Guest Blogger:  Kathleen Hubbard:  K-8 Math Coordinator for Brookline Public Schools

Math at Lawrence and Across the District.

Grades 6-8

As a result of a grade 6-8 math curriculum materials review that took place during the 17-18 school year, last year we had a large scale, thoughtful and successful pilot of Illustrative Mathematics in grades 6-8. After gathering feedback from our pilot teachers throughout the year, we are moving forward to implement this new curriculum during the 2019-2020 school year. Illustrative Math is a problem-based curriculum that supports teachers in making meaningful mathematics accessible to all learners through the development of conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and application in real-world contexts. You can read more about Illustrative Mathematics 6-8 here. Over the course of the past two summers and during the 18-19 school year teachers in grades 6-8 have participated in collaborative professional development to prepare for the use of this new curricular resource.

Pilot of K-5

As a result of a curriculum materials review that took place during the 18-19 school year, PSB teachers will be piloting two different mathematics curricula in some of our PSB K-5 classrooms during the 2019-2020 school year. The two programs are Investigations 3 and Illustrative Mathematics K-5. Click here to see at which grade levels/schools these resources are being used this year. Using input from our teachers and information collected during this pilot, we will select one of these options as our primary curriculum resource to be implemented K-5 beginning during the 2020-21 school year. Our roll out plan will begin with the implementation of new curriculum in grades 3-5 during the 2020-2021 school year, and following with grades K-2 during the 2021-2022 school year.

Collaborative Grant

On September 26 and 27 many grade 6-8 math teachers and math specialists will attend the NCTM Regional Conference in Boston made possible by a BEF collaborative grant.

Enriching Mathematical Thinking

To prepare our teachers for successful implementation of K-5 curriculum, K-5 teachers will participate in math professional development over the next few years. This will include participation in Developing Mathematical Ideas seminars beginning with teachers in grades 3-5 during the 2019-2020 school year. Thanks to a generous grant from the Brookline Education Foundation, these seminars will be led by PSB educators who have been trained as facilitators in collaboration with Mt. Holyoke University’s Math Leadership Programs. Developing Mathematical Ideas seminars are designed to bring teachers together to explore the major ideas of elementary and middle school mathematics and examine how students develop those ideas. You can read more about Developing Mathematical Ideas professional development here.

Katheleen Hubbard