In 2013, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo unveiled the New York State Master Teacher Program (NYSMTP) in partnership with the State University of New York and Math for America. The program aims to identify the highest-performing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) teachers in our state who are committed to sharing their expertise with fellow teachers and with attracting others to STEM careers.
Dunkirk High School teacher Cindy McMillen was inducted into NYSMTP on Jan.21. She has been teaching biology for 18 years. Previously, she taught in Lackawanna for a year and Baldwinsville for eight years, after earning her undergraduate degree in Biology and a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from the University of South Carolina.
In addition to district learning opportunities, Ms. McMillen participates in Fredonia’s Project MAST2ER (Mathematics And Science Teacher Training in Educational Resources), a five-year federally funded National Professional Development grant from the U.S. Education Department, Office of English Language Acquisition. MAST2ER focuses on providing professional development in teaching English learners to Fredonia’s teacher candidates and to teachers in the Dunkirk, Jamestown, and Fredonia school districts. In addition, MAST2ER digitally captures teachers demonstrating data-based decision making and evidence-based instruction. Ms. McMillen serves as one of MAST2ER’s mentor teachers who guide Fredonia’s teacher candidates in early field experiences and student teaching placements.
Ms. McMillen participated in an intensive two-day institute on Kagan cooperative learning structures offered by MAST2ER and the university. The training was the impetus for the research study on Numbered Heads Together in Mrs. McMillen’s classroom during the 2013-2014 school year. Numbered Heads Together is a Kagan structure in which individuals and small groups are responsible for answering teacher-generated questions. She implemented Numbered Heads Together in one of her biology classes and measured the strategy’s impact on student performance on weekly quizzes. Previously, Ms. McMillen utilized Three Jars with her biology students. Three Jars is a management strategy that utilizes group contingency with randomized target behaviors, subjects, and rewards. She presented the impact of Three Jars in her classroom at the Western New York Science Education and Literacy Conference last October.
Ms. McMillen joins a select group of science and mathematics Master Teachers from Chautauqua County including Milissa Albano, Southwestern School District; Tim Cook, Sherman Central School District; Paula Ferneza, Frewsburg School District; Lon Knappenberger, Westfield Academy and Central School District; Amy Lauer, Fredonia School District; Mary Plumb, Falconer School District; and Jenny Tilaro, Bemus Point Central School District.
The application process for the NYSMTP is rigorous. Applicants must be employed in a New York State public school with at least four years of teaching STEM disciplines; must be certified in a STEM field; must carry at least a 60 percent teaching load in STEM disciplines, grades six to 12; and must maintain an Annual Professional Performance Review rating of effective or highly-effective. In addition, Master Teacher applicants must submit a personal statement, college transcript, letters of recommendations and successful completion of a PRAXIS content specialty test. Applicants present on a non-teaching topic to determine their passion as learners themselves; then they are interviewed by a three person panel during which they describe their pedagogical approach and its impact on student learning. Master Teachers engage in on-going professional development to further their knowledge of content, their knowledge of pedagogy, and their knowledge of students.
