TDSB Math Achievement Action Plan

TDSB System Goal

We will prioritize understanding of the curriculum and the continuum of learning across grades.

Board Actions

1. Math Learning Partners (MLPs) will facilitate system-wide professional learning to Learning Network School Improvement Plan (LN SIP) coaches at the priority schools sessions in the areas of evidence-based pedagogical approaches including: Building Thinking Classrooms, Building Foundational Math Skills in the Early Years, Unlocking Fractions Understanding, and Spiralling Coding in the Grade 9 Curriculum. LN SIP coaches then support job-embedded learning and implementation for teachers, school administrators and Superintendents of Education (SOEs) through Learning Network (LN) math hubs.

2. Superintendents of Education, school administrators and classroom teachers will engage in pedagogical documentation to identify learning strategies/instructional practices they are implementing in classrooms. The pedagogical documentation will outline the strategy, and changes in educator confidence and student math confidence. Pedagogical documentation should be connected to school improvement planning processes and the expectation will be that principals, educators and supervisory officers are all involved in analysis and discussion

3. Professional learning will be geared to administrators' understanding and implementation of the curriculum connected to school improvement planning.

4. Sessions will be created and led by Board Math Leads to support supervisory officers and principals focused on co-creating expectations and indicators of pedagogical excellence and implementation methodology.

5. Additional Qualifications (AQ) - In an effort to improve educators' math content knowledge and instructional practices, the TDSB is providing Math AQ subsidies. These additional qualifications in mathematics boost teachers' confidence and efficacy in teaching math (e.g., high-impact practices, content knowledge, understanding the revised curriculum).

What is changing as a result?

1. There will be increased expectations and support for supervisory officers and administrators for accountability, monitoring, and ongoing support, resulting in increased data literacy and change management skills.

2. There will be the increased use of pedagogical documentation by SOEs and principals using a newly established Google repository that will identify and document changes in teaching practices and the implementation of effective math strategies. 

3. There will be an increased use of formative assessment tools as documented in pedagogical documentation.

Monitoring and Data Collection (Who is better off?)

1. An increased percentage of students in math-focused schools will self-report greater confidence and a love for mathematics as measured through the two question survey for all students in grades 3, 6, 7, 8, 9.

2. An increased percentage of staff in math-focused schools will self-report greater confidence in teaching math content as measured through staff surveys and qualitative data.

3. An increased percentage of principals and SOEs in math-focused schools will self-report greater confidence in implementing and monitoring the work in their schools.

TDSB School-Level Goal

Math-focused schools (a subset of “all schools”) will engage in ongoing professional learning (e.g., in grade/division/department meetings, learning teams, classroom visits) on the curriculum, including making connections across strands.

School-level Actions

1. Math-focused schools have, as the achievement goal in their school improvement plan, a math focus.

2. Key leaders in math-focused schools will engage in system-level learning (e.g. system-wide PD sessions, LN hubs) and continue the professional learning (e.g., in grade/division/department meetings, learning teams, classroom visits) on the curriculum, including making connections across strands and high-impact instructional practices at the school.

3. This learning will include job-embedded work with students and the ongoing collection of assessment data to bring back to future LN Hub sessions and monitor their work.

What is changing as a result?

1. School-based staff have increased capacity for teaching and monitoring for effective math practice (principal survey based on walkthrough observations and local specific actions to support their SIP).

2. Students have increased achievement and attitudes in math (captured through surveys).

Monitoring and Collecting Data (Who is better off?)

Educators in math focused schools will draw explicit connections to and between mathematical processes and in lesson planning and use proven instructional and assessment practices (e.g., high-impact instructional practices).

Classroom-level Actions

1. Teachers are using instructional strategies and practices from their professional learning sessions to plan and teach lessons that are directly connected to the curriculum and that feature high-impact instructional strategies. 

2. They will be collecting student data and using the data to inform their next steps and their future LN hub learning.

What is changing as a result?

