Pressures on the wider U.S. workforce caused by a lack of employees with the requisite skills will drive more collaboration between K12 schools and employers, say product developers who are forecasting 2024’s biggest education trends.

It will also drive a surge in popularity in career and technical education programs. “As the talent shortage concern shifts to the state level, 2024 will be a year of increased collaboration between employers, schools and government agencies,” says Jeri Larsen, the chief operating officer of YouScience, a career guidance platform for students.

“The goal will be to create a more responsive and adaptable education system that ensures the workforce remains well equipped to meet the evolving demands of the job market.”

District leaders will be updating curriculums with a deeper focus on future-ready skills and adding more work-based learning, STEM education and vocational training programs.

“These efforts will be aimed at equipping students with the skills that are in high demand in the job market and promoting a broader range of career paths,” Larsen notes. “With a rapidly changing job market and evolving skill requirements, schools and education systems will find themselves under increased scrutiny to ensure that students are adequately prepared for the workforce.

Employers should grow ever more eager to collaborate with schools and districts, predicts Hans Meeder, a senior fellow for education and workforce education at YouScience and a former deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Education.

“Yet, a challenge lies in the limited experience of schools and districts in systematically collaborating with business partners,” Meeder points out. “Many are still navigating this uncharted territory, actively searching for tools, guidance and real-world examples to establish partnerships that are not only effective but also sustainable.”

What other issues will be top of mind for K12 leaders and their teams in 2024? Here are predictions, hopes and forecasts from solution providers that cover a range of education topics.

Academic growth and interventions will be carefully assessed

The disruptions of the pandemic will continue to loom large over academic progress, and administrators will be emphasizing growth and doubling down on the most effective interventions, say thought leaders at NWEA, the testing firm. Here are some of their insights:

• Which academic interventions are working best? “While school districts made some progress in reducing pandemic-related achievement gaps in the 2021-22 school year, progress stalled in the 2022-23 school year. Interventions that have strong evidence of efficacy include high-dosage tutoring, summer school programs and double-dose math classes. Districts should adopt these high-impact interventions while continuing to monitor implementation and adapt interventions to local context so that students can have access to meaningful opportunities to catch up on unfinished learning.” —Ayesha K. Hashim, research scientist
• Classroom practices that support high-growth learning will be essential. “The cornerstone of elevating educational quality rests upon strengthening the student-teacher relationship. By fostering meaningful and constructive interactions and offering valuable feedback to students, we empower them to take greater ownership of their learning. Recent research underscores the efficacy of specific approaches and practices in promoting substantial learning growth, such as allocating time for retrieval practice (where students benefit from multiple opportunities to reinforce new knowledge) and maintaining flexibility in student group dynamics (allowing for effective student movement between learning groups), among others.”—Chase Nordengren, principal research lead, effective instructional strategies
• Research-based interventions will be needed to help older students with reading fluency. “National data shows that almost 70% of eighth graders are not considered proficient in reading based on 2022 test scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as The Nation’s Report Card. In 2024, districts will be working to find research-based interventions to help older students with reading fluency. Middle and high school teachers will need support to help older students with foundational reading skills to address this problem. Programs that emphasize repeated reading and giving older readers the opportunity to choose practice readings on topics they find engaging will help older readers improve fluency.” – Laura Hansen, NWEA director of academic services
• A data-driven revolution in gifted and talented identification. “In 2024, states are poised to revolutionize their approach to gifted and talented education, driving greater equity and inclusion through a dual strategy of data-driven identification and the implementation of state policies mandating access to gifted services. Universal screening, encompassing a multitude of assessment tools, will ensure that no gifted potential remains unnoticed, while continuous monitoring and transparent reporting will guarantee equal access to the selection process. Simultaneously, state policies will require the development of individualized learning plans for gifted students, promoting inclusive enrichment opportunities, differentiated instruction, and robust teacher professional development.”—Scott Peters, senior research scientist

Edtech evolution will be all about AI

The expiration of ESSER funding and tightening budgets will force K12 leaders to prioritize, says Jeremy Cowdrey, the CEO of Discovery Education. That means, in the wake of the COVID-era flood of edtech, administrators and their teams will begin paring down the edtech resources they are using down to the most effective platforms.

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“We are calling this movement the great rationalization and consolidation,” Cowdrey explains. “They will seek to renew products that have high usage, personalize learning and drive deeper engagement in instruction. They will keep edtech resources that have shown a proven, measurable impact on students.”

Leaders will maintain relationships with edtech providers who are purpose-driven and offer multiple solutions from one consolidated platform, he adds.

Beyond that, artificial intelligence will likely continue to suck up all the oxygen in the edtech space. “AI will impact everything—from creating relevant lesson plans to acting as a teacher’s assistant and student learning,” says Sara Gu, co-founder and COO of ClassIn, which provides blended, hybrid and remote learning platforms. “AI tools are being developed for educators and launched into the market every week. Many of these are designed to save teachers time.”

