RAAFA Grant
The Redwood Area Algebra For All (RAAFA) Grant was a California Math Science Partnership project administered by the Sonoma County Office of Education and Sonoma State University. The grant combined professional development seminars, in-class support, and teacher-to-teacher collaboration with a goal of increasing algebra achievement and closing the achievement gap for English learners in this critical subject area.
The three-year grant project served six districts in the North Coast region: Cloverdale, Cotati-Rohnert Park, Geyserville, Healdsburg, Ukiah, and Willits. Teachers in grades 5 through Algebra 1 participated.
The grant utilized two innovative professional development strategies to meet its goals – lesson study and technology-based strategies like podcasts and Internet-accessible video clips to extend teacher expertise. Here are some of the resources developed during the three-year project, which concluded in 2008.
Student Interview, Division of Fractions | Feb 2008
This is part of an interview series with students conducted prior to planning a lesson on the division of fractions.
Lesson, Division of Fractions | Feb 2008
Here is one portion of the five-day lesson developed to meet the needs uncovered during student interviews.
Video Archive
Animation, Parts of a Cube: This simple animation front-loads terms critical to understanding the concept of volume for English learners
Interview, Promoting Discourse: Edith Prentice Mendez, PhD, examines how promoting discourse can impact student learning
Lesson, Geometric Figures: Fourth-graders in a bilingual classroom are shown talking about shapes
Presentation, Observing for Evidence: Dr. Patrick Callahan provides a structure for identifying evidence of mathematics thinking
Scaffolding, Whole to Parts, Parts to Whole: This clip introduces English learners to the vocabulary of “part-whole” relationships
Student Discussion, Perimeter: Bilingual grade 6-8 students describe patterns they’ve observed in rectangles with the same area but different perimeters
Student Discussion, Slope: Two ninth-graders contradict our expectation that the key challenge for bilingual students is to learn mathematics vocabulary
Student Interview, Discussing Math: This interview illustrates how second-language learners learn and talk about mathematics
Student Interview, Fractions 1: A student discusses whether shapes have to be congruent to have equal areas
Student Interview, Fractions 4: This interview shows the difference between a teacher’s assumptions and what students actually understand
Student Interview, Paper Folding Lesson: A fifth-grade student shows how mathematics is embedded in paper-folding activities
Audio Archive
Available as zipped mp3 files for download
Reading, Beyond Words: This chapter from Assessing Mathematical Proficiency by Judit Moschkovich raises questions about assessments for English learners
Reading, Facilitating English Learner Participation: This article reviews findings on strategies for engaging English learners in mathematics learning
Reading, Two Types of Reflection: In this excerpt from Process Reflection in Pre-Service Lesson Study, Thomas Ricks divides reflection into two categories
Reading, A World of Difference: This article suggests that educators focus on ensuring that students solve challenging mathematical problems