Classroom learning experiences incorporate more high-impact instructional and assessment practices, resulting in instruction aligned with the curriculum and precisely targeted to meet student needs. As a result, students will demonstrate higher levels of engagement, critical thinking, deeper learning, and achievement in math.

Monitoring and Collecting Data (Who is better off?)

1. School-based staff have increased capacity for teaching and monitoring for effective math practice (principal survey based on walkthrough observations and locally specific actions to support their SIP)

2. Students have increased achievement and attitudes in math (captured through surveys).

TDSB System Goal

We will prioritize understanding of the curriculum and the continuum of learning across grades.

Board Actions

1. Math Learning Partners (MLPs) will facilitate system-wide professional learning to staff from Math Learning Partnership schools in the areas of evidence-based pedagogical approaches including: Building Thinking Classrooms, Building Foundational Math Skills in the Early Years, Unlocking Fractions Understanding, and Spiralling Coding in the Grade 9 Curriculum. MLPs then support job-embedded learning and implementation with staff in classrooms through co-planning and co-teaching, as well as school-wide capacity building in partnership with local influencers.

2. MLPs and classroom teachers will engage in pedagogical documentation to identify learning strategies/instructional practices they are implementing in classrooms. The pedagogical documentation will outline the strategy, and changes in educator confidence and student math confidence. Pedagogical documentation should be connected to school improvement planning processes and the expectation will be that principals, educators and supervisory officers are all involved in analysis and discussion.

3. Sessions will be hosted to support supervisory officers and principals focused on co-creating expectations and indicators of pedagogical excellence and implementation methodology.

4. A Math Learning Partnership school profile is being created by the Research and Assessment department to create a visual and interactive dashboard including evidence, quantitative and qualitative data about each Math Learning Partnership school and key performance indicators (KPIs).

5. A monitoring meeting structure is being established, including supervisory leaders to review each Math Learning Partnership school profile individually and collectively to support the advancement of positive outcomes.

6. Additional Qualifications (AQ) - To improve educators' math content knowledge and instructional practices, the TDSB is providing math AQ subsidies. These additional qualifications in mathematics boost teachers' confidence and efficacy in teaching math (e.g., high-impact practices, content knowledge, understanding the revised curriculum).

What is changing as a result?

1. There will be increased expectations and support for supervisory officers and administrators for accountability, monitoring, and ongoing support, resulting in increased data literacy and change management skills.

2. There will be the increased use of pedagogical documentation by SOEs and principals using a newly established Google repository that will identify and document changes in teaching practices and the implementation of effective math strategies. 

3. There will be an increased use of formative assessment tools as documented in pedagogical documentation.

Monitoring and Data Collection (Who is better off?)

1. An increase in 1% of students will self-report greater confidence and a love for mathematics as measured through the two question survey for all students in grades 3, 6, 7, 8, 9.

2. An increased 1% of staff in all Priority schools will self-report greater confidence in teaching math content as measured through staff surveys and qualitative data.

3. An increased 1% of schools and educators will improve across all key performance indicators (KPIs) as measured in Math Learning Partnership school profiles.

TDSB School-Level Goal

Math Learning Partnership schools will engage in ongoing professional learning (e.g., in grade/division/ department meetings, learning teams, classroom visits) on the math curriculum, including making connections across strands and high-impact practices. 

School-level Actions

1. Math Learning Partnership schools have, as the achievement goal in their school improvement plan, a math focus.

2. Principals will send school-based learning teams (e.g. minimum of 2 teachers) to the professional learning on high-impact strategies for curriculum integration and interdisciplinary connections (ie., Building Thinking Classrooms, Building Foundational Math Skills in the Early Years, Unlocking Fractions and/or Spiralling Coding in the Grade 9 Class.

3. School administrators will participate in professional learning and support regarding their role in instructional leadership and monitoring the math learning at their school.

What is changing as a result?

1. School-based staff have increased capacity for teaching math (principal survey based on walkthrough observations and locally specific actions to support their SIP)

2. Students have increased achievement and attitudes in math (captured through surveys).

Monitoring and Collecting Data (Who is better off?)

