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by Bari Walsh
To foster a spirit of open-ended exploration in high school math classes and to revitalize math curricula across Massachusetts, Glenn Stevens, a CAS professor of mathematics and statistics, began PROMYS for Teachers (PFT) in 1991.
PFT is an intense six-week immersion in number theory and deep mathematics that runs over two consecutive summers for each group of teachers. Each summer, 20 teachers are accepted to the program. Instruction continues during the academic year in the form of five full-day workshops designed by the Education Development Center in Newton, Massachusetts, and the BU department of mathematics and statistics. The aim is to ensure that teachers who attend the summer program will transport the PROMYS “culture” of exploration and creativity back to their high schools. The workshops give teachers strategies for applying the mathematics they learned and developing age-appropriate research experiences for their students.
Teachers earn graduate credits and a stipend for each summer of participation;
PROMYS recently received a $50,000 grant from the Massachusetts Board
of Higher Education to fund these stipends, with money made available
under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. So far, teachers from
33 Massachusetts high schools have taken part, and the program has earned
high marks from school professionals across the state. As Edward Joyce,
senior program director for the Boston Public Schools, notes, “We
are at the beginning of a new generation of math teachers in Boston. It
is so important that we have exciting and relevant professional development
for these teachers.”
28
August 2003
Boston University
Office of University Relations