Author:
Mallory Smith
Subject:
Mathematics, Algebra, Geometry
Material Type:
Case Study, Module, Rubric/Scoring Guide
Level:
High School
Tags:
  • Book Study
  • Curriculum Adoption
  • Implementation
  • Math Curriculum
  • Survey
  • Unit Plan
  • License:
    Creative Commons Attribution
    Language:
    English

    Shifting High School Mathematics Instruction through the adoption of High-Quality Instructional Materials

    Shifting High School Mathematics Instruction through the adoption of High-Quality Instructional Materials

    Overview

    Over the past 4 years, Hartford Union High School has been working on a curriculum review process to improve secondary mathematics instruction and achievement.  Illustrative Mathematics was selected and adopted for the 2021-2022 school year. 

    Teachers participated in summer IM Teach and Learn training as well as Unit Overviews provided by the Math Institute of Wisconsin.  Teacher's also participated in an IM PLC session, Unit Planning, and a book study.

    The following modules contain samples and templates of documents that were used to facilitate the adoption including teacher and student surveys, the IM Implementation Rubric, Unit Planning, and book study guides.

    Hartford Union High School Curriclum Adoption Team

    Dustin Burg, Hartford Union High School Math Teacher (Algebra 2 Lead Teacher)

    Kaite Burns, Hartford Union High School Math Teacher (Geometry Lead Teacher)

    Kelly Lam, Hartford Union High School Principal

    Mike McIntyre, Director of Curriculum and Instruction

    Mallory Smith, Instructional Coach

    Bob Sliwinski, Hartford Union High School Math Teacher (Algebra 1 Lead Teacher)

    Surveys

    Over the course of the school year in which the materials were first adopted, teachers were surveyed to gather thoughts on the status of the adoption and their thoughts.  Teachers were surveyed at the beginning of the year, end of term 1 (which would be halfway through the course since we run a Block Schedule), and end of term 2 (end of course).

    Students surveyed at the end of the course to gather their thoughts about the new curriculum.

    Data collected was presented to the department and Board of Education to evaluate implementation and decide next steps.

    Teacher: Initial survey

    Teacher: End of Term 1

    Teacher: End of Term 2

    Student: End of course

     

    Unit Plans

    After course teams had completed the Unit Overviews (finished by January due to Block Schedule), the work transitioned to Unit Planning.  We used the Unit Planning in a PLC at Work book as a resource to guide the work. (Schuhl, S. et. al. (2021). Mathematics unit planning in a PLC at work. High School. Solution Tree.)

    We waited until teachers had completed the unit overviews and taught the course once to start this work so that teachers had an understanding of the materials and could make informed decisions about unit planning rather than making assumptions. 

    Each course team meet to complete a Unit Plan for each unit using the Unit Plan Template (from the Unit Planning resource mentioned previously).  Unit plans consisted of the following information:

    • Essential Learning Standards

    • Unit Calendar

    • Prior Knowledge

    • Vocabulary and Notations

    • Possible Resources or Activities

    • Tools and Technology

    • Reflection and Notes

    Book Study

    After the Unit Overviews and Unit Planning were completed, the mathematics department engaged in a book study using the resource Building Thinking Classrooms (Liljedahl, P. (2021). Building thinking classrooms in mathematics, grades K-12: 14 teaching practices for engancing learning. Corwin Press).  We used the author provided book study guide to facilitate our book study.  We choose this book so that we could dig deeper into the materials provided by the IM curriculum and focus on instrcutional practices.  The 14 teaching practices include:

    1. Types of tasks
    2. Forming collaborative groups
    3. Where students work
    4. Furniture arrangement
    5. Answering questions
    6. Where, when, and how tasks are given
    7. Homework
    8. Fostering student autonomy
    9. Hints and extensions
    10. Consolidating a lesson
    11. Student notes
    12. Evaluating work
    13. Formative assessment
    14. Grading

    One of the results of this book study was an interest in using vertical non-permanent surfaces (VNPSs).  As a department we purchased Wipebooks in order to give our students opportunities to use VNPS while engaging in tasks in the curriculum.