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Project SIGMa

Math for America Los Angeles

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Math for America Los Angeles (MfA LA) is a non-profit organization founded in 2007 by the University of Southern California, Claremont Graduate University and Harvey Mudd College that aims to raise student achievement by improving secondary school mathematics and computer science teacher recruitment, retention, and quality in the greater Los Angeles area.

MfA LA runs two fellowship programs: an Early Career Teaching Fellowship program for beginning teachers and a Master Teacher Fellowship (MTF) program for more experienced teachers. Both programs offer multi-year, comprehensive professional learning and support for teachers.

The Partnership

Project SIGMa is a collaborative effort between the SIGMa researchers and practice partners at MfA LA for multiple reasons:

  • The practice partners at MfA LA have a desire to improve their support for mathematics teachers’ learning in their MTF program
  • MfA LA and their Fellows’ mutual commitment stands to reduce participant turnover during the course of our study, important for developing longitudinal cases of teachers’ learning
  • MfA LA’s focus on developing teachers’ ambitious mathematics instruction in urban schools supports our understanding of what it takes to grow and implement this form of teaching in classrooms with historically underserved students
  • Our focus on developing frameworks for formative feedback aligns with the organization’s current goals