Philosophy

Students will be confident mathematical thinkers with the ability to navigate, communicate and persevere as they encounter problems in their lives.

Mission Statement

• • All students can enjoy learning math.

  • There are many paths to learning and understanding.

  • Continued and diverse practice helps to further growth and understanding.

  • Students will be encouraged to think and to connect current learning to prior knowledge.

  • All students will utilize productive struggle to progress their mathematical skills.

  • Students will be actively involved in the learning process through collaboration.

  • Students’ experiences, voices, and thinking are valued in the classroom as they communicate their understanding.

  • Classroom communities need to feel safe and equitable in order for students to learn.

Explanation of Terms

Alaska Content Standards

High academic standards adopted by the Alaska State Board of Education. These standards are

general statements of what Alaskans want their students to know and be able to do as a result of

their public school experience. The standards reflect the collaborative work of Alaskan educators

and national experts from the nonprofit National Center for the Improvement of Educational

Assessment, and are informed by the input of Alaskan teachers and public comment.

Alaska Performance Standards

Standards adopted by the Alaska State Board of Education as specific statements of what

students should know and be able to do. They were adopted in reading, writing, mathematics,

and science at four benchmark levels.

Competency

A student’s ability to apply clusters of standards to execute a particular performance task.

Competency-Based Learning

Competency-based learning has the following components:

• • Learners are empowered to make important decisions about their learning experiences, how they will create and apply knowledge, and how they will demonstrate their learning.

  • Assessment is a meaningful, positive, and empowering learning experience for learners that yields timely, relevant, and actionable evidence.

  • Learners receive timely, differentiated support based on their individual learning needs.

  • Learners progress based on evidence of mastery.

  • Students learn actively using different pathways and varied pacing.

  • Strategies to ensure equity for all learners are embedded in the culture, structure, and pedagogy of schools and education systems.

  • Rigorous, common expectations for learning (knowledge, skills, and dispositions) are explicit, transparent, measurable, and transferable.

Content Objectives

Statements that document specific, essential tasks that learners are expected to accomplish in a

given grade level or course.

Course/ Grade Competency

Competency statements customized to the content of a particular grade level, grade span, or

course. These competencies represent the major concept areas within a discipline.

Graduate-Level Competency

A set of competencies that may include academic and personal success skills in which all

graduates of the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District should know and/or be able to do.

Grades K-12 Mathematics Competencies