The University of South Alabama brought more than 20 professors and administrators from colleges and universities across the state to its Mobile campus this week for a work session focused on preparing future elementary school teachers to meet the requirements of the Alabama Numeracy Act.
The 2022 law was passed by state lawmakers in response to years of stagnant and declining math scores among Alabama’s youngest students. It sets new expectations for how kindergarten through third grade students are taught math and how struggling students are identified and supported, and it also reaches back into the state’s teacher preparation programs, requiring that college students studying to become elementary educators receive stronger grounding in how to teach math concepts.
That requirement is what brought educator preparation providers from across Alabama to the University of South Alabama’s College of Education and Professional Studies. Dr. Angela Barlow, dean of the college, organized the gathering to walk fellow administrators through what the law expects of their programs and to build working relationships that can continue after the session ends.
“Our goal today is to make sure that we’re all on the same page in terms of understanding the expectations of the numeracy act, and then to build some relationships so that we can walk away and continue collaborating to meet those expectations,” Barlow said.
Barlow said the college has long operated under the motto “lead today, impact tomorrow,” and framed the work session as a chance to put that philosophy into action on a statewide scale.
“I, as dean of the College of Education Professional Studies here at the University of South Alabama, always want to lead today and impact tomorrow. That is our motto. So, this is a chance for us to lead in this endeavor and make a difference in our state,” she said.
Representatives from the Alabama State Department of Education’s Office of Mathematics Improvement and the Alabama Commission of Higher Education also took part in the session, giving the group a direct line to the state agencies responsible for enforcing and overseeing the law’s rollout in classrooms and on college campuses.
Dr. Karen Anderson, director of the Office of Mathematics Improvement, praised the University of South Alabama for taking a lead role in helping other institutions adapt.
“I will just say that Dean Barlow has really taken the lead across the state. She has really looked at the assets that her college has and is applying those to the expectations of the law,” Anderson said.
Anderson said the Numeracy Act was needed in part because many undergraduate students preparing to become teachers were not previously getting coursework that translated directly into what they would need once they had their own classrooms.
“What I need is, how do I unpack those standards? What does that first grade standard really mean? How do I teach that standard in such a way that a first grader, a six-year-old, is able to understand,” she said, describing the kind of practical training the law now demands of teacher preparation programs.
The Alabama Numeracy Act requires local school systems to screen students in kindergarten through third grade for math difficulties and to provide additional, targeted instruction to those who are falling behind, modeled closely on the state’s earlier literacy law aimed at reading proficiency. For colleges and universities that train future teachers, the law means updating coursework so graduates arrive in classrooms already equipped with research-based strategies for teaching early math skills.
Organizers said Monday’s session is intended to be the start of ongoing collaboration among Alabama’s educator preparation programs, rather than a single one-time meeting, as institutions work through the coming years to align their coursework with the law’s requirements.