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Description
The California Subject Matter Projects (CSMPs) were established
in 1988, then reauthorized in 1998 and given a new organizational
structure. Administered by The University of California’s Office
of the President (UCOP), these projects aim to improve teachers’
content knowledge in their subject area and identify teacher leaders.
In the past several years, the CSMPs have been moving toward a greater
incorporation of California content standards, a team approach to
training teachers and a focus on teachers in the state’s lowest-performing
schools. Projects in nine different subject areas provide teachers
with an intensive summer institute and follow-up activities during
the school year.
Funding
After seeing elevated funding levels of $35 million for two years,
the CSMPs were cut back to $20 million in the 2002–03 budget.
An additional $4.4 million in Title II funds were allotted specifically
to the Science Project in 2002–03.
Participation
Over the years, the CSMPs have moved to school team approach, rather
than the individual teacher participation that once characterized
the program. Seventy-five percent of training slots are reserved
for teachers from schools below the 40th percentile. As of July
2002, this goal had not been met for the overall group of participants,
though 79 percent of CSMP partnerships were with schools that matched
this description.
CSMP
Funding and Participants
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Year
|
Funding (in millions)
|
Participants
|
|
1999–2000
|
$15
|
11,500
|
|
2000–01
|
$35
|
25,000
|
|
2001–02
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$35
|
25,000
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2002–03
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$20
|
N/A
|
Evaluation
External evaluation findings have shown that teachers participating
in the CSMPs report increased knowledge and understanding of the
subject matter they teach and of the content standards and increased
confidence and enthusiasm for teaching. Attempts to analyze the
impacts of the CSMPs on student achievement were inconclusive due
to the lack of student-level achievement data linked to individual
teachers.
Additional Resources
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