What is the VMI?

The Phase 1 and Phase 2 components of VMI

Starting with the 2006-2007 academic year there are two subprograms within the overall VMI program.  These are referred to as Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the VMI.

Phase 1 refers to the 3-year VMI master’s degree program begun in 1999 which trains K-8 teachers to be mathematics leaders in their schools and districts.  To date Phase 1 has graduated 160 teachers with an additional 76 teachers currently enrolled.

Phase 2 refers to the second stage of VMI development, launched in 2006-2007, the ultimate goal of which is to empower all elementary and middle school teachers in Vermont with an 80-hour (6 graduate credits) mathematics course experience taught regionally in which the learning and transfer to the classroom are sustained through mentoring by the district’s VMI Phase 1 trained teacher leaders.

▪ Equity considerations.  The VMI places a premium on helping Vermont achieve the educational equity demanded by its rural nature and widespread poverty. Thus, from its inception, the VMI has placed a high priority on admitting teachers from underperforming schools, from rural schools in general, from areas in the state in which there are larger than normal concentrations of minority population, and from schools that do not currently have a VMI teacher on the faculty. 

▪ The Special Partnership of Mathematicians and K-8 Teachers: Professional mathematicians in higher education and master K-8 teachers have worked hand-in-hand in developing and implementing the VMI.  This partnership of mathematicians and K-8 educators infuses all aspects of VMI, and allows the VMI to bring high-level mathematics and the classroom application of that mathematics together in a way that would be impossible without this kind of collaboration.

 

For more information about the Vermont Mathematics Initiative please click here!

 

 

Begun in 1999, the Vermont Mathematics Initiative has been developed to support highly effective mathematics instruction across the entire state so that all children can learn the rigorous mathematics needed for success in higher education and the workplace.

At the heart of the Vermont Mathematics Initiative is the concept of building a cadre of K-6 mathematics teacher leaders across the state who are deeply knowledgeable in math­e­matics content and can apply their knowledge to improve mathematics instruction. In turn, these elementary teacher leaders serve as mathematics resources to all elementary teachers in their school or district in the teaching and learning of mathematics in the school.

Formal program evaluation, begun in 2004, has shown that the VMI has had a profound impact on the teachers themselves, their classroom practice, and most importantly students in schools having VMI teachers.

Strong mathematics content knowledge is the foundation of the VMI.  Indeed, the overarching philosophy of the VMI can be summarized by the adage competence leads to confidence.  Thus, in the VMI approach to mathematics professional development, VMI participants begin to view themselves as mathematicians, to view mathematics as part of their lives, and to see the world around them in a mathematical light.  The resulting impact of these transformations in the VMI teachers' classrooms and schools is far-reaching. As teachers feel more comfortable with mathematics, the more they are able to effectively communicate their knowledge and convey their enthusiasm to their own students and other teachers.