Chapter 5: Specialized Program Development: The California Elementary Mathematics Specialist Story

How do states develop Elementary Mathematics Specialist (EMS) programs? This chapter discusses the California EMS story: how we developed EMS programs in California. We will describe the two-tiered model we created in California, including its background, and discuss benefits and constraints of this model.

California has had a Mathematics Specialist Credential for many years. It was a K through12 credential aimed at preparing teachers to provide mathematics support throughout a school district and in individual schools. Very few teachers earned this credential: only nine teachers since its inception in approximately 1960. One reason for the small number of credentials earned may have been the high level of mathematics content knowledge required: recipients needed to have the same mathematics content knowledge as a high school mathematics teacher, which ruled out virtually all elementary teachers and many middle school teachers, and the program required the completion of graduate-level mathematics courses.