Educators in priority schools will draw explicit connections to and between mathematical processes and in lesson planning and use proven instructional and assessment practices (e.g., High-Impact Instructional Practices).

Classroom-level Actions

Teachers are learning about and using instructional strategies and practices from their professional learning sessions to co-plan and co-teach with Math Learning Partners.

What is changing as a result?

Classroom learning experiences incorporate more high-impact instructional practices, resulting in more student critical thinking, deeper learning, and higher achievement in math.

Monitoring and Collecting Data (Who is better off?)

1. School-based staff have increased capacity for teaching math (principal survey based on walkthrough observations and locally specific actions to support their SIP)

2. Students have increased achievement and attitudes in math (captured through surveys).

TDSB System Goal

We will utilize student achievement data and student work to establish focus areas for mathematics professional learning.

Board Actions

1. Utilize Big Data at system levels in relation to both perceptual information from students about engagement and learning in mathematics and student achievement data from EQAO and report cards to establish broad areas of focus. LN-based hubs will initiate a qualitative granular review of student experience in mathematics with school leaders and educators to establish core focus and pedagogic approaches. Align data collection and analysis strategies at the school Learning Network, Learning Centre and Board Level to enhance system coherence.

2. Leader Learning: Superintendents will be learning about their role as instructional leaders in their learning networks in order to support the learning of principals focusing on their role as instructional leaders in their buildings.

3. Collaboration between the math team and other central departments in the TDSB to ensure that the professional learning includes learning regarding Indigenous Education, Anti-Oppressive pedagogies and Equity that is responsive to our students' lived experiences.

4. Professional learning will be developed to deepen content understanding in priority schools through Building Foundational Skills in the Early Years, Rethinking Fractions and Spiralling Coding.

5. AQs: TDSB utilized data to develop AQ courses that are responsive to the students in the specific TDSB context. The AQ is also aligned to system math priorities of numeracy.

What is changing as a result?

Greater coherence between system professional learning offerings and school needs. Deepened system leader understanding of data collection and analysis and alignment with learning to support effective practice. Data reported from the math focussed schools to system level teams will become a more accurate measure of educator (SOE, School Administrators and Teachers) confidence with Math Knowledge for leading and teaching.

Monitoring and Data Collection (Who is better off?)

1. System leaders are aligning resources and learning with the data in their schools. School board funds are being allocated effectively to directly support student math learning.

2. System and School leaders can articulate a rationale based on their knowledge of effective math content instruction for the decisions they are making in support of student learning in math-focused schools. 

TDSB School-Level Goal

Schools will collaborate with the Board Math Leads to identify school/division/grade mathematics content knowledge focus areas, including planning and monitoring associated professional learning. 

School-level Actions

Schools will send educators (teachers and administrators) to professional learning and participate fully in the learning both at the session and the job-embedded work back at the school both through the SIP and their work with teachers in the classroom. Data will be collected between sessions to take back to the hub for further analysis and to indicate the next steps in both education and student learning. 

What is changing as a result?

Alignment of the student data and the selected professional learning. Administrator presence as an instructional leader co-learning and co- facilitating math learning. The Principal is collecting data with the classroom teacher to use to inform future work at the school level (i.e., PL, resources etc.). Principals can clearly articulate the direction of the mathematics program in their school to various stakeholders such as families, educators and their superintendent.

TDSB Classroom-Level Goal

Educators in Math focused schools will access resources (e.g., teacher supports on the Curriculum and Resources website), experts (e.g., curriculum consultant, school math facilitator), and professional learning to continuously develop their content knowledge for teaching.

Classroom-level Actions

Teachers are learning about math content and the development of student math thinking through professional learning offerings such as Building Foundational Skills in the Early Years and Unlocking Fractions (term 2).

What is changing as a result?

Student learning is more accurately paired to their developmental stage of mathematical thinking, resulting in more precise and personalized learning based on formative math data.

Monitoring and Collecting Data (Who is better off?)

1. School leaders will report greater efficacy in both data management and coherence with school improvement plans. School leaders will utilize formative student data to inform decisions at the school level regarding resource allocation and educator professional learning.

