Student University Tour Meeting
For the first time this summer, the TGC is offering student university tours to MATHTEAH Collaborative partnering school districts. The tour will include visits to Harvard University, MIT, Boston University and Brown University. Ten districts were represented at the meeting. TGC plans to take 46 students and 13 district sponsors on the tour. Students, sponsors and TGC staff are scheduled to depart for Boston on June 10, 2015. The following school districts have been inv
Harvard Professor Visits RGV to Discuss Quality Math Instruction
Harvard professor Brendan Kelly recently led two workshops as part of the Texas Graduate Center’s Leadership Series in partnership with Region One GEAR UP. On day one, Dr. Kelly presented on Quality Math Instruction at Region One Education Service Center in Edinburg, TX. In attendance were local district administrators and math teachers from across the Rio Grande Valley, including Texas Graduate Center (TGC) cohort members. Dr. Kelly stressed the importance of “low-floor/h
Donna ISD School Board Recognizes Math Teachers
Donna ISD recognized two of its teachers this month who were accepted into the Texas Graduate Center’s Math for Teaching Harvard Program. Thania Chapa and Patricia Vivanco are the newest members of Cohort III. They were officially accepted into the Texas Graduate Center in November 2014 and began their Harvard course work in January 2015. Ms. Chapa teaches at Sauceda Middle School, Ms. Vivanco is a teacher at Donna High School. They are currently taking their first Harvard
STUDY: How Does Language and Location Affect Algebra Scores?
The goal of this research is to determine if Rio Grande Valley students who live and attend a school further from the Texas-Mexico border score higher on average on the Texas End of Course Algebra I exam than those students who reside and attend a school near the border. As teachers who reside and teach in both locations, we constantly see an influx of students who come from Mexico and enroll in public schools near the border. Many students make the journey across the border
Girls Engaged in Mathematics
LA JOYA – The Texas Graduate Center, in partnership with La Joya ISD, and The Organization of Women Executives, launched GEM Camp for a second year this summer. Girls Engaged in Mathematics is a math camp focused on improving girls’ ability and confidence in math. Dr. Alda Benavides, La Joya ISD superintendent, initiated the creation of GEM Camp when she expressed an interest in preparing the districts young girls to have greater confidence and skill in mathematics. With t
2015 Harvard Summer Residency
CAMBRIDGE – This year’s summer residency was a special one. The Texas Graduate Center (TGC) added a third cohort this year which meant 22 teachers from the Rio Grande Valley traveled to Cambridge for their summer residency, the most TGC has ever sent. This is also the final summer for Cohort I; by the end of the summer they will have completed their Math for Teaching Program. The next time they travel to Cambridge will be for their Harvard Commencement. To celebrate Cohort
University Student Tour 2015
BOSTON – Excitement was high as 46 students representing eleven school districts from across the Rio Grande Valley prepared to fly to Boston for the Texas Graduate Center’s (TGC) first-ever Student University Tour. The tour was exclusive to MATHTEACH Collaborative partners who currently support a math teacher in TGC’s Math for Teaching graduate program in partnership with Harvard University. The students visited four universities including Harvard, MIT, Brown University and