As many AI tools are designed to save teachers’ time, Gu says she expects a comprehensive lesson-planning tool will soon emerge. “With the vast amount of material currently available on the internet and the number of databases that the [AIs] can pull from, a world where all teachers have to do is plug in their learning objectives and standards and get an array of choices in each of the categories—materials, activities, and assessments—can’t be that far off.”

Gu also predicts that student behavior will guide the development of AI codes of conduct and determine how the technology is used in schools. Gu sees a fine line between AI being used as a tool and being used to cheat.

“There is not yet one commonly accepted approach to integrating AI tools and technology into a school or school district’s code of conduct,” she continues. “Early policies range from extremely strict “student work submitted for academic credit and completed using AI will be considered plagiarism” to encouraging teachers to use AI tools in their classrooms.”

Teachers will increasingly use AI to assess and grade students and these tools could save time and reduce burnout, says Sari Factor, chief strategy officer at K12 curriculum provider Imagine Learning. “Educators will have more equitable access to actionable, research-based measures of student success to better inform instruction, allowing educators to focus on providing personalized support to students,” says Factor.

Ethical school leaders will also have to ensure that principles such as transparency, accountability, fairness, and privacy are priorities when adopting AI-driven educational tools. “Leveraging AI and digital-first curriculum to develop personalized lesson plans that cater to unique student needs, for example, will allow teachers to focus on delivering impactful lessons that inspire student success,” Factor contends. “As a result, we’ll see less teacher burnout over time.

Beyond AI, Gu expects more schools to lean on virtual and hybrid instruction to cope with teacher and staff shortages. She notes that a charter network in San Jose, California, has transferred math and science classes to Zoom where students are taught by teachers from around the country.

“We also expect hybrid solutions to gain momentum in response to student demand as schools work to balance their finite resources while offering more flexibility,” Gu predicts.

ESSER expiration requires reliable data

States and school districts have about $70 billion left to spend this school year, which “will be a mix of states and districts spending their remaining funds while also looking to the future,” says Lindsay Dworkin, NWEA’s senior vice president of policy and government affairs.

“As the one-time funds expire,” Dworkin adds, “it will be more important than ever for education communities to have access to reliable and actionable data to know which interventions have been most effective in helping students grow, and where to continue investing strategically amidst shrinking budgets.”

Because decision-makers will continue to analyze persistent learning gaps, they also will be looking for innovative approaches to instruction and assessment.

Administrators and teachers will become more discerning about edtech purchases as ESSER money expires and shortages increase workloads. Says Gu, of Classin, who estimates that schools adopted between 600 and 1,400 products during the pandemic.

“While many of these products helped plug the gaps during remote instruction, now districts are faced with the dilemma of too many tools. The process has already begun, but schools are starting to become more strategic about which tools they keep and which ones they stop using.”

The ongoing importance of equity and PD

The academic identities of educators will have to be a focal point in district administrators’ efforts to make their districts more equitable, says Fenesha Hubbard, the lead professional learning designer at NWEA.

Academic identities comprise educators’ attitudes, beliefs and dispositions toward teaching and learning. “When teachers develop an unhealthy academic identity, their internalized negative perception is very likely to influence their instruction and can shape their students’ academic identity,” Hubbard, explains.

Educators will strive to better understand themselves and others by exploring their beliefs, examining their actions and strengthening their academic identity. “More teachers will identify and address their academic identities, whether healthy or not, and employ strategies in their classroom to help all students thrive,” Hubbard forecasts.

Family engagement will be emphasized

Districts will take several approaches to leveraging the strengths of families to accelerate student achievement, including by providing more learning materials that can be used at home, say Vidya Sundaram and Elisabeth O’Bryon, co-founders of the nonprofit Family Engagement Lab.

Here is what they expect will happen:

• How can districts make the most of classroom instruction? “Improving the quality of instructional materials is a smart, cost-effective strategy to improve learning outcomes. Districts looking to optimize their curriculum investment will also implement newly available curriculum-aligned offerings, from professional learning to assessments and family communications,” says Sundaram, the Lab’s CEO.
• What’s the role of families in effective SEL programs? “With student mental health needs outpacing many schools’ capacity to provide support, it will be even more critical to look to families as vital partners in supporting student success,” notes O’Byron, the chief impact officer. Educators can promote relationship-building between parents and children and share activities that let families reinforce specific SEL skills at home.
• How do you envision school learning environments changing for multilingual learners? “As we continue to see an increase in the linguistic diversity of our school communities, as well as growing interest in multilingual learning environments, I am hopeful that a spotlight is shone on what a tremendous asset multilingualism is. Embracing multilingualism truly enriches school communities and, as such, schools need to be equipped to equitably and authentically engage multilingual families as partners in supporting student learning.”
• How do you envision K-12 edtech evolving next year? “While generative AI has been the hot topic of 2023, I expect next year we will see K12 technology advancements that strengthen the capacity of teachers (such as automating repetitive tasks), and more multilingual culturally responsive learning resources for students and families.”

