Our projects range from short-term to multi-year programs, from one school to networks of schools. We offer teacher education online as well as intensive and in-person. Each year, we work directly with over 700 teachers and facilitators, impacting over 12,000 children around the US and the world.

Measuring Math

The purpose of Measuring Math is to develop a reliable and valid, video-based measure of preschool mathematics teaching quality. This tool would then be used to identify high-quality math teaching and, ultimately, to strengthen teacher-child interactions around math through coaching.

Learn More: Measuring Math

NSF Collaborative Math

In partnership with the Department of Family Support and Services (DFSS), SRI International, and funded by the National Science Foundation, the project provided center-based professional development around math to teaching teams and instructional leaders in Head Start programs throughout the Chicago area. Preliminary results of our evaluation show the program had a positive impact on teacher confidence and led to math achievement gains for young children in the second year of implementation.

Learn More: NCQTL’s Real to Reel Research Presents the Early Math Collaborative

Chicago Public Schools

We work with a number of individual schools in Chicago Public Schools, each one with catered and intensive work to improve early math teaching in classrooms.

Learn More: School Event Engages Families in Early Math Learning | Collaborative Highlights CPS Work at National Math Teacher Conference

Big Shoulders

Big Shoulders works with the Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools and the Collaborative to develop teacher leaders who are strong in math. The goal is to create a cohort of classroom teachers who can provide math professional development to their peers based on the Collaborative’s approach.

Learn More: Intentional Teaching Comes to Life with Big Shoulders Project | Counting Collections Builds Strong Counting Knowledge | Teachers as Knowledgeable Others in the Spotlight at Math Conference

Denver Head Start

In partnership with Denver Great Kids Head Start (DGKHS), professional development services are conducted with a goal to increase the academic achievement of children. This is accomplished through learning labs, group facilitation, and ongoing remote support to the centers involved.

Learn More: Denver Head Start Teachers Sustain Children’s Growth in Math

MAAM (Math All Around Me)

Affectionally titled MAAM (Math All Around Me), this multi-year program with preschool centers in the Chicago area provides professional development services for caregivers of children ages 0-3, introducing them to Precursor Concepts of Early Mathematics.

Learn More: Precursor Concepts

National Center for Family Math

The Early Math Collaborative is honored to be part of a national effort to advance family math. As lead partner to The National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement (NAFSCE)—the organization in charge of the project—the Collaborative will provide early math expertise to guide the creation of a National Center on Family Math. Part of a movement focused on strengthening understanding of and enjoyment in math by building on what families are already doing, the new Center will act as a resource and communications hub, sharing ideas and connecting stakeholders to promote early math learning.

Racial Justice in Early Mathematics

Funded by Heising-Simons, Racial Justice in Early Mathematics (RJEM) is a diverse group of teachers, parents, and education researchers from around the U.S. who are working together to disrupt racist practices in early math education. Led by Drs. Danny Martin (University of Illinois at Chicago) and Jennifer McCray (Erikson Institute), the group aims to produce a set of guiding principles relevant to educational practice, research, and policy on racial justice in early mathematics that will assist in moving our society toward effective and positive change.

Center for Early Education and Development (CEED)

Beginning in 2015 and funded by the Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation, a partnership with the Center for Early Education and Development (CEED) and the Chaminade University of Honolulu allows 25 Hawaii preschool teachers to learn approaches and content designed by Erikson instructors.

Learn More: Collaborative Takes Math Approach to Hawaii’s Center for Early Education and Development

Golden Apple Summer Institutes

Funded by the Golden Apple Foundation, Golden Apple Summer Institutes aim to provide educators with instructional best practices, pedagogy, and teaching techniques to ensure they are ready to teach starting on day one of their first teaching placement in a school-of-need in the state of Illinois. It is a multi-year project that involves Collaborative staff beginning in 2017.

Past Partnerships

City of Chicago, Dept. of Family & Support Services
Latin School of Chicago
North Chicago School District 187
Iowa Department of Education
Educare
Academy for Urban School Leadership
Kohl Children’s Museum
Christina Seix Academy
Kentucky Center for Mathematics
MDRC

Big Ideas of Early Mathematics:

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Projects and Partnerships