Introduction

In this paper, we highlight successful courses and classroom materials developed in recent years for in-service fifth through ninth grade mathematics educators by the Vermont Mathematics Partnership (VMP). The VMP's Middle Level Mathematics Initiative (MLMI) is a professional development program designed to enhance mathematics instruction to help all middle level students succeed in mathematics.

The VMP is a targeted math and science partnership funded by the National Science Foundation and the US Department of Education [20]. Building on the successful Vermont Mathematics Initiative [19], a content-focused graduate program for elementary mathematics teacher leaders, the VMP has worked directly with partner school systems and developed courses, programs, and materials for educators across the state. Launched in 2004, the MLMI implemented a new series of graduate courses in mathematics content, assessment, and pedagogy for middle level mathematics educators, teacher leaders, special educators, and administrators. Offered primarily as week-long summer institutes with fall follow-up sessions, courses include Proportional Reasoning in the Middle Grades, Modeling Change: Using Algebra to Analyze Change, Making Informed Decisions: Data, Statistics, and Probability, and Geometry in the Middle Grades.

This new series of graduate courses has been designed to satisfy several licensure needs for middle level educators in Vermont. To fulfill the middle level state endorsement, educators must demonstrate that they meet knowledge and performance standards for the mathematics core content and the professional knowledge of middle grades education. Middle grades educators applying for this license must show evidence of knowledge in several areas, such as the NCTM middle level content strands, mathematics history, and mathematics pedagogy for middle level classes [18].