Seeding Calculus Strategies I RFP

The California Education Learning Lab (Learning Lab) announced that it is awarding 15 grants in response to Learning Lab’s funding opportunity Seeding Strategies to Close the Calculus Equity Gap. Grants awarded will support STEM departments within the California Community Colleges, California State University, and University of California to test the implementation of select promising curricular and pedagogical strategies to close equity gaps in calculus course sequences within STEM disciplines.

Scroll to the bottom to view the funded proposals.

The awards were based on recommendations from Learning Lab’s 2022 Selection Committee for Seeding Calculus Strategies and were approved by Samuel Assefa, Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research.

This grant opportunity was released in conjunction with a report by Just Equations that was commissioned by Learning Lab.

Seeding Calculus Strategies attracted interest from 30 California public higher education institutions from across the state. Of these, 21 institutions submitted proposals, and 15 distinct institutions were included in the awards, including eight California Community Colleges, five California State Universities, and two University of California campuses. Projects will commence upon final agreement between the awarded institutions (listed below) and the Foundation for California Community Colleges, which administers the grants on behalf of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research.

Seeding Strategies to Close the Calculus Equity Gap Awardees

To apply for a “Seeding Strategies to Close the Calculus Equity Gap” grant, applicants must:

• • Be a public, postsecondary institution in California;
  • Propose to implement one or more promising strategies from the calculus report; (summarized in this RFP beginning on page 3) to improve the calculus course sequence;
  • Identify a department chair or dean as the project PI; and
  • Include an institutional cover letter signed by the PIs/Co-PIs and the institution’s president/chancellor, vice chancellor/vice president of instruction, or provost or equivalent.

This opportunity prioritizes funding colleges and universities that experience equity gaps in calculus access and success. Applicants must provide data regarding existing equity gaps on their campuses. Moreover, proposed projects must have potential to improve learning outcomes and close equity gaps for undergraduate STEM students.

Applicants are requested to read Charting a New Course and required to propose implementation of one or more of the following curricular or pedagogical strategies in the Calculus at their respective institutions: 

1. 1. 1. Course coordination among faculty within a department around learning objectives, use of class time, assessment, and/or grading such as standards-based grading approaches; [See Deepening Professional Learning, p.18, paragraphs 3-5; Classroom Instruction, p.10-11, paragraph 4; Assessment and Grading, p.11, entire section; Rethinking Grading and Assessment Practices, p.17, entire section]
      2. Redesign placement practices and/or course(s) in the prerequisite pathway or streamline the prerequisite pathway itself leading up to calculus to better align with calculus success; [Placement, Articulation, and the Pathway to Calculus, p.8-9, entire section; Revising Placement Practices, p.12-13, entire section;]
      3. Redesign calculus for disciplines such as life sciences or computer science, using modeling and/or contextualized examples, or utilizing other prerequisites in place of calculus, such as focusing on discrete math; [Curriculum, p.9-10, entire section; Redesigning Calculus Curriculum, p.13-14, paragraphs 1-3 and Macalaster box; Redesigning On-ramps to STEM, p.14, entire section.]
      4. Re-sequence course content, such as the order that integration, differentiation, series, and limits is covered for Calculus I; [Redesigning Calculus Curriculum, p.13-14, paragraphs 4-5; see review of Bressoud’s Calculus Reordered]
      5. Integrate active learning and enhance the learning environment to support authentic student engagement and participation, including blended strategies that positively impact math attitudes and identity; and [Part One introduction, p.4, paragraph 6; Classroom Instruction, p.10-11, paragraph 3-4; Redesigning Calculus Curriculum,13-14, paragraphs 1-2; Improving Classroom Instruction and Support, p.15-17, entire section; Prioritizing Other Student Supports, p.17, paragraph 1; Deepening Professional Learning, p.18, paragraphs 6-7]
      6. Institutionalize professional development and/or community of practice for department or inter-department faculty and/or graduate student instructors on inclusive and student-centered approaches to teaching courses in the calculus sequence. [Classroom Instruction, p.10-11, paragraphs 1 and 5; Improving Classroom and Instruction Support, p.15-17, entire section; Deepening Professional Learning, p.18, entire section]

“Course” in the above strategies refers to any of the college-level courses within the calculus sequence at the respective institution (not to include remedial courses) .  

*  All times stated below are Pacific Standard Time (PST).

