1	The Political Dimension of Systemic Reform in School Districts
2	"Presenter" Presenter F. Joseph Merlino, Project Director The Greater Philadelphia Secondary Mathematics Project LaSalle University, Philadelphia, Pa merlino@lasalle.edu http://www.gphillymath.org Moderator Carol Fry Bohlin, Professor of Mathematics Education California State University at Fresno, Fresno, California carolb@csufresno.edu
3	Introduction (Given Verbally) Welcome to the session, "The Political Dimension of Systemic Reform in School Districts." My name is Carol Fry Bohlin, and I'm a professor of mathematics education at California State University, Fresno. Like our main presenter, Joe Merlino, I've worked for over a decade as director of professional development programs for mathematics teachers. For the past five years, I have served as Co-PI of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Local Systemic Change project called STEPPS (Strategies for Teacher Excellence Promoting Student Success). During this same time period, Joe has served as the Project Director of another NSF-funded Local Systemic Change grant, "The Greater Philadelphia Secondary Mathematics Project." All LSC projects are designed to couple reform curricula with sustained, systemic professional development. Joe and I have had the opportunity to learn from each other's project experiences on opposite coasts. During the late 90's, the "math wars" in California seemed foreign to many on the East Coast, but in recent years, reform programs have been increasingly under attack in Joe's professional development territory, which covers New York, New Jersey, and the Greater Philadelphia region. Because of the growing political backlash against reform, Horizon Research Institute supported a "Lessons Learned" conference on public engagement in mathematics reform for all LSC directors on April 22, 2002. Joe and I organized this conference along with another LSC colleague, Bill Frascella, from Indiana University. A few weeks after this conference, a 9-day virtual conference on the sustainability of reform was hosted by TERC, where Joe, Bill and I served on a panel entitled, "Public Engagement: Addressing the Political, Cultural and Constraining Factors Influencing Mathematics Reform." Our papers are archived at http://sustainability2002.terc.edu/invoke.cfm/page/13’ The presentation today builds upon one of the strands of the virtual discussions, one that seems timely as the NSF Math and Science Partnerships are navigating political waters (often uncharted territory for university professors) while promoting true partnerships among universities and K-12 districts and moving from an institute model of professional development to a long-term, sustained staff development model. Joe will focus on reform politics and lessons that he has learned over the past decade while providing professional development for over 1500 secondary math teachers from 90 schools.
4	Politics is how people individually and collectively perceive, initiate and respond to events or conditions and in so doing relate to one another.
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19	Attrition Rates from Original Cohort
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