paid for by a federal math and science program grant while the rest are covered by division funds.
The Charlottesville school division has three math specialists - one at Johnson Elementary, one at Clark Elementary and one at Walker Upper Elementary.
The math specialists at Clark and Johnson are paid for by Title I federal funds. Clark has had a specialist for four years while Johnson has had one for two.
Walker has had a specialist for three years. The position is paid for by state funds.
Raising math performance became a top priority for the county this year after three of the five middle schools did not make Adequate Yearly Progress in math. “There is improvement to be had in math,” Bruce Benson, Albemarle’s assistant superintendent for student learning, said.
Specialists support teachers in a wide variety of ways, Benson said.
Providing teachers with a deeper understanding of math content is one of the most significant, he added.
“In elementary schools, teachers do not necessarily have to have a lot of coursework in mathematics, so specialists are important,” Benson said.
Specialists also serve as mentors to young teachers, an important role given the demands of the teaching profession and the high attrition rate among young teachers.
Another key service provided by specialists is professional development for teachers.
“There is a movement going on toward site-based, embedded professional development,” Alex Davis, the county’s instructional coordinator for math, said.
While specialists devote most of their time to working with teachers, they also interact with students. Specialists work alongside teachers in classrooms on occasion and can pull students aside for individual or group instruction as needed.
Craig Dommer is one of the math specialists hired by the Albemarle school division this year. Dommer taught second grade in the county last year.
Dommer splits his time among Yancey, Red Hill and Cale. He said that much of his daily routine is working with teachers to facilitate discussions about how students learn math.
“All teachers that I’ve worked with are very excited about furthering math education,” he said.
Dommer said that the county’s veteran reading specialists have been an excellent resource for the new math specialists.
“We talk with reading specialists to see what worked in reading and follow that mode,” he said.
The county has 23 reading specialist positions while the city has 9.5.
“Our specialists are invaluable,” said Vada Fallica, Charlottesville’s literacy coordinator and Title I director. “They’re absolutely amazing because they can focus on one area and they can really make something happen for kids in that area.”
Standardized test results in both the city and county show a drop in math performance once students reach middle school. School officials hope that math specialists will help buck that trend. “One of the reasons that math is becoming a focus now is that we see our middle schools struggling with math,” Fallica said.
The Albemarle and Charlottesville school divisions have benefited from their proximity to the University of Virginia. Three years ago, the Curry School of Education created a program to train math specialists. Participants must complete 33 credits to earn an M.Ed. degree in mathematics education.
Starting this year, the program is being offered at a consortium of Virginia universities - UVa, Norfolk State, George Mason, Longwood and Virginia Tech.
All math specialists in the county and city have either finished or are in the process of finishing the UVa program.
