I. Improving Mathematics Courses for Teachers.  The primary objective of most mini-grants will be to rework some of the department's courses taken by prospective teachers, following recommendations in recent reports such as the MET Report. Proposals are expected to outline rethinking of both the mathematical content and the pedagogy of the courses and describe ways in which these courses will connect the mathematics with what happens in K-12 classrooms. The proposals must also include plans for a continual (formative) assessment of the teaching and learning in a course.  The goal of mini-grants is not to produce a one-shot effort but rather to start a process of continual questioning and reworking of mathematics courses for teachers. 

Mini-grants will be considered that seek to produce parts of new textbooks or course resources that would be widely available.  This especially includes textbooks that meet special needs such as capstone courses for future high school mathematics teachers, as recommended in the MET Report.   The same applies to courses targeted at middle school mathematics and to textbooks for teacher-oriented versions for ‘generic’ courses like college algebra.  It is hoped that such focused mini-grants will lead to larger proposals to other funding sources, such as the NSF CCLI program and private foundations.  Note that mini-grants may also focus on professional development courses for practicing teachers. 

II. Engaging Other Faculty. A required component of all mini-grants will be an effort to raise the attention given to high-quality teacher education by fellow faculty individually and by collective departmental decisions.  Changing the culture in mathematical sciences departments to place great value on the mathematical education of teachers is one of the most important long-term goals of the PMET project.  Without department support, efforts of individual faculty will be unlikely to persist, while with department support, much can be accomplished by a few deeply concerned individuals whose new approaches are adopted by most other faculty. Recall that before the 1960's, the mathematical education of teachers was a major, longstanding concern of most mathematics departments. Thus, PMET is seeking to restore a traditional priority in mathematics departments.

We note that the needs of future high school teachers are very similar to those of many other mathematics majors not planning on graduate study in mathematics. Forthcoming CUPM recommendations about the mathematics major will reinforce many of the PMET themes. Thus, it is anticipated that PMET activities may also result in changes in courses not primarily populated by future teachers

III. Networking. All mini-grant directors will exchange ideas and coordinate efforts through a PMET mini-grant national listserv.  As noted above, most of the mini-grants in the initial two years will be to institutions in five regions with PMET networks.  Mini-grant directors who reside in one of these regions are expected to attend the annual PMET mini conference in their region held each spring to share successes and problems and to devise ways to make the efforts in mini-grants effective more broadly in improving teacher education. 

PMET Mini-grant Proposal Guidelines
Applicants are encouraged to pay attention to their own institutional grant guidelines when they put their proposals together. They may be required to submit the application through their institution's Sponsored Programs Office. 

1. All mini-grants must involve a collaboration of a mathematician(s) and a mathematics education specialist(s); the mathematics educator(s) may be in a mathematics department or an education school.   At least one K-12 teacher must also be involved in the mini-grants effort.

2. In 2003 and 2004, mini-grant proposals were solicited beginning August 15th with a submission deadline of October 15th.
All proposals were sent electronically in MSWord or pdf format to Tami Trzeciak, PMET Project Office.
Funding decisions were made by PMET Leadership by December 15th. 

3. The application form for a PMET mini-grant could be downloaded from the PMET web site. The web site application form included these proposal guidelines and components. The application form is no longer available for download.

4. The narrative of mini-grant proposals should not exceed five (5) single-spaced pages in length. 

5. Mini-grant projects are expected to last two years. 

6. The budget of a mini-grant may not exceed $5000 (total) for the two years, including any administrative costs of the institution.  Budget items may be summer stipend, travel expenses, supplies and equipment.

7. Proposers are encouraged, but not required, to seek matching contributions from their department, e.g., providing faculty released time for project work.

8. Proposers must agree to present the results of their mini-grant effort at a sectional or national meeting of the MAA.

9. There must be an effort to assess the impact of efforts in components one and two of the mini-grant (listed above). 
     A report of up to 3 pages must be provided at the end of the mini-grant period.

10. All PMET proposals must be accompanied by a letter of support from the chair of the institution's mathematics department.  Any matching contribution by an institution must be acknowledged in the chair's letter.

Send by email with attachments: (1) completed application, (2) attached proposal description narrative, and (3) chair's letter of support to the PMET Project Coordinator.

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