Literacy will revolve around the science of reading

The science of reading, or SoR, has gotten almost as much attention as AI in K12 circles over the last year. In 2024, districts navigating its adoption will, for one, have to ensure teachers, principals and other administrators are receiving adequate PD in the science of reading, say thought leaders and experts at IMSE, the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education.

“States that have passed SoR legislation recognize the need for teacher prep programs to include SoR, but getting universities to change is a slow-moving shift, even if legislation requires it,” says Janelle Norton, IMSE’s senior manager of strategic partnerships.

“Expect more administrator training in SoR as districts recognize the need for principals to understand what children need to learn to read,” Norton adds.

Teacher shortages will likely be a barrier as district leaders work to embed the science of reading in their curriculums, says Alana Mangham, a lifelong early educator and IMSE’s current director of development and implementation support.

“There aren’t enough qualified individuals in the science of reading,” Mangham notes. “Schools can only hope to find capable candidates. And, if they do, the next hurdle is paying them equal to or better than what they can make as a private professional.”

Elsewhere in the literacy spectrum

Elsewhere in the literacy realm “multilingual learner instructional practices will become a hot topic,” concludes Nicole Florez, literacy specialist and IDA structured literacy dyslexia interventionist for IMSE. She predicts more leaders will “recognize the need for culturally responsive teaching in response to the growing population of English language learner.”

“States are leveraging the right stakeholders to develop learning modules around second language learners and literacy,” she concludes.

Math will matter even more in 2024

If 2023 was all about the science of reading, state education leaders will turn their attention to providing systemic support for math education in 2024, says Karen Beerer, Discovery Education’s senior vice president of teaching and learning.

In the wake of COVID learning loss, several states have already passed new laws requiring schools to identify and provide additional math support to students and teachers.

Alabama is creating an Office of Mathematics Improvement to monitor the implementation of screener assessments, diagnostic assessments, and formative assessments for grades K5. Florida now requires students deemed “deficient” in math to receive intervention and monitoring from their district while Louisiana mandates additional professional learning in numeracy for math teachers in grades 4-8.

“While these are just a few examples of state departments of education adding additional support to math education,” Beerer notes, “I believe in 2024 these efforts will accelerate and become the norm nationwide.

The post Education in 2024: Partners break down 8 big trends appeared first on District Administration.

1. Does this assessment measure the “how” and “why” in addition to the “what?”

However useful standardized and multiple-choice tests might be for placement and grade-level analyses, they typically fail to surface how students think about the problems they’re solving. That’s one reason why, during the pandemic, teachers began “ditching answer-getting math tests” and deployed methods of assessment focused on students’ explanations. Along those lines, education leaders recently began calling for a new direction in assessment, as evidenced by U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona’s recent announcement regarding the Innovative Assessment testing pilot.

Fully assessing students’ math strategies as well as their answers is time-consuming for teachers. Fortunately, advanced technology tools provide more nuanced assessments that surface insights about each student’s problem-solving processes. While traditional digital resources focus only on correct answers, innovative personalized learning platforms and educational apps offer students real-time feedback that develops their reasoning and critical thinking skills. This shift to focusing on the “how” and “why” of their math answers ensures students understand that success in math is about being a good thinker, not merely being a human calculator.

2. Does this assessment provide data and insights teachers can use to intervene sooner?

Throughout my career developing education technologies, educators have asked whether our math products have embedded tests. I’ve always responded with, “Why do you want to test students more?” They then clarify that they want data about students’ prior knowledge, proficiency, and growth, and they assume tests are the best means of generating that data because they are the prevalent math assessment format.

Fortunately, new technologies enable innovative assessment formats that gather deeper evidence of understanding while generating more robust, frequent, and longitudinal insights about student learning that teachers can use daily. Instead of waiting until the next high-stakes benchmark, these digital learning resources can provide actionable insights at the district, classroom and student level, ensuring educators know which concepts students are struggling with and recommending lessons to address those challenges. Administrators and teachers get the useful data they want—not the tests they don’t.

3. Does this assessment reduce anxiety and cultivate curiosity?

Eliminating stress and sparking curiosity are keys to student engagement and learning. Unfortunately, math assessments typically increase stress and reduce curiosity—most students think math class is a place where they are given answers to questions they’ve never asked. Because students learn what teachers care about by looking at what is put in the grade book, we can use new assessment approaches to change this mindset.

