Steven Ziebarth Center for the Study of Mathematics Curriculum
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Steven Ziebarth contributed to the NSF-funded assessment and evaluation component of the Core-Plus Mathematics Project (MDR-9255257) (1992-1999) that developed a four-year integrated high school curriculum in alignment with the NCTM (1989) curriculum standards recommendations. The first edition of this work,Contemporary Mathematics In Context, integrated major strands of mathematics, teaching for understanding, and embedded assessment into a curriculum that now serves as a model for the College Board recommendations for integrated curricula that aligns with their newly released standards. More focused research was completed under the NSF-funded Core-Plus Mathematics Project II (ESI-9618193) (1999-2003), a project that collected longitudinal data of teachers’ implementation of the curriculum in three schools whose entering freshmen had completed one of the NSF-funded middle school curriculums. Both early projects collected extensive data on teacher practices related to curriculum implementation and student achievement (c.f. Senk & Thompson, 2003). Dr. Ziebarth is the principal evaluator for the NSF-Funded Core-Plus Mathematics Revision Project (ESI- 0137718), a major revision of the Contemporary Mathematics In Context curriculum based on research findings on student learning since standards-based curricula emerged in the 1990s. Dr. Ziebarth also is co-PI of the NSF-Funded Center for the Study of Mathematics Curriculum (CSMC) (ESI-0333879), now in its fourth year of funding, with major goals of capacity building in curriculum research and development of doctoral programs and research opportunities in curriculum studies. To date across the three university sites that comprise its core, the Center has 30 active doctoral fellows working on dissertations in curriculum studies; developed five new doctoral courses to enhance the program; and engaged them in a wide range of curriculum.
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William Cobern Mallinson Institute for Science Education |
William Cobern was past PI for an NSF-RED (#9055834) grant, co-PI for an NSF-Bridges (#0230654) and NSF-STEMTP (#0202923) grant. Currently, he is co-PI on an NSF-STEP (#0336581) project to improve recruitment and retention of minority students in STEM majors, which has had good results so far. He is PI for an NSF-IERI (#0437655) research project using experimental methods to test the effectiveness of popular science teaching approaches. The third trial will be held this summer, with two more to come. Last, he is co-PI on an NSF-ASA (#512596) assessment project for the development of improved ways to evaluate teacher knowledge of science instructional best practices. Other members of MISE hold federal funding in physics education and earth science education. The total R&D funding at MISE exceeds $4M. |
 Chris Coryn
Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Evaluation and
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Chris Coryn directs the Interdisciplinary doctoral program in evaluation and is the managing editor or the Journal of Multidisciplinary Evaluation. He also is currently the principal investigator or methodologist for a variety of grants and contracts, including an evaluation of the Evaluation Track of the 2009 International Conference on Fatigue Management in TransportationOperations sponsored by the United States Department of Transportation*s (DOT) Human Factors Coordinating Committee (HFCC), a longitudinal randomized experimental field trial designed to assess the effectiveness of Integrated Health Partners (IHP) chronic disease treatment collaborative to assess improvement in biometric and behavioral outcomes of persons with type II diabetes, a clusterevaluation of the Standard Research Grants Program and the Research Development Initiative Program for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Canada, a process evaluationof Share Our Strengths (SOS) Operation Frontline (OFL) multisite, national nutrition education program, as well as projects for the City of Grand Rapids, Barry County Big Brothers Big Sisters, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Battle Creek Community Foundation, and the Board of Education of the City of Chicago. |
 Katharine Cummings
Dean’s Office College of Education
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Katharine Cummings serves as the Associate Dean of the College of Education. She is a permanent member of the University Assessment Steering Committee and provides technical support for academic and student service programs in the assessment of student learning. Nationally, she has served as a member of the NCATE Board of Examiners and the Association of Teacher Educators Commission on Induction. She is currently working with a project to engage practicing teachers and teacher education candidates in a process of benchmarking using the Student Evaluation Standards as a framework. |
 Herb Fynewever
Mallinson Institute for Science Education |
Herb Fynewever holds a joint appointment between the Department of Chemistry and the Mallinson Institute for Science Education. He is the principle investigator for the UECR project — a Michigan Space Grant Consortium funded development team with Charles Henderson and six high school teacher collaborators to develop a draft rubric to assess the quality of unobservable education choices such as homework assignments, exam questions, formative assessment and metacognitive support. He is currently contracted to make several classroom observation evaluations to assess the effectiveness of NSF-funded PhysTEC training. |
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