Projects and Partnerships
Our projects range from short-term to multi-year programs, from one school to networks of schools. We offer teacher education online as well as intensive and in-person. Each year, we work directly with over 700 teachers and facilitators, impacting over 12,000 children around the US and the world.
Measuring Math
The purpose of Measuring Math is to develop a reliable and valid, video-based measure of preschool mathematics teaching quality. This tool would then be used to identify high-quality math teaching and, ultimately, to strengthen teacher-child interactions around math through coaching.
NSF Collaborative Math
In partnership with the Department of Family Support and Services (DFSS), SRI International, and funded by the National Science Foundation, the project provided center-based professional development around math to teaching teams and instructional leaders in Head Start programs throughout the Chicago area. Preliminary results of our evaluation show the program had a positive impact on teacher confidence and led to math achievement gains for young children in the second year of implementation.
Learn More about NCQTL’s Real to Reel Research Presents the Early Math Collaborative
Chicago Public Schools
We work with a number of individual schools in Chicago Public Schools, each one with catered and intensive work to improve early math teaching in classrooms.
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Big Shoulders
Big Shoulders works with the Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools and the Collaborative to develop teacher leaders who are strong in math. The goal is to create a cohort of classroom teachers who can provide math professional development to their peers based on the Collaborative’s approach.
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Denver Head Start
In partnership with Denver Great Kids Head Start (DGKHS), professional development services are conducted with a goal to increase the academic achievement of children. This is accomplished through learning labs, group facilitation, and ongoing remote support to the centers involved.
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MAAM (Math All Around Me)
Affectionally titled MAAM (Math All Around Me), this multi-year program with preschool centers in the Chicago area provides professional development services for caregivers of children ages 0-3, introducing them to Precursor Concepts of Early Mathematics.
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National Center for Family Math
The Early Math Collaborative is honored to be part of a national effort to advance family math. As lead partner to The National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement (NAFSCE)—the organization in charge of the project—the Collaborative will provide early math expertise to guide the creation of a National Center on Family Math. Part of a movement focused on strengthening understanding of and enjoyment in math by building on what families are already doing, the new Center will act as a resource and communications hub, sharing ideas and connecting stakeholders to promote early math learning.
Racial Justice in Early Mathematics
Funded by Heising-Simons, Racial Justice in Early Mathematics (RJEM) is a diverse group of teachers, parents, and education researchers from around the U.S. who are working together to disrupt racist practices in early math education. Led by Drs. Danny Martin (University of Illinois at Chicago) and Jennifer McCray (Erikson Institute), the group aims to produce a set of guiding principles relevant to educational practice, research, and policy on racial justice in early mathematics that will assist in moving our society toward effective and positive change.
Center for Early Education and Development (CEED)
Beginning in 2015 and funded by the Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation, a partnership with the Center for Early Education and Development (CEED) and the Chaminade University of Honolulu allows 25 Hawaii preschool teachers to learn approaches and content designed by Erikson instructors.
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Golden Apple Summer Institutes
Funded by the Golden Apple Foundation, Golden Apple Summer Institutes aim to provide educators with instructional best practices, pedagogy, and teaching techniques to ensure they are ready to teach starting on day one of their first teaching placement in a school-of-need in the state of Illinois. It is a multi-year project that involves Collaborative staff beginning in 2017.
Past Partnerships
- City of Chicago, Dept. of Family & Support Services
- Latin School of Chicago
- North Chicago School District 187
- Iowa Department of Education
- Educare
- Academy for Urban School Leadership
- Kohl Children’s Museum
- Christina Seix Academy
- Kentucky Center for Mathematics
- MDRC
Big Ideas of Early Mathematics
What Teachers of Young Children Need to Know
The Big Ideas that convey the core concepts of mathematics are at the heart of this book that gives early childhood educators the skills they need to organize for mathematics teaching and learning during the early years.
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Online MS in Early Childhood Ed – STEM Focus
Elevate your practice and strengthen your knowledge of teaching and learning in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), with an emphasis on children in preschool through third grade.
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Together, We Can Change the Way Math Is Taught
Join a hub of educators, administrators, and professionals reframing the way we think about and teach math.