Fairfax County Public Schools is one of nine school divisions to benefit from a grant from the Virginia Department of Education to support mathematics instruction. The grant covers the third year of programs that were established in 2015 to increase content knowledge and enhance the classroom skills of math and science teachers.

The grant is for Transitions: Transforming Mathematics Instruction Through Mathematical Modeling; Algebraic Thinking; and Proportional Reasoning: Teaching and Assessing Virginia’s 2009 Mathematics SOL (Standards of Learning) (Grades 3-9). It awards money to George Mason University and the Virginia Council for Private Education to serve 180 teachers in FCPS and eight other counties, as well as the Virginia Council for Private Education.

The grants are from the federal Mathematics and Science Partnership program, supporting colleges and universities that provide high-qualify professional development programs for teachers in order to improve instruction and close achievement gaps in math and science. This is the final year of the awards since the funding for the program is not included in the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 education law.

More information is available at doe.virginia.gov/federal_programs/esea/title2/part_b/index.shtml