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For example, using a wider variety of non-traditional formative assessments can curb some of the anxiety surrounding math tests and quizzes. By providing constructive feedback “just in time” along the way, educators can reduce stress by supporting students’ improvement without making every assessment a consequential event. In addition, teachers can create assessment items that invite students to ask questions about a situation to assess their curiosity and understanding of the situation.

Every student should feel engaged and confident as they develop their capabilities in math. This feeling is especially necessary during assessments because stressed students cannot perform their best. By using different forms of assessment, we can send a powerful message to students that success in math is not confined to memorizing formulas and remembering procedures—it’s about how they think about problems and remain engaged as they grow.

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Administrators will emphasize growth and double down on the most effective interventions, such as tutoring and strengthening student-teacher relationships. The through line is that academic recovery will take on even more urgency in 2024, say thought leaders at NWEA, the testing firm. Here are some of their insights:

Which academic interventions are working best? “While school districts made some progress in reducing pandemic-related achievement gaps in the 2021-22 school year, progress stalled in the 2022-23 school year. Interventions that have strong evidence of efficacy include high-dosage tutoring, summer school programs and double-dose math classes. Districts should adopt these high-impact interventions while continuing to monitor implementation and adapt interventions to local context so that students can have access to meaningful opportunities to catch up on unfinished learning.” —Ayesha K. Hashim, research scientist

Classroom practices that support high-growth learning will be essential. “The cornerstone of elevating educational quality rests upon strengthening the student-teacher relationship. By fostering meaningful and constructive interactions and offering valuable feedback to students, we empower them to take greater ownership of their learning journey. Recent research underscores the efficacy of specific approaches and practices in promoting substantial learning growth, such as allocating time for retrieval practice (where students benefit from multiple opportunities to reinforce new knowledge) and maintaining flexibility in student group dynamics (allowing for effective student movement between learning groups), among others.” —Chase Nordengren, principal research lead, effective instructional strategies

Research-based interventions will be needed to help older students with reading fluency. “National data show that almost 70% of eighth graders are not considered proficient in reading based on 2022 test scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as The Nation’s Report Card. In 2024, districts will be working to find research-based interventions to help older students with reading fluency. Middle and high school teachers will need support to help older students with foundational reading skills to address this problem. Programs that emphasize repeated reading and allowing older readers to choose practice readings on topics they find engaging will help older readers improve fluency.” —Laura Hansen, NWEA director of academic services

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A data-driven revolution in gifted and talented identification. “In 2024, states are poised to revolutionize their approach to gifted and talented education, driving greater equity and inclusion through a dual strategy of data-driven identification and the implementation of state policies mandating access to gifted services. Universal screening, encompassing a multitude of assessment tools, will ensure that no gifted potential remains unnoticed, while continuous monitoring and transparent reporting will guarantee equal access to the selection process. Simultaneously, state policies will require the development of individualized learning plans for gifted students, promoting inclusive enrichment opportunities, differentiated instruction, and robust teacher professional development.” —Scott Peters, senior research scientist

Math will matter even more in 2024

If 2023 was all about the science of reading, state education leaders will turn their attention to providing systemic supports for math education in 2024, says Karen Beerer, Discovery Education’s senior vice president of teaching and learning.

In the wake of COVID learning loss, several states have already passed new laws requiring schools to identify and provide additional math support to students and teachers.

Alabama’s Office of Mathematics Improvement monitors the implementation of screener assessments, diagnostic assessments, and formative assessments for grades K5. Florida now requires students deemed “deficient” in math to receive intervention and monitoring from their district while Louisiana mandates additional professional learning in numeracy for math teachers in grades 4-8.

“While these are just a few examples of state departments of education adding additional support to math education,” Beerer notes, “I believe in 2024 these efforts will accelerate and become the norm nationwide.

The post Get ready to carefully assess growth and interventions in 2024 appeared first on District Administration.

Common complaints such as “geometry proofs seemed pointless” and “when letters started showing up in math, I gave up,” reveal that we need to improve how we talk about math with our students.

Changing this mindset requires that everyone—educators, parents, caregivers, and community members—work together. We need to reframe and accurately define what math is: a tool for using and improving logical thinking skills to make better sense of the world.

As a first step, we need to re-align on how we’ll respond to the most commonly heard frustration about math: “When are we ever going to use this?” Here are some new suggestions for how to answer this question the next time someone asks it:

“That’s a great question! Being curious is an essential part of math. You’re probably asking this because at some point you were told, ‘math is important because you’ll use it in the real world.’ First off, whoever told you that had good intentions. They wanted to motivate you because sometimes math will be challenging and we can more easily push through challenges when there’s a meaningful purpose or reward on the other side.

