Sonoma State University
Math Club members

Mathematics & Statistics Department

School of Science & Technology

California Mathematics Project: North Coast

Welcome to the California Mathematics Project: North Coast

The California Mathematics Project: North Coast (CMP:NC) provides professional learning opportunities in mathematics for K-12 teachers in North Coast California (Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt, and Del Norte counties). We are one of 19 sites statewide of the California Mathematics Project, which in turn is one of nine California Subject Matter Projects. We work with Schools, Districts, and County Offices of Education, as well as other regional efforts such as the Regional System of District and School Support, to design programs that meet local needs of teachers, schools, and districts in the service of students across the region.

About the California Mathematics Project: North Coast

The California Mathematics Project: North Coast (CMP:NC; formerly North Bay Mathematics Project) is one of 19 sites of the California Mathematics Project. Doreen Heath Lance serves as director, and Ben Ford, Professor of Mathematics at Sonoma State University, is the faculty advisor.

Since its founding in 2000, the math project has hosted numerous professional learning opportunities for K-12 teachers in California's Region 1 (Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt, and Del Norte counties): Mathematics Professional Development Institutes, California Mathematics and Science Partnerships, AB466 institutes, and many more.

Our work usually includes lesson study as the primary vehicle for transferring ideas into classroom practice. Joan Easterday is an international authority on lesson study implementation, and has led our Lesson Study efforts since the beginning. Our region's widespread lesson study effort is among the most robust in the U.S. The lesson study process has been supported by many national experts: Patrick Callahan, Clea Fernandez, Catherine Lewis, Elizabeth Stage, James Stigler, Akihiko Takahashi, and Makoto Yoshida. They have offered learning opportunities, pushed our thinking, and encouraged us to keep working.

Technology enhances, records, and distributes what we are learning. Lesson studies, professional readings, and presentations are posted on websites and downloadable onto iPods to enable teachers to enjoy flexible learning time.

The most invaluable and appreciated of all are the students, teachers, and administrators who generously share their time and thinking. See details about our approaches to the teaching and learning of mathematics on the following pages:

Schools and Districts interested in mathematics professional development opportunities should contact CMP:NC's Director, Doreen Heath Lance.

  • Doreen Heath Lance
    Director, California Mathematics Project: North Coast
    Sonoma County Office of Education
    [email protected]
    707-524-2853
  • Ben Ford
    Faculty Advisor and Principal Investigator, CMP:NC
    Professor of Mathematics and Statistics
    Sonoma State University
    [email protected]
    707-664-2472
  • Joan Easterday
    Lesson Study Coordinator, CMP:NC
    Sonoma County Office of Education
    [email protected]
    707-542-2852
  • Martha Byrne
    Wine Country Math Teachers' Circle Director
    Associate Professor of Mathematics and Mathematics Education
    Sonoma State University
    [email protected]
    707-664-3726

2019-2022: Make Math REAL: Realize Equity to Activate Learners is a partnership between Sonoma State University, the Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley, the Bay Area Math Project, and CMP:NC. It is funded by the National Science Foundation through the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers program, and its primary focus is making math more accessible and relevant for English Learners. Make Math REAL will develop, pilot, field test, and publish four Maker Learning Cycles (see below) in Mathematics in each of grades four and five. The accompanying research program will investigate the effects on teacher noticing and on student STEM activation of engaging in Maker Learning Cycles.

2015-2017: Project Make the Way was a 3-year California Math-Science Partnership (curtailed to two years by federal funding formula changes). A partnership between CMP:NC, Sonoma State University, and Santa Rosa City Schools, 65 transitional kindergarten through grade 8 teachers explored math through making, and designed and field tested Maker Learning Cycles: two- to four-day curricular modules in which students engage in a maker challenge and then learn important grade-level math in the context of (and motivated by) the maker challenge.

Project Make the Way was a California Math-Science Partnership between the Sonoma State Math/Stats and Literacy Studies & Elementary Education departments, the Santa Rosa City Schools, and the California Mathematics Project: North Coast. Working with K-8 teachers to design and integrate Maker challenges for learning mathematics, we're changing what it means to learn mathematics in school! Watch this video for a brief overview.

External evaluator reports are available:

2011-2014: California Common Core Powered by Student Success (CS) was a 3-year project (2011-14) funded by the California Postsecondary Education Commission to build a leadership team for transition to the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics for K-12 schools across California's Region 1 (Counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, and Sonoma).

2010-2013: Project LEAD (Leading Educators in Academic Discourse), a California Math-Science Partnership project. Partners included the Bellevue Union, Healdsburg, Petaluma, and Santa Rosa school districts; Sonoma State University's Department of Mathematics and Statistics and School of Education; and the Sonoma County Office of Education.

2005-2008: Redwood Area Algebra For All (RAAFA), a California Math-Science Partnership project. Partners included the Healdsburg, Cloverdale, Cotati-Rohnert Park, Geyserville, Ukiah, and Willits Unified School Districts, the Sonoma County Office of Education, and Sonoma State University's Department of Mathematics and Statistics and School of Education.