Penn State is taking the nationwide shortage of mathematics education professors into its own hands.

A new Mid-Atlantic Center for Mathematics Teaching and Learning has been established at Penn State. The National Science Foundation is funding these centers for mathematics teaching due to the recent shortage of math teachers, said M. Kathleen Heid, professor in the department of curriculum and instruction in mathematics education.

Glen Blume, professor of education and a faculty associate for the center, attributes the shortage of math education professors to the large numbers of retiring professors. Many of the current math education professors entered the field in the 1960s and 1970s, he added.

There were 200 positions open for mathematics professors last year but less than 100 people were ready to assume those positions, Heid said.

The National Science Foundation has awarded Penn State, along with the University of Maryland and the University of Delaware, a five-year grant for the center after a competitive proposal process.

"It will prepare them to be better mathematics educators in either the College of Education or the mathematics department," Blume said.

One of their goals is to improve the mathematics curriculum and students' mathematics experience, Heid said. The center will work on preparing teachers to teach math in a new way so that students will find it meaningful to them and will be able to use math after they leave class.

"It will be cutting edge in terms of application," she said, including computer graphics and analysis of blood tests incorporated into the curriculum.

The center will be developing additional mathematics education courses for both undergraduates and graduate students. The courses will try to reflect the way that math is changing and ways it applies to life in high school math courses.

"A reasonable goal is to help teachers be able to acquire ways in which they can help their students learn about ways mathematics is applicable to their life and help solve real world problems," Blume said.

Another task of the center will be recruiting doctoral or post-doctoral candidates. The grant will provide a substantial four-year fellowship for five graduate students.

Also, the center will be forming partnerships with schools to provide the fellows with experience working with teachers in high schools in Pittsburgh. They will offer background and access to new curriculum materials to the teachers, Blume said.

The University of Delaware will be focusing on working with teachers in Delaware elementary schools and the University of Maryland will be developing a leadership program working with middle schools in large urban areas, said Patricia Campbell, associate professor of mathematics education at the University of Maryland.

The center will benefit faculty at all three universities, Campbell said. Heid hopes the project will have a broader effect.

"I hope the result will be better mathematics education for lots of students and they won't be wondering what math was for," she said.