“Second, you deserve an apology because that statement is a half-truth. The true part is that math involves studying things like numbers, 3D objects, patterns, graphs and how to think logically about them. You’ll encounter all of those things nearly every day of your life, but probably not in the way we study them in school. What’s not true is the implication that you will see every math topic from school at some point later in life. If you study trigonometry in school, you might never see it or have a use for it ever again. But that doesn’t mean studying trigonometry is a waste of time. And it certainly doesn’t mean trigonometry isn’t part of the ‘real world.’

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“So here’s a better way to think about math. In math class, we’re learning a structured approach to logical reasoning and problem-solving. You’re doing this all the time in your other classes. The difference in math is that we’re analyzing logical things like numbers and shapes, which are less complex and more predictable than what you study in other classes. That makes math topics easier to reason about and understand.

“For example, the duck-billed platypus is classified as a mammal, but it has a bill and lays eggs, which are usually characteristics of birds. Living organisms aren’t logically consistent in the same way number systems are. In math, there aren’t outliers when classifying objects; all triangles have exactly three sides, and there’s no ‘duck-billed triangle’ that breaks the rules. In life and other subjects, there will usually be too many variables and unknowns to draw exact logical conclusions, like when meteorologists forecast a 50% chance of rain. But in math, we analyze simple things so we can also become better thinkers about more complex things.”

In addition to aligning on this narrative, districts can further reframe students’ mindsets about math by using standards-aligned content designed for diverse students that makes math more relatable, relevant, and engaging. Administrators can also leverage professional development that invites teachers to reflect on their own math mindsets and experiences overcoming math challenges so that we can better empathize with and support students. Finally, education technology tools can help students reason logically and make sense of math concepts with inherently engaging tasks and games based on real-world examples.

By defining math, its purpose, and its value accurately, we can shift students’ mindsets to be more positive about math and how it helps them in contexts far beyond the classroom.

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Fortunately, administrators, teachers, instructional coaches, parents, caregivers and curriculum developers have the power to change this narrative. Here are three steps to help schools achieve these goals:

Step 1: Provide educators with strong resources and support

Teachers are the most effective professionals in developing students’ math confidence and identity. Each day, they affirm and support students’ mindsets in math. To empower students, district leaders must first empower teachers with resources that both improve achievement and cultivate a positive math mindset.

While printed curricular materials and digital programs need to be aligned with state standards and research-based pedagogical principles, districts should also evaluate resources based on how well they support students’ confidence and sense of belonging in math. After materials have been adopted, districts should focus on successful implementation and professional learning to ensure consistency across classrooms that will lead to these outcomes.

To that end, districts should offer relevant resources for ongoing professional development to help teachers stay current on best practices that create dynamic and inclusive learning environments where all students feel like they belong and can be successful.

Step 2: Incorporate the right tools to focus on critical thinking

Many students who have difficulty learning the computation aspects and “basics” of mathematics are often wrongly forced to just keep working on computation until they “get it.” As Wiggins and McTighe noted in Schooling by Design: “Because they are less likely to have acquired the basics on the same schedule as more advanced learners, struggling learners are often confined to an educational regimen of low-level activities, rote memorization of discrete facts, and mind-numbing skill-drill worksheets. The unfortunate reality is that many of these students will never get beyond the first rung of the ladder and, therefore, have minimal opportunities to use what they are learning meaningfully. Who wouldn’t be inclined to drop out under such conditions?” (p. 45)

Unfortunately, most supplemental online math programs have simply digitized this skill-drill work. We should want and expect more for our students. Technology should be used to free teachers to engage students in more critical thinking experiences where they focus on ideas and skills that AI and calculators can’t do.

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Without putting a burden on teachers’ time for assessment and grading, truly adaptive education technologies can use real-time strategy and error analysis to identify areas where a student may be struggling or excelling. Teachers can use these insights about student thinking to provide personalized support and interventions that improve students’ confidence by addressing their specific needs soon after they surface.

Step 3: Measure what matters—critical thinking, confidence and curiosity

While test scores are one metric used to measure the proficiency of students and evaluate curricular resources, we also need to reduce math anxiety, improve students’ confidence, and reframe how we define and engage with math, so students are inspired and curious in class.

Some technology tools can also improve critical thinking and confidence because they allow for the creation of interactive visualizations and simulations that help students more deeply understand and make sense of mathematical concepts. In some cases, digital visualizations and animations will provide insights about math concepts that can’t be gleaned from physical manipulatives.

As districts work to empower the next generation of students with confidence and skills in all subjects, we need to change math education by replacing students’ fear and uncertainty with confidence and success. This means all of us belong in mathematics and can experience success under the right conditions. We’ll know we’ve achieved our goal when neither students nor adults ever say, “I’m not a math person.”

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My decades of experience researching the math learning disability, dyscalculia, leads me to believe that more awareness, diagnosis and intervention are key to unlocking our students’ potential in math.

