Alliance for Collaborative Change in School Systems

About Us

ACCESS Mathematics, a partnership program between the University of California at Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) and San Francisco Bay Area school districts, was established in 1980 to strengthen the capacity of neighboring urban school districts to prepare historically underrepresented students for admission to four-year colleges and for successful careers.  ACCESS aims to enhance students’ mathematics understanding and the problem-solving skills they need to succeed.  ACCESS assists school districts in aligning their mathematics curriculum with the California and national Mathematics Standards and Framework. The ACCESS staff assists schools at grades K-12 in instituting a systemic, site-based change process that provides curricular, instructional, assessment and organizational innovations, and promotes the implementation of a standards-based mathematics program.

Since 1980, ACCESS Mathematics has provided professional development to mathematics teachers  and administrative staff, and direct instructional support to both teachers and students in over 40 secondary schools in the San Francisco, Oakland, West Contra Costa (WCCUSD), and Emery unified school districts. Through the newly-funded WCCUSD/Advanced Placement Incentive Project, ACCESS will work with mathematics teachers and students in selected classrooms at Helms Middle School, and at John F. Kennedy and Richmond high schools.  The goal of this work is to increase the number of students who succeed in challenging mathematics courses at these schools.

ACCESS’s current services include:

• Comprehensive site-based and district-level support as well as technical assistance to mathematics teachers, counselors and administrators
  • staff development during the academic year and summers     
  • standards-based professional development which addresses the state materials-based (AB 466) and Teacher Credentialing (SB 2042) programs    
  • follow-up support and coaching    
  • coordinated curriculum planning and development    
  • pedagogical and instructional methods    
  • lesson modeling    
  • assessments     
  • teacher leadership development     
  • school organization, climate, and culture
       
• Direct instructional support to students
  • in-class small-group instruction, tutoring, and study groups    
  • problem-solving and test preparation classes, such as the SAT and the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE)     
  • academic and college advising   
  • teaching assistants, mentors and role models

For more information about ACCESS and inviting us into your district, please contact:

Harriette S. Stevens, Ed.D., Director of ACCESS
Lawrence Hall of Science #5200
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-5200
phone 510/642-6280 • fax 510/642-9642
access_math@berkeley.edu

E-mail to the Director: hstevens@berkeley.edu