2. Students will be moving forward in their math thinking development as a result of the learning being deeper and more targeted to their current learning needs.

TDSB System Goal

We will utilize student achievement data and student work to establish focus areas for mathematics professional learning.

Board Actions

1. Utilize Big Data at system levels in relation to both perceptual information from students about engagement and learning in mathematics and student achievement data from EQAO and report cards to establish broad areas of focus. School-based hubs will initiate a qualitative granular review of student experience in mathematics to establish core focus and pedagogic approaches. Align data collection and analysis strategies at the school Learning Network, Learning Centre and Board Level to enhance system coherence.

2. Leader Learning: Superintendents will be learning about their role as instructional leaders in their learning networks in order to support the learning of principals focusing on their role as instructional leaders in their buildings. LN funding will be utilized strategically to support leader participation in the priority schools’ professional learning offerings.

3. Collaboration between the math team and other central departments in the TDSB to ensure that the professional learning includes learning regarding Indigenous Education, Anti-Oppressive pedagogies and Equity that is responsive to our students' lived experiences.

4. Professional learning will be developed to deepen content understanding in priority schools through Building Foundational Skills in the Early Years, Rethinking Fractions and Spiralling Coding.

5. AQs: TDSB utilized data to develop AQ courses that are responsive to the students in the specific TDSB context. The AQ is also aligned to system math priorities of numeracy.

What is changing as a result?

Greater coherence between system professional learning offerings and school needs. Deepened system leader understanding of data collection and analysis and alignment with learning to support effective practice. Data reported from the schools to system level teams will become a more accurate measure of educator (SOE, School Administrators and Teachers) confidence with math knowledge for leading and teaching.

Monitoring and Data Collection (Who is better off?)

1. System leaders are aligning resources and learning with the data in their schools. School board funds are being allocated effectively to directly support student math learning

2. System and School leaders can articulate a rationale based on their knowledge of effective math content instruction for the decisions they are making in support of student learning in math priority schools.

TDSB School-Level Goal

Priority schools will collaborate with the Board Math Leads to identify school/division/grade mathematics content knowledge focus areas, including planning and monitoring associated professional learning.

School-level Actions

Schools will send educators (teachers and administrators) to professional learning and participate fully in the learning both at the session and the job-embedded work back at the school with the MLP and in the classroom.

What is changing as a result?

Alignment of the student data and the selected professional learning. Administrator presence as an instructional leader co-learning and co-facilitating math learning. The principal is collecting data with the classroom teacher to use to inform future work at the school level (i.e., PL, resources etc.). Principals can clearly articulate the direction of the mathematics program in their school to various stakeholders such as families, educators and their superintendent.

TDSB Classroom-Level Goal

Educators in Math Priority Schools will access resources (e.g., teacher supports on the Curriculum and Resources website), experts (e.g., curriculum consultant, school math facilitator), and professional learning to continuously develop their content knowledge for teaching.

Classroom-level Actions

Teachers are learning about math content and the development of student math thinking through professional learning offerings such as Building Foundational Skills in the Early Years and Unlocking Fractions (term 2).

What is changing as a result?

Student learning is more accurately paired to their developmental stage of mathematical thinking, resulting in more precise and personalized learning based on formative math data.

Monitoring and Collecting Data (Who is better off?)

1. School leaders will report greater efficacy in both data management and coherence with school improvement plans. School leaders will utilize formative student data to inform decisions at the school level regarding resource allocation and educator professional learning.

2. Students will be moving forward in their math thinking development as a result of the learning being deeper and more targeted to their current learning needs.

TDSB System Goal

Build capacity in data analysis resources to understand mathematics achievement from a variety of sources, including alignment between EQAO, report cards, and locally-developed assessment tools/tasks.

Board Actions

1. Data: Alignment of strategies of data collection and analysis at the School, Learning Network, Learning Centre and Board Level to enhance system coherence.

