“Improving the mathematics learning of every child depends on making central the learning opportunities of our teachers.”

It is no secret that teachers in the United States are struggling to successfully support student mastery in mathematics. (See Recommendation #1 for more on why). Having been a students of a failed system themselves, they are now placed into the challenging position of being learners and reformers all at once.

Supporting teachers understanding gives us the greatest possible impact on student learning and change making for society in our understanding of mathematics.

How do you beat the odds of shifting teacher practice if historically we haven’t? The majority of classrooms struggle to or do not even attempt to implement best mathematics teaching pedagogy. It is by no means a quick fix, and takes dedicated vision and time. Before we dive into the meat of implementing and sustaining such a pedagogy, two notes on (1) the components of the pedagogy, and (2) common roadblocks to consider.

A Note on Pedagogy:

EL Education has a recommended math pedagogy, found as the organizer to Core Practice 15 (see Table 5.1, below). It has been developed through analyzing past decades of math teaching and learning research. More information on the inspiration and sources for this pedagogy can be found here.

Table 5.1: The Core Components of EL Education's Core Practice 15

A. Planning for Math Instruction

B. Teaching for Conceptual Understanding

C. Teaching Foundational Math Facts

D. Teaching Problem-Solving Skills

E. Creating a Culture of Numeracy and Mathematical Thinking

F. Assessing Mathematics

Roadblocks:

We have observed two major adult roadblocks in schools that try to implement this work. It is highly likely you will encounter both, so think about them and be prepared! They are:

• Lack of confidence in personal capacity with the content

• Fluency panic - worry that kids won’t be able to “do” math on a test

The important thing about both of these roadblocks is to know that they are real concerns, and completely valid. Teachers should be shepherded towards this new pedagogy, not shoved into it. Meet teachers where they are, stand with them in the fear and in the experience (especially if you also experience or have experienced these fears) and make small nudges and create experiences which encourage and show teachers that it is important to change and how to change.

So, with those two notes out of the way, how do you implement a successful math pedagogy complete with teacher buy-in?:

Part 1: The Pedagogy and the Teachers:

1. Bring teachers into the conversation of Vision and Mindset (see Recommendation #2).

   • Define School-wide Shared Vision (including pedagogical vision - see step 2 below)

   • In these conversations, spend time unpacking individual and collective (i.e. school-wide) mindsets around mathematics

2. Once you’ve defined the school-wide pedagogical vision, share or co-create school-wide Frameworks, Structures, and Consistent language (see Recommendation #3) so that there is a defined vision of pedagogical practice. This is the time-consuming work. Ideally, you’ll have a Math Culture Lead tapped and able to spend time to do this.

   • See here for tools to support turning EL Education’s Pedagogical Vision into your schoolwide plan

3. Commit to a new basic lesson structure. See Recommendation #4 for more on this.

4. DO MATH TOGETHER: teachers must experience regularly a new method of learning mathematics. (See Recommendation #6, item 1 in the “How” section for more).

   • Intentionally build-in time and support for development of teacher content knowledge. (This can and should be done in continuation with planning and implementation support.

   • Be okay with the slow growth process (respect the learning process of adults)

5. Map out support structures to help roll out implementation of pedagogical practice. These structures can include some of the following:

   • Common and/or supported Planning

     • Year Long STA

     • Map topics (either using core curriculum or own map) and capacities (see Recommendation 4)

     • Unit Plans

     • Additional Mathematical Routine mapping (see Recommendation #10 for more information)

   • Learning walks (monthly, every 6 weeks, every grading period)

   • Quick walk throughs between learning walks (for quick feedback on focused collaboratively chosen goals) or formal coaching cycles

   • Professional development plan for teachers that includes a specific section or benchmarks tied to math content practice and/or implementation of this pedagogy

Part Two: The Content

So you’re feeling good about or at least prepared to decide upon and implement a pedagogy that will set your students and your teachers up for mathematical success. You’ve involved your teachers in the planning process and you feel like your road-map is set. But now teachers have to sit down and actually plan their lessons. Are they teaching in person? Remotely? What are the key instructional moves teachers should focus on embedding into their repeated practice?

Two core places can provide the short list:

• Table 4.3 from Learning that Lasts (pg. 215): The Who, What, and Why of Reimagining Mathematics Instruction

• Mathematics Teaching Practices, page 10 from Principles to Actions: Ensuring Mathematical Success for All, NTCM 2014

These two lists have been unpacked in multiple ways across our ten recommendations within the EL Math Toolkit, but should be coached into and supported with teachers in strategic steps that allow for teachers to truly deepen their craft rather than engage in perceived quick fixes. Long term investment in developing these instructional moves can yield amazing results for students as witnessed in case studies by Uri Treisman (Recommendation #2), Jo Boaler (Recommendation #8), and in many EL Education schools like those examined as case studies in the 2017 Research report on this website.

Each school will need to approach the development of these skills differently within their work plan. This means some instructional move coaching, modelling, or highlighting may occur before or while other recommended components are being established (See Recommended Steps for flow options). It is important to note, however that instruction will not truly or consistently improve or stay improved unless all other aspects are addressed:

A final note on creating pedagogy: make sure you read and are thinking about Recommendation 10. It is the culmination of our recommendations regarding implementing math instruction. Part of the message is to encourage you to continue the work of reflection, improving, and trying again. There is no quick fix to the deep practice of instructing students - it must be continually refined and built upon over years of practice.