What is dyscalculia?

Dyscalculia is a neurodevelopmental disorder that leads to persistent difficulties in acquiring number-related skills. Research says that 5–7 percent of students worldwide have dyscalculia. While the prevalence rate of dyscalculia is the same as dyslexia, dyscalculia is proportionately dramatically underidentified.

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Individuals with dyscalculia can experience difficulty with critical skills, such as:

• Memorizing math facts.
• Remembering the steps to solve a problem or a sequence of numbers.
• Estimating quantities.
• Performing mental math.
• Accurately judging magnitude, time and speed.

When undiagnosed and untreated, these struggles persist into adulthood, impacting careers and causing day-to-day frustrations.

Early screening and intervention work

We know from research that identifying dyscalculia is critical to helping students get the support they need for math success. Here’s how to recognize those signs in students of every grade band.

Common signs of dyscalculia in elementary, middle, and high school:

• Elementary school: You may see students having difficulty developing numbers and quantity, problems understanding math operations, and/or using their fingers when counting.
• Middle school: You may notice students are unable to memorize math facts, have trouble remembering math concepts, or have trouble performing mental math.
• High school: You may notice students struggling when working with money or counting change; using a map for directions; or estimating time, volume, or distance as well as traditional math content.

By screening for dyscalculia, educators can “shortlist” students who might need further evaluation to determine if they qualify for a diagnosis—and deliver evidence-based interventions, including (but not limited to):

• Using multisensory methods of instruction and manipulatives.
• Offering additional practice through game-based formats.
• Providing extra time for students to solve problems.
• Using Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) to facilitate mathematical mastery.

Early screening and intervention provide educators with the data they need to give a student a clear roadmap for future instruction and support.

As an education community, we also need to go a step further than merely raising awareness of dyscalculia. We must advocate for the large segment of students who find math challenging. If our national education system were to emphasize the importance of supporting mathematical development at the same scale as it supports reading development, there would be meaningful and immediate results.

As of October 2023, most U.S. states have enacted dyslexia-related legislation, but the same emphasis has not been placed on dyscalculia. While at least seven states have passed laws regarding math intervention and instruction since 2021, it will require a larger coalition to overcome this challenge.

Supporting struggling math students and those with dyscalculia is an opportunity for us all to create an inclusive environment where students are empowered with the latest information and interventions to be successful in math and in their future careers.

The post Beyond math: The oft-missed diagnosis that can cause lifelong struggles for students appeared first on District Administration.

Often, students are told they need to learn math because it’s everywhere and will be used in nearly everything they do in the future. However, when it comes time for instruction, students are sometimes taught to memorize algorithms and computations to pass state standards, rarely tying the math to their own life experiences or making the math relevant.

What if, instead of seeing students as empty vessels that must be filled with math concepts, we made the knowledge students already have the foundation of our teaching? With a problem-based approach that infuses culturally responsive pedagogy, math becomes relevant to students’ lived experiences. Based on my years of experience in the classroom and research in educational psychology, I’ve found the following perspectives to be helpful in building a math community with a high-quality curriculum that can reshape math education and support all students to see themselves as creators and thinkers instead of followers of instruction.

Your math community starts with your students’ experiences

The concept of community is often left out of math curriculum because historically mathematics educators have been instructed to show students how to solve problems and emphasize the belief that practicing specific steps is how students learn math. This rote and individualistic approach to learning leaves out many students, especially Black and Brown ones, who often come from cultures that value collectivism.

In math, leveraging the classroom community can encourage students to use their developing knowledge and that of their peers to question, collaborate and discuss their way to the answer as a group. This process not only acknowledges that all student experiences are assets, but it deconstructs the societal notion that a person can or cannot be “a math person”.

Building a math community has to be intentional, with strong teacher involvement—like co-crafting community norms with students, developing structures of working in groups and establishing routines that make students believe their ideas will always be heard and valued. The goal is to make students feel safe to be themselves so they can take risks, listen to each other, and disagree respectfully, which builds lasting and personal connections to the sometimes-invisible iterative aspects of problem-solving in mathematics.

Mindset shift supported by a high-quality curriculum

A culturally responsive, problem-based curriculum asks educators to teach students in a markedly different way from how they were taught math. That mindset shift has to start with believing that it’s possible. It means setting aside the notion that formulas and algorithms exist outside of students’ cultural backgrounds and experiences and embracing the idea that the collaborative journey to a solution is more important than getting the correct answer.

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A high quality, centralized curriculum that teachers can trust frees educators from curating lessons and tasks. This allows them to focus on building their students’ knowledge, which builds trust in their students’ thinking. This ultimately gives educators more time to become familiar with their students as educators focus on their many tasks, such as understanding curriculum materials, assessing student readiness for the work, anticipating student responses, addressing differentiated instruction, figuring out opportunities for practice and giving feedback on student work.