2. Leader Learning: Work with system leaders to enrich their understanding of the effective selection, collection, analysis and interpretation of a variety of data sets in service of mathematics learning at every level of the system. (ie. Street Data)

3. Leader Learning: Superintendents working with school leaders (e.g., Principals) to use data to identify key teachers in schools to participate in Math collaborative inquiries and professional learning that will improve their use of data to ensure that the math learning occurs in a rich context that is relevant and responsive to their needs.

4. Leader Learning: Leaders will participate in learning about mathematical pedagogy that is culturally responsive and relevant, honouring of students’ lived experience and relevant to their lives (i.e., Building Thinking Classrooms and Choosing to See).

What is changing as a result?

Greater coherence in the utilization of data at all levels of the system to support math improvement system-wide. System leaders are effectively using data to inform their decisions around professional learning and in the selection of the participants in the learning. Professional learning is impacting teacher practice and teachers at the sessions are participating more fully in the sessions and are implementing the work back at the schools. Math performance board-wide will improve.

Monitoring and Data Collection (Who is better off?)

System leaders are aligning resources and learning with the data in their schools. School board funds are being allocated effectively to directly support student math learning.

TDSB School-Level Goal

Math focused schools will develop processes to identify and monitor achievement of students achieving below Level 2 in mathematics and provide ongoing supports so that students can access grade-level curriculum.

School-level Actions

1. Professional learning for and implementation of assessment tools at the school level to support school improvement planning and effective math instruction in classrooms (e.g. Lawson continuum, Knowledgehook, MathUP assessments, student and staff interviews).

2. Administrators will align resources and utilize assessment data to provide targeted interventions to support both teachers and students.

What is changing as a result?

1. Principals and teachers are expressing confidence in identifying students who are below Level 2 and providing targeted interventions that are successfully moving students to Level 3 or above.

2. Principals express confidence in articulating the rationale behind school-level decisions that support mathematics instruction in classrooms.

Monitoring and Collecting Data

1. School administrators, teachers, and all students, particularly those achieving below Level 2. Principals will report feelings of efficacy in collecting, analyzing and utilizing student and staff data to align resources and make decisions that support educator and student learning in math. Principals will be able to articulate their decision making process and provide rationale for the decisions they make in support of mathematics programming.

2. Educators will express feelings of efficacy in collecting, analyzing and utilizing student assessment data to inform their instructional decisions.

3. Students will experience success in mathematics. Students will report feeling positive about themselves as math learners and feeling engaged in math learning.

TDSB Classroom-Level Goal

Educators in math focused schools will adapt lesson planning in response to data collected from multiple, frequent assessment opportunities (e.g., interviews, conversations, student agendas, exit tickets, portfolios, surveys)

Classroom-level Actions

Teachers will be learning with LN SIP coaches and principals how to collect both perceptual and achievement data throughout the teaching and learning cycle to guide their instructional decisions. Principals will be learning how to utilize this data to align resources and provide supports for teacher learning that will support student learning.

What is changing as a result?

Students will be taught in a manner that is responsive to their strengths and needs. Educators and principals will report feeling efficacious in utilizing student data to make decisions in support of student math learning that improves outcomes for all learners.

Monitoring and Collecting Data (Who is better off?)

1. School administrators, teachers, and all students, particularly those achieving below Level 2.

2. Principals will report feelings of efficacy in collecting, analyzing and utilizing student and staff data to align resources and make decisions that support educator and student learning in math. Principals will be able to articulate their decision making process and provide rationale for the decisions they make in support of mathematics programming.

3. Educators will express feelings of efficacy in collecting, analyzing and utilizing student assessment data to inform their instructional decisions.

4. Students will experience success in mathematics. Students will report feeling positive about themselves as math learners and feeling engaged in math learning.

TDSB System Goal

Align the Math Improvement Action Plan with board improvement planning, including using student assessment and demographic data to identify areas of focus.

Board Actions

1. Data: Alignment of strategies of data collection and analysis at the School, Learning Network, Learning Centre and Board Level to enhance system coherence.

