Members of the Aiken County Board of Education honored an innovative partnership between Aiken County Public Schools and the University of South Carolina in Columbia during Tuesday’s (April 16) special called meeting. The collaboration will offer a specialized mathematics master’s degree to an initial cohort of 34 Aiken County educators at no charge.
The collaboration represents a significant investment on the part of the District to provide enhanced learning opportunities to educators that will spark personal and professional growth as well as provide knowledge to enhance classroom instruction District-wide. Teacher requests for new professional learning opportunities made through a District-wide survey also led to the new partnership.
“We are providing Aiken County educators with the tools they need to serve as growth leaders in their schools while expanding the instructional capacity of their fellow educators,” commented Aiken County Superintendent Dr. Sean Alford. “We certainly appreciate the outstanding support of the University of South Carolina’s College of Education in helping us make this new opportunity possible and we look forward to our continued partnership in the future.”
April Slack serves as a mathematics Content Interventionist with Aiken County Public Schools. She will participate in the Math Master’s cohort, provide support to other cohort members and serve as a liaison with University of South Carolina faculty.
“In advancing the teaching and learning of mathematics across our schools, this unique educational opportunity is being offered to selected math teachers in grades three through nine,” stated Slack. “Working together over the next two years, we will share content-specific knowledge with our colleagues and assist with the delivery of professional learning opportunities to cascade knowledge throughout our respective buildings. I am thrilled to share this incredible opportunity with our school district’s math teachers. Working together, we will raise student achievement in mathematics.”
Dr. Jennifer Morrison serves as a clinical instructor with the University of South Carolina in Columbia’s College of Education in the Department of Instruction and Teacher Education. Morrison will be teaching courses within the new program, which she says has been designed for Aiken County Public Schools based on the district's student data. Director of Accountability and Assessment, Kate Olin, provided additional recommendations that helped guide the selection of course work for the new Math Master’s degree program.
“This is a new project with Aiken County Public Schools, and we are extremely excited to partner with them to cultivate teacher leadership and build greater instructional capacity in mathematics,” commented Morrison. “This program is unique in that it is being developed to specifically meet the instructional needs of teachers and students in Aiken County Public Schools. We look forward to seeing improved student performance in mathematics over time.”
Members of the first cohort for the Math Master’s Program include the following educators:
Sabrina Amos (North Aiken Elementary); Katie Anderson (Kennedy Middle School); Richard Ball (North Augusta High School) Shauna Bashline (New Ellenton Middle School); Jeanette Beck (Belvedere Elementary); Tamara Butler (Hammond Hill Elementary); Leah Bynes (J.D. Lever Elementary); Cristie Caldwell (Aiken Elementary); Miranda Church (Chukker Creek Elementary); Tiffany Coleman (Jefferson Elementary); Jessica Cutler (East Aiken School of the Arts); Julianne Dove (Greendale Elementary); Sarah Emerling (Hammond Hill Elementary); Kimberly Floyd (Aiken High School); Jessica Greenlee (Ridge Spring-Monetta Middle School); Sharon Gregory (Midland Valley High School); Katelyn Howell (Aiken Middle School); Shane Hutto (Aiken Middle School); Jocelyn Jones (Schofield Middle School); Alecia Kinard (Chukker Creek Elementary); April Layfield (Millbrook Elementary); Steven McLeod (North Augusta Middle School); Ashley Nalley (Ridge Spring Elementary); Emily Owens (North Augusta Elementary); Heather Parliament (Paul Knox Middle School); April Ray (Oakwood-Windsor Elementary); Andrea Rexroad (Byrd Elementary) April Slack (District Content Interventionist); Elaine Smoak (Langley-Bath-Clearwater Middle School); Theresa Spieker (Mossy Creek Elementary); Khaleelah Stroman (Silver Bluff High School) Shanythia Thomas (North Augusta Middle School); Erin Tindle (Paul Knox Middle School); and Debby Turno (Leavelle McCampbell Middle School).
Classes for the Math Master’s degree program are scheduled to begin this summer.
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LINK TO DISTRICT PRESS RELEASE: 2019 PR MATH MASTERS COHORT