This document provides an overview of the Make it Count Project from August 2011. It discusses improving teaching practice to enhance learning outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in mathematics. School representatives will give presentations on lessons learned and student work samples. The group will identify effective teaching themes and write an article. For 2012, the proposal is to set high expectations while providing support through data collection, extending the program within schools, and disseminating findings through publications and presentations.

1. Make it Count Project
August 2011
Associate Professor Peter Grootenboer

2. Overview
1. Introduction
2. Quick report on what’s been happening in
each school.
3. Mandy and Sandy
4. Data
5. From now to the end …

3. Introduction
• The only place we can invest for improved learning is in
our teachers.
• This project ‘sinks or swims’ on our teachers and the
changes teachers make in their practice.
• At the end of 2012 the project will be successful if we
have changed teachers and teaching practice. This will
lead to improved learning outcomes for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Island students.

4. Mathematics Education for …?
• Consider: the students you are teaching
today will retire in 2060.
• What were the teachers in 1960 thinking
we’d need in 2010?
• www.wolframalpha.com
• (see Stephen Wolfram on TED.com)

5. 2. QUICK School Reports

6. 3. Mandy and Sandy
• Two great mathematics lessons.
• Applying professional learning to promote
deep mathematical thinking.
• Makes teaching ‘less certain’
– Questioning
– Teacher mathematical knowledge
– Teacher knowledge of their students

7. 4. Data
• What does your data tell you about the
student(s)?
• What does your data tell you about your
teaching?

8. Your Data
• Look at your data for one (or two …) of your
Indigenous students:
– What can they do?
– What mathematical concepts are missing?
– What attitudes and beliefs about mathematics are
evident?
– What higher order thinking is evident, or other
mathematical processes?
– What teaching do they need next? If they are a
‘B’, what would get them to an ‘A’?
• Can you write a profile/case for this student?

9. Your Data (cont.)
• From your data, what have you learned
about:
– Mathematics?
– How students learn mathematics?
– What pedagogy is effective for Indigenous
students learning mathematics?
– About yourself as a teacher?

10. 5. From now until the end …
• The agenda has been set for 2011. In term 4 we
will meet for a day.
• Each school will give a 30 minute presentation
about what they have done and learned using:
– Video of classroom teaching
– Student work samples
• From this we will try and identify themes/ideas
about effective teaching and learning with
Indigenous learners. From this we will write a
joint article for a AAMT journal.
• We will also set the agenda for 2012.

11. Proposal for 2012
• High expectations and high support.
• Use Action Learning Cycles again, but
with more rigorous data collection
• A plan to extend the program to more
teachers within the school and create
sustainability
• Disseminating our findings through
presentations and writing

12. High Expectations, High Support
• Greater expectations for commitment and
outcomes
• Support, in the form of TRDs, so the inschool work can be done
• Moving from one-off lessons to changed
understandings of mathematics learning
and reformed pedagogy.

13. Data
• More rigorous data could include:
– Data we collected this year plus
– Worksamples from all Indigenous students
and 5 others
– Video-tapes of lessons
– Notes and/or transcripts from professional
planning and evaluation meetings
– Annotations on lesson/unit plans
– Structured interviews with all Indigenous
students

14. Extending and sustaining the
project
• Strategic thinking about how the learning thus
far is used for professional development across
the school/department.
• Linking the work of the project to EQ agendas re
peer coaching, continuous improvement, datadriven pedagogy, etc
• Each 2011 person to ‘mentor’ a new person
• ‘Normalising’ an investigative approach to
learning mathematics.

15. Disseminating the Findings
• Personal stories and case studies
• Co-writing (with support) for professional
journals
• Presentations at AAMT and QAMT conferences
or professional development events
• Specific ‘Make it Count’ events and publications.
• Presentations for school websites, etc
• Maybe a Gladstone MiC symposium at the end
of 2012.