2. Leader Learning: Work with system leaders to enrich their understanding of the effective selection, collection, analysis and interpretation of a variety of data sets in service of mathematics learning at every level of the system. (ie. Street Data)

3. Leader Learning: Superintendents working with school leaders (e.g., Principals) to use data to identify key teachers in schools to participate in LN professional learning through hubs that will improve their use of data to ensure that the math learning occurs in a rich context that is relevant and responsive to their needs.

4. Leader Learning: Leaders will participate in learning about mathematical pedagogy that is culturally responsive and relevant, honouring of students’ lived experience and relevant to their lives (i.e., Building Thinking Classrooms and Choosing to See).

5. Developing tools to determine increases in the sense of efficacy in utilizing data to make decisions by members of the senior team, school administrators, and central staff (e.g., report regarding math foci for professional learning in their Learning Networks).

What is changing as a result?

Greater coherence in the utilization of data at all levels of the system to support math improvement system-wide. System leaders are effectively using data to inform their decisions around professional learning and in the selection of the participants in the learning. Professional learning will improve school and system leaders' understanding of effective instructional practice that engages all students through culturally responsive and relevant practices. Professional learning is impacting teacher practice and teachers at the sessions are participating more fully in the sessions and are implementing the work back at the schools. Math performance and student engagement will improve.

Monitoring and Data Collection (Who is better off?)

System leaders will be better positioned to make decisions and to be able to articulate why they have made decisions to support specific strategies in support of the math learning in their learning centres/learning networks. Their staff participation in professional learning will increase because it is meeting their learning needs.

TDSB School-Level Goal

Math Learning Partnership schools will develop processes to identify and monitor achievement of students achieving below Level 2 in mathematics and provide ongoing supports so that students can access grade-level curriculum.

School-level Actions

1. Professional learning for and implementation of assessment tools at the school level to support school improvement planning and effective math instruction in classrooms (e.g. Lawson continuum, Knowledgehook, MathUP assessments, student interviews).

2. Align resources and utilize assessment data to provide targeted intervention to support both teachers and students.

What is changing as a result?

1. Principals and teachers are expressing efficacy in identifying students who are below Level 2 and providing targeted interventions that are successfully moving students to Level 3 or above.

2. Principals express efficacy in articulating the rationale behind school-level decisions that support mathematics instruction in classrooms.

Monitoring and Collecting Data

1. School administrators, teachers, and all students, particularly those achieving below Level 2. Principals will report feelings of efficacy in collecting, analyzing and utilizing student and staff data to align resources and make decisions that support educator and student learning in math. Principals will be able to articulate their decision making process and provide rationale for the decisions they make in support of mathematics programming.

2. Educators will express feelings of efficacy in collecting, analyzing and utilizing student assessment data to inform their instructional decisions.

3. Students will experience success in mathematics. Students will report feeling positive about themselves as math learners.

TDSB Classroom-Level Goal

Educators in Math Learning Partnership schools will adapt lesson planning in response to data collected from multiple, frequent assessment opportunities (e.g., interviews, conversations, student agendas, exit tickets, portfolios, surveys).

Classroom-level Actions

Teachers will be learning with MLPs and principals how to collect both perceptual and achievement data throughout the teaching and learning cycle to guide their instructional decisions. Principals will be learning how to utilize this data to align resources and provide supports for teacher learning that will support student learning.

What is changing as a result?

Students will be taught in a manner that is responsive to their strengths and needs. Educators and principals will report feeling efficacious in utilizing student data to make decisions in support of student math learning that improves outcomes for all learners.

Monitoring and Collecting Data (Who is better off?)

1. School administrators, teachers, and all students, particularly those achieving below Level 2

2. Principals will report feelings of efficacy in collecting, analyzing and utilizing student and staff data to align resources and make decisions that support educator and student learning in math. Principals will be able to articulate their decision making process and provide rationale for the decisions they make in support of mathematics programming.

3. Educators will express feelings of efficacy in collecting, analyzing and utilizing student assessment data to inform their instructional decisions

4. Students will experience success in mathematics. Students will report feeling positive about themselves as math learners.