• Release of Request for Proposals Wednesday, December 8, 2021
• Submit Questions to Learning Lab: info@calearninglab.org Thursday, January 6, 2022, by 5pm
• RFP Informational Webinar Monday, January 10, 2022, at 2pm
• Applicant Office Hours *See Applicant Office Hours tab. January 18-21 & 24-26, 2022
• Statement of Intent via Online Portal (EXTENDED) Tuesday, February 22, 2022, by 5pm
• Final Questions to Learning Lab: info@calearninglab.org Thursday, February 10, 2022, by 5pm
• Final Q&A Update Wednesday, February 16, 2022, 5pm
• Full Application Deadline via Online Portal (EXTENDED) Monday, March 7, 2022, by 5pm
• Review Period March 11 - April 5, 2022
• Selection Committee Meeting Week of April 11-15, 2022 (Tentative)
• Notification of Award Friday, April 29, 2022, 5pm (Tentative)
• Deadline to execute Grant Agreement and Project Activities Commence No later than July 1, 2022

To be considered for funding, applicants must file a Statement of Intent that identifies the institution (and any partnering institutions through a consultation model or parallel implementation model, if applicable), and provides the names of PIs/co-PIs and a brief project summary. The Statement of Intent must be submitted through Learning Lab’s Application Portal by 5:00pm PT on Tuesday, February 22, 2022. 

Applicants must submit all required materials through Learning Lab’s Application Portal by 5:00pm PT on Monday, March 7, 2022. 

Within the application portal, applicants will be required to confirm the institution (and any partnering institutions through a consultation model or parallel implementation model, if applicable), STEM courses impacted, and the names of PIs/Co-PIs.

Applicants will also be required to upload two documents. The first upload will be a single PDF document that will include the Institutional Cover Letter and Project Narrative. The second upload will include the Detailed Budget in Excel.

The documents within this section are intended to be helpful resources as your project team develops a proposal. There is no requirement for their use (with the exception of the Budget Template). Click on the buttons below to download.

Naneh Apkarian, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education, Arizona State University
Dr. Naneh Apkarian is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education within the School of Mathematics and Statistical Sciences at Arizona State University. Apkarian holds experience with a variety of research projects and methods ranging from individual interviews aimed at exploring students’ thinking to classroom design experiments and the roles of classroom discourse to national surveys. Current major interests include investigations of the social context of STEM departments and how that relates to institutional change, with emphasis on change related to pedagogy and inclusive practices. Apkarian has been part of several mixed-methods national studies of precalculus and calculus education, utilizing quantitative and qualitative methods to produce national portraits and in-depth case studies. Additionally, she has conducted studies of undergraduate mathematics classrooms to better understand individual and collective learning processes. Apkarian holds a doctorate degree in Mathematics and Science Education from San Diego State University and University of California San Diego, a Master of Arts in Mathematics from the University of California San Diego, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics from Pomona College.

Concha Gómez, Ph.D.
Professor of Mathematics, Diablo Valley College
Concha Gómez is currently a Professor of Mathematics at Diablo Valley College. Gómez has been a mathematics instructor for over two decades with experience teaching and leading equity efforts within the California Community College, California State University, and University of California systems, in addition to having taught at several private universities including Middlebury College and Holy Names University. She is an advocate for diversity in STEM fields and worked as the Director of Retention and Equity for the Center for Science and Mathematics Education at San Francisco State University, as well as Director of the Wisconsin Emerging Scholars Program, a multicultural learning community at the University of Wisconsin. Gómez is also known for co-founding the women’s organization, The Noetherian Ring, at the University of California Berkeley in 1991 while attending as a doctoral student.

Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Ph.D.
Managing Director, The University of Texas at Austin, Charles A. Dana Center
Dr. Elisha Smith Arrillaga is the Managing Director of the Charles A. Dana Center. She previously served as the executive director of The Education Trust-West, the California branch of a national research and advocacy nonprofit organization committed to educational justice for students of color, students from low-income communities, and English learners. Smith Arrillaga is fiercely committed to increasing opportunities in STEM for students of color. She has taught subjects ranging from statistics to writing and research methods at the K–12 and postsecondary levels. Throughout her more than 20 years of research and advocacy, Smith Arrillaga has worked for and partnered with many organizations, including the Career Ladders Project, the Hewlett Foundation, First 5 Los Angeles, Mathematica Policy Research, and College Bound. She serves on numerous committees, boards, and taskforces—among them Google’s Equitable Artificial Intelligence Research Roundtable, University of California’s Provost Advisory Council on Educational Equity, California State University’s Steering Committee on Academic Preparation and Quantitative Reasoning, University of California’s Test Feasibility Steering Committee, and the Dana Center’s Launch Years Consensus Panel. She was also appointed as cochair of the California Department of Education’s Closing the Achievement Gap Taskforce. She has authored dozens of publications and is frequently interviewed by media outlets such as CNN, Ed Source, and Los Angeles Times. She holds a B.A. in Mathematics from Smith College and an M.S. in Survey Methodology from the University of Maryland at College Park. She was the third Black person to graduate with a Ph.D. from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.