CENTER FOR ALGEBRAIC THINKING Information

Algebra is considered the "gateway" to higher education. Failure rates in Algebra courses are staggering in school districts across the country. This lack of success disproportionately affects high needs students and impacts high school graduation rates, success in higher mathematics, and college enrollment. A new, innovative approach that prepares new teachers to stem the tide of failure is needed that takes into account why students struggle in algebra. Over 800 studies examine students struggles in algebra and potential strategies to help students overcome conceptual obstacles. Yet, the size of this resource makes it essentially inaccessible to preservice teachers. The mission of the Center is to help open the algebra gateway for students. We aim to help restructure preservice math teacher education and professional development of veteran teachers by utilizing research on students algebraic thinking. After initial funding by the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE), we are now a non-profit organization. The innovative Center includes a collaborative social network for teachers of algebra. We also have two new books published to help teachers use our iOS apps. You can get the iBook, Teaching Algebra through iPad Apps, through the iTunes store (try searching by the title or one of the authors: Doug Neill or Steve Rhine) or through Gumroad . The Kindle version and student PDF pages are also available at Gumroad ( https://gumroad.com/algebrathinking ). The objective of the Center is to increase preservice and veteran teachers knowledge, skills, and dispositions towards students algebraic thinking. Ultimately, through better preparation of teachers, students will have increased understanding of algebra, higher test scores, graduation rates, and college enrollment. The Center was developed by a consortium of four public and private universities: Willamette University , Pacific University , George Fox University , and Western Oregon University and evaluated by the International Society for ...