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2009 SESSION

095825472
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 652
Offered January 14, 2009
Prefiled December 30, 2008
Encouraging the school divisions of the Commonwealth to consider using existing intervention, remediation, and at-risk funding to hire K-8 Mathematics Specialists as an effective means to improve the performance of low-achieving students.
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Patrons-- Cosgrove, Hall and Toscano
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Referred to Committee on Education
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WHEREAS, Mathematics Specialists are teacher leaders with strong preparation and background in mathematics content, instructional strategies, and school leadership; and

WHEREAS, Mathematics Specialists are responsible for strengthening classroom teachers' understanding of mathematics content and helping teachers develop more effective mathematics teaching practices that allow all students to reach high standards, as well as for sharing research addressing how students learn mathematics; and

WHEREAS, Mathematics Specialists are currently in place in about 200 schools in the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, initial results indicate that when compared with students in the control schools, students in schools with Mathematics Specialists performed better on the SOL Math test in each of grades 3, 4, and 5; and

WHEREAS, the Joint Subcommittee to Study Science, Math, and Technology Education in the Commonwealth at the Elementary, Secondary, and Undergraduate Levels (HJR 90, 2008) heard extensive testimony regarding the positive effect Mathematics Specialists have in the classroom; and

WHEREAS, the joint subcommittee made recommendations at the final meeting of the 2008 interim to support expanded use of Mathematics Specialists in the school divisions of the Commonwealth; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the school divisions of the Commonwealth be encouraged to consider using existing intervention, remediation, and at-risk funding to hire K-8 Mathematics Specialists as an effective means to improve the performance of low-achieving students; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit a copy of this resolution to the Superintendent of Public Instruction of Virginia, requesting that the Superintendent further disseminate copies of this resolution to the school divisions of the Commonwealth so that they may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly of Virginia in this matter.