Umbrella Partnerships: How the MSP Investment Can Build Enduring Capacity for the Ongoing Improvement of Math and Science Education
We believe several important lessons can be drawn from our study of the AMSP initiative:
Rural isolated regions, such as the counties served by the AMSP, require a different approach than suburban or urban areas.
The AMSP partnership both provides a broad regional set of supports while at the same time making small investments in projects that align with local needs and interests.
The micro-investment strategy not only ensures that the work happens locally, but it builds local capacity to support ongoing and future work.
The AMSP demonstrates the benefits that come with having the flexibility to evolve as the work proceeds and the wisdom to value local expertise.
Building capacity is every bit as important as providing direct service.
The notion that "everybody contributes and everybody benefits" gives authority to marginalized voices and empowers local leadership.
At a time when federal policy tends to devalue local expertise and individual teacher knowledge, the AMSP has taken a decidedly different stance - seeking out, honoring and cultivating the local voice. From the outset, AMSP leaders knew that any lasting reform effort would need to be thoroughly embraced by the tightly knit, rural communities of Appalachia. By most accounts, the AMSP was on to something. People respond when they feel heard and respected. And as a result, we see the landscape of math and science improvement in Appalachia changing - one person at a time, one school at time, one district at a time. We encounter reports at all levels of the system of educators able to articulate an increasingly shared vision of what constitutes high quality instruction in math and science. Even higher education faculty, historically the most entrenched in their ways, report applying AMSP principles to their courses and seeing a difference. In addition, the initiative has made significant contributions to the quantity and quality of in-service as well as access to research-based instructional materials available across the region. Through the AMSP counties and institutions, there is evidence of increased improvement capacities including new leadership, new structures and K-16 connections that did not exist in the same way prior to AMSP.
