Teachers Assisting Students to Excel in Learning Mathematics (TASEL-M) has been developed by a partnership that includes California State University-Fullerton, the Orange County Department of Education, Orange Unified School District, Fullerton Joint Union High School District, and Garden Grove Unified School District. TASEL-M is a standards-based, data-driven program designed to improve students' academic performance in mathematics by giving their teachers the knowledge and tools to accurately diagnose students' deficiencies, assess their progress, adjust the curriculum and pedagogy, and transform the departmental culture to maximize student learning in mathematics.
The partnership seeks to improve the mathematics performance of 14,000 students (approximately 70% of these students are from underrepresented minority groups) at four low-performing high schools and seven feeder middle schools. TASEL-M focuses on these students' ninety mathematics teachers, roughly one-third of whom have emergency or supplemental credentials and neither majored or minored in mathematics. Strategies employed to raise student achievement include: using data to get results; improving classroom assessment; teacher coaching and mentoring; and increasing pedagogical content knowledge. The nature and form of the comprehensive professional development activities are expected to change administrative practice in the school and in the classroom, effecting a cultural change that creates a sustainable climate of improvement and achievement.
