WEBVTT

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Over the last five years, the principals and teachers in the Lincoln
School district focused their attention and resources on improving

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reading instruction. The result of those efforts was an increase in
student reading scores. Given this success, the administrative

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personnel at the district level now wish to do the same for their
students’ mathematics performance.

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To begin, the district superintendent hires a consultant to observe
and to informally interview a representative sample of kindergarten

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through twelfth-grade teachers. The consultant collects information
about the practices and activities the teachers implement during

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mathematics instruction. She also reviews the current curriculum for
each grade level.

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Finally, the consultant issues a report of her findings: The good news
is that the curriculum aligns with their state’s standards. However,

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many school personnel are not using all of the included materials or
are not able to cover all the skills outlined in the scope and

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sequence of each grade level’s curriculum. Additionally, some school
personnel are not teaching the skills correctly or aligning their

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instruction with the curriculum materials. More, most are emphasizing
teaching computational skills over real-world problem-solving skills.

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Because of this, the students do not develop a strong understanding
of mathematics concepts. They also struggle to make connections

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between them.

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As a result, the consultant has concluded that a number of issues have
arisen, for instance:

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Upper-level teachers must reteach topics covered in the earlier
grades.

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A majority of students across grade levels perform poorly on
high-stakes standardized tests.

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A large number of students have difficulty meeting high school
graduation requirements related to mathematics.

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A disproportionate number of students have to take remedial
mathematics courses in college.

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To address these issues, the consultant recommends that the teachers
implement high-quality mathematics instruction. By doing so, school

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personnel should see an improvement in student performance. The
district personnel reply that—as far as they knew—they were already

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using high-quality mathematics instruction and had been all along.
Given this revelation, they are unsure of what they need to do differently.

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Here is your Challenge:

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What is high-quality mathematics instruction and why is it important?

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What evidence-based mathematics instructional practices can teachers
employ?