Middle School Math Grants Awarded to Three Schools

The NJCTL middle school mathematics grant program is a component of the Progressive Math Initiative. The grant creates collaborative professional learning communities (PLCs) of educators to address student achievement gaps in mathematics. These PLCs also explore how algebra I can be incorporated into the middle school curriculum so that all students demonstrate proficiency in Algebra I by 8th grade graduation.

Grants up to $25,000 per year per school for up to three years have been awarded to six middle schools demonstrating a commitment to the goals of the program. Each school created a PLC of educators who meet regularly to examine teaching practices, analyze student work and test performance, share teaching strategies, develop new strategies to address student achievement gaps in mathematics and realign curriculum so that their students are proficient in Algebra I by the time they graduate 8th grade. Math units will be designed by PLCs using Smart Technologies (Smart Boards and Smart Responders) and posted on the Center’s PMI website.

NJCTL also provides a mathematics professional learning community consultant to meet with each PLC on a regular basis. Students in the six schools are required to take the Accuplacer tests in Algebra and Arithmetic tests – two of several online adaptive tests used by the community colleges in NJ to determine readiness for college-level coursework. Student performance on the Accuplacer tests and state mandated tests in mathematics are used to monitor student progress.

The six schools participating in the middle school math project during the 2009-10 school year are as follows:

• Rittenberg Middle School (Egg Harbor City)


• Monongahela Middle School (Deptford)


• Olson Middle School (Tabernacle)


• Lawrence Intermediate School and Lawrence Middle School (Lawrence)


• Riverfront School (Florence)


• Mountain View Middle School (Mendham)

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