Administrators who value deep subject matter knowledge

Before teachers can build a math community that nurtures student thinking, they need leadership who believe in its value and will give teachers the time to do it. Unlike direct instruction, where teachers demonstrate one way to solve an equation, culturally responsive problem-based instruction requires they imagine the multiple approaches students might take to reach a solution and understand how those approaches fit into the sequencing of math concepts. That kind of deep knowledge of how the standards facilitate and scaffold student learning requires time for professional development, individual learning and observation of other classrooms. District leaders can provide these opportunities by reevaluating their existing systems and policies.

Whether going to a part-time job, celebrating holidays or caring for siblings, students are encouraged—and sometimes forced—to collaborate, inquire and discover in other parts of their lives. They’re already problem-solving, which, in the end, is exactly what math is. When students are encouraged to bring and their entire selves and their knowledge into the classroom, learning math concepts can become the joyful and welcoming experience for which every educator strives.

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We improved math outcomes by 18.7% from the 2021-22 to the 2022-2023 school years, compared to a 6.25% increase across the state. Here’s how it worked.

Making data accessible and actionable

We believe that data should drive instruction, and that means that teachers should not just have access to data, but also access to ideas and strategies for putting it to effective use.

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We have a research department that provides data to all of our schools monthly. It includes information about behavior, such as suspensions and expulsions, results from “parent voice” surveys, and results from teacher surveys. We even conduct student “Getting to Know” You surveys so that, if a student is struggling, we can look at their interests to see how we can connect the material they need support with to whatever it is that gets them excited.

Our director of school leadership, Dan Crispino, oversees our eight elementary schools and ensures that instructional time is maximized and individual student needs are being addressed in a supportive timely manner.

Every Thursday, our professional learning community devotes time to discussing our data. From week to week, they may focus on assessment data from a content area, formative assessment data, benchmark data or whatever else they decide is important to dig into. Depending on the week’s goals, they may look at that data in aggregate or broken up by student subgroups to ensure that they are meeting the different needs of all students.

Some of those Thursday meetings are grade-level meetings, some focus on content and others are administrator meetings. Additional areas of focus are mapped throughout the year, and there is a specific person in charge of each one, so teachers know what data they need to review and come to the meeting prepared to discuss.

We also take minutes, which helps teachers put PLC recommendations into practice. As they come back week after week, they see the differences in their own practice and the results of those changes in their students’ growth. Over time, this has naturally led to very high buy-in among faculty.

Supporting teachers with coaches, consultants and PD

Instructional coaches also help our teachers look at the data and see where additional support and resources may be needed, but that’s just the beginning of their role. Coaches work with grade-level teachers on planning and then support them all the way through execution.

Our coaches spend a lot of time frontloading the curriculum for us. They look at the overarching curriculum to ensure it’s consistent and vertically aligned throughout the district, and then work with teachers on a regular basis. They may model lessons in the classroom, join in on a grade-level meeting or take some time in a Thursday PLC to reinforce areas in which teachers may need some extra help.

We also have a math consultant who comes in to work directly with the coaches. It’s nice to get an outside perspective on issues such as alignment, and they also provide feedback on progress and areas that need improvement.

We provide our teachers with continual professional development on a variety of topics, but when it comes to math, I think high expectations, accountability and support for experimentation are more important. Our teachers know what is expected of them, so they never wonder what they should be doing. We have a set structure for the math blocks, which helps a great deal with planning.

Our instructional coaches work in multiple grade-level classrooms, so they are able to flag issues that may be a challenge when teachers try out new techniques or strategies. It all comes together to allow our teachers to be effective, even as they are experimenting with new tools and practices.

Carving out more time for math instruction

Time is one area where we don’t have much flexibility. There are only so many minutes in the school day, so we had to get creative and look at our whole schedule to find an additional 30 minutes to add to our math block. We had a 30-minute success block for enrichment and intervention that we were able to cut down by pairing it with Tier I instruction. We also added more time by reducing transition time between classes, which required thoughtful planning to ensure students weren’t going to one class on an upper floor only to come back down for the very next class.

Our teachers really appreciated this effort. They feel the pressure of time as much as anyone else in our district, so they were happy that we were able to restructure the school day to give them additional time to work on math without having to give up much elsewhere.

Students who are not at grade level are all over the map. They each need support in different areas, but there’s only one teacher in a math class. While students are engaged in learning at their own level with the support of ST Math, our teachers are providing direct math instruction to small groups of students. To maximize the time they spend in math class, we wanted a program that would meet them where they were and allow them to work independently for part of the math block.

We chose ST Math because it allows students to work at their own pace, receive timely feedback, and make progress. It is aligned to our curriculum, so we use it as an opportunity to double-dip. We use a small group instruction model in our math blocks, so while a teacher is talking to one group of students, the rest of the class is moving through different rotations.

