As American students continue to flounder in math, Bellwether, a national nonprofit that seeks to improve opportunities and outcomes for marginalized kids, said schools seeking a turnaround must first establish a clear, shared vision of effective math instruction.
“How We Solve America’s Math Crisis: A Systemwide Approach to Evidence-Based Math Learning,” Bellwether’s recent report done in partnership with K12 Coalition, talks about building a teacher and student “math identity” and balancing “conceptual understanding and procedural fluency while creating meaningful opportunities for real-world application.”
The plan must also ensure that learning progresses “logically and cumulatively” to deepen students’ knowledge as they move through the perennially difficult subject over time.
“These steps may seem familiar, and that’s because they are widely accepted best practices for developing and sustaining strong instructional design,” the report reads. “However, to be effective, they must be consistently applied over time and throughout the system.”
And that’s where schools have fallen short, Bellwether’s researchers note, despite evidence supporting the approach.
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