Math for America is a private nonprofit organization with a mission to improve math education in secondary public schools in the United States by recruiting, training, and retaining outstanding mathematics teachers.
To achieve this mission, we created the MƒA Fellowship and the Master Teacher Fellowship Program. Both Fellowships were designed to be a national model.
The MƒA Fellowships are based on three key principles:
- To teach math effectively one needs strong knowledge of mathematics, solid pedagogical skills, and a desire and ability to interact with young people.
- By providing stipends, it is possible to recruit mathematically qualified individuals into teaching, and to retain outstanding mathematics teachers.
- By providing strong support services, including continuing education, mentoring and professional development, it is possible to inspire a commitment to long-term careers as mathematics teachers
MƒA was founded in New York City in 2004 by a group of businessmen, mathematicians and educators. MƒA has established sites in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Washington D.C., and was the congressional model for legislation creating the new National Science Foundation Teaching and Master Teaching Fellowships through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program in the America Competes Act.
MƒA Fellows and Master Teachers work in 96 secondary public schools in New York City, impacting more than 17,000 students. MƒA's numerous Professional Development opportunities are available to all New York City Public School teachers.
In the 2007-2008 academic year, we hosted three city-wide professional development workshops, attended by over 100 public secondary school teachers. In August, 2008, MƒA with Park City Math Institute established a Professional Development and Outreach (PDO) group to support secondary school mathematics teachers in the five boroughs through mathematics workshops and other outreach activities.