Teachers always want to do a good job. No one enters the field unless they believe it’s important work. Sometimes, just like students, they need additional support to meet their goals. Engaging software that meets students where they are and helps to stretch them toward grade level is helpful, but the best thing you can provide your teachers is an openness to change. Change always entails risk, but if you’re willing to take that risk, you’re likely to find some new elements that are effective and measurably improve the education of all your students.

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“It forces collaboration between social studies, math, English and science teachers,” he explains. “They’re working together and our kids are getting the medicine they need—it’s not just about remediation, it’s about acceleration.”

Literacy growth rates had slipped to under 40% during the height of COVID but have now resurged to over 50% of students meeting expectations. Dignan’s main solutions are HMH’s Math 180 and Read 180 and the platforms’ new Flex component that helps teachers adapt instruction toward individual students’ learning needs, Dignan attests.

Principal Lori Webster and Reading Interventionist Alexandra Wilcox have made embedded interventions in both the methodology and the mindset at Mountain Mahogany Community School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Back in 2018, only 20% of the small charter school’s students scored proficient in reading. To boost literacy rates, the two educators have since had their elementary school teachers participate in IMSE’s training in the Orton-Gillingham multisensory approach to the science of reading.

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It incorporates writing, reading and talking, and the method is the same whether students are in their regular classes or receiving a push-in intervention in their classrooms. “I would love for more teachers to understand that this is not just additional work for them, this is in exchange for things that they already teach,” Wilcox says. “What I’ve noticed as our teachers have implemented it is they feel like we’re taking some things away because it is working.”

Mountain Mahogany is now recognized as a Structured Literacy Model School by the New Mexico Public Education Department. “What’s most rewarding for me as a teacher is seeing confidence grow,” Wilcox explains. “I see students go from ‘I can’t do this’ to ‘Oh, I can do this.’ It’s like cracking the code.”

Embedded interventions inspire independence

Teaching and assessing literacy is the top professional development priority at Wayne-Westland Community Schools and HMH’s Flex instruction has replaced disruptive pull-out interventions. “Even Pre-COVID, a large percentage of kids were coming in one or two grade levels behind,” Dignan points out. “As a central office team, we knew we wouldn’t be able to intervene our way out of it.”

More students are now catching up to grade level and moving on to accelerated instruction. Students are able to see the progress they are making as they are better grasping the texts and making improvements in all of their core classes. The adaptive platforms allow teachers to abandon traditional “stand-and-deliver” instruction and give students more autonomy and independence.

“Going through everything being virtual and combing back, some of the skills teachers picked up allowed them to become facilitators of learning and use more small group instruction in lieu of the traditional ‘For the next 55 minutes, you’re going to listen to me talk,'” Dignan concludes. “We’re moving way past that.”

District Administration’s Superintendent’s Playbook series examines how superintendents, principals and other administrators are solving common problems that today’s educators are facing. 

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The responses of teachers, principals and superintendents surveyed by the RAND Corporation’s American Educator Panels offer a forecast of sorts about how the lingering impacts of the pandemic on K12 politics, safety and staff shortages may continue to challenge districts in the coming school years.

Here are the topics covered in RAND’s five charts, one of two of which may come as a surprise to education leaders:

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1. Math teachers are skipping important content: Math teachers are now more likely to skip content covered by their state’s standards. The trend began in 2019–2020 and is even more severe among teachers of high-poverty students and students of color, which, the researchers contend, “could move these students further behind their peers.”

2. Restrictions on classroom discussions of hot-button topics are a problem: About a third of U.S. states have now restricted teachers from covering race- and gender-related topics. Approximately a quarter of teachers admitted the new laws had altered their curriculum choices and instructional practices. Surprisingly, one in five teachers in states without restrictions reported narrowing their instructional choices because of laws elsewhere.

3. Teachers are divided in their stance on carrying guns: A fall 2022 survey found that 54% of teachers thought carrying guns would make schools more dangerous while one in five said it would make them safer. Male teachers in rural schools were most likely to say they would carry a gun if allowed to.

4. Teacher turnover is not decreasing: Turnover did not surge as expected during the beginning of the pandemic. But leaders reported a substantial increase in turnover in 2021–2022.

5. Teachers are much more stressed than other professionals: Reports of frequent job-related stress and symptoms of depression have declined since 2021 and are now approaching pre-pandemic levels. However, teachers appear to be just as burned out as they were throughout COVID. “It is worrisome that job stress and burnout are so common for two reasons,” RAND concludes. “One is the negative impact on teachers’ health. The second is that teachers experiencing stress and burnout have less capacity to support students and are more likely to consider leaving their jobs.”

The other three of RAND’s five charts can be found at the American Educator Panels.

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