Developing Mathematical Proficiency For Elementary Instruction

The need to improve the mathematical proficiency of elementary teachers is well recognized, and it has long been of interest to educators and researchers in the U.S. and many other countries. But the specific proficiencies that elementary teachers need and the process of developing and improving them remain only partially conceptualized and not well validated empirically. To improve this situation, national workshops were organized at Texas A&M University to generate focused discussions about this important topic, with participation of mathematicians, mathematics educators and teachers. Developing Mathematical Proficiency for Elementary Instruction is a collection of articles that grew out of those exciting cross-disciplinary exchanges. Developing Mathematical Proficiency for Elementary Instruction is organized to probe the specifics of mathematical proficiency that are important to elementary teachers during two separate but inter-connected professional stages: as pre-service teachers in a preparation program, and as in-service teachers teaching mathematics in elementary classrooms. From this rich and inspiring collection, readers may better understand, and possibly rethink, their own practices and research in empowering elementary teachers mathematically and pedagogically, as educators or researchers.

Results from national and international assessments indicate that school children in the United States are not learning mathematics well enough. Many students cannot correctly apply computational algorithms to solve problems. Their understanding and use of decimals and fractions are especially weak. Indeed, helping all children succeed in mathematics is an imperative national goal. However, for our youth to succeed, we need to change how we're teaching this discipline. Helping Children Learn Mathematics provides comprehensive and reliable information that will guide efforts to improve school mathematics from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The authors explain the five strands of mathematical proficiency and discuss the major changes that need to be made in mathematics instruction, instructional materials, assessments, teacher education, and the broader educational system and answers some of the frequently asked questions when it comes to mathematics instruction. The book concludes by providing recommended actions for parents and caregivers, teachers, administrators, and policy makers, stressing the importance that everyone work together to ensure a mathematically literate society.

A clear need exists for substantial improvement in mathematics proficiency in U.S. schools. The RAND Mathematics Study Panel was convened to inform the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement on ways to improve the quality and usability of education research and development (R&D). The panel identified three areas for focused R&D: development of teachers' mathematical knowledge used in teaching; teaching and learning of skills needed for mathematical thinking and problem-solving; and teaching and learning of algebra from kindergarten through the 12th grade.

"This book is a game changer! Strengths-Based Teaching and Learning in Mathematics: 5 Teaching Turnarounds for Grades K- 6 goes beyond simply providing information by sharing a pathway for changing practice. . . Focusing on our students’ strengths should be routine and can be lost in the day-to-day teaching demands. A teacher using these approaches can change the trajectory of students’ lives forever. All teachers need this resource! Connie S. Schrock Emporia State University National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics President, 2017-2019 NEW COVID RESOURCES ADDED: A Parent’s Toolkit to Strengths-Based Learning in Math is now available on the book’s companion website to support families engaged in math learning at home. This toolkit provides a variety of home-based activities and games for families to engage in together. Your game plan for unlocking mathematics by focusing on students’ strengths. We often evaluate student thinking and their work from a deficit point of view, particularly in mathematics, where many teachers have been taught that their role is to diagnose and eradicate students’ misconceptions. But what if instead of focusing on what students don’t know or haven’t mastered, we identify their mathematical strengths and build next instructional steps on students’ points of power? Beth McCord Kobett and Karen S. Karp answer this question and others by highlighting five key teaching turnarounds for improving students’ mathematics learning: identify teaching strengths, discover and leverage students’ strengths, design instruction from a strengths-based perspective, help students identify their points of power, and promote strengths in the school community and at home. Each chapter provides opportunities to stop and consider current practice, reflect, and transfer practice while also sharing · Downloadable resources, activities, and tools · Examples of student work within Grades K–6 · Real teachers’ notes and reflections for discussion It’s time to turn around our approach to mathematics instruction, end deficit thinking, and nurture each student’s mathematical strengths by emphasizing what makes them each unique and powerful.

Learn how to help elementary students build mathematical proficiency with purposeful, standards-based, differentiated, engaging small-group instruction. This best-selling book from Dr. Nicki Newton provides a repertoire of in-depth strategies for conducting effective guided math lessons, scaffolding and managing learning in small groups, and assessing learning. Dr. Newton shows you the framework for guided math lessons and then helps you develop an action plan to get started. This fully updated second edition features helpful new sections on beliefs, teacher moves, planning, talking and questioning, and kidwatching. It also contains a brand new study guide to help you get the most out of the book and use it with your colleagues. Perfect for teachers, coaches, and supervisors, this popular resource is filled with tools you can use immediately, including anchor charts, schedules, templates, and graphic organizers. With the practical help throughout, you’ll be able to implement Tier 1 and 2 lessons easily. This book will help you guide all your students to becoming more competent, flexible, and confident mathematicians!

Modeling Mathematical Ideas combining current research and practical strategies to build teachers and students strategic competence in problem solving.This must-have book supports teachers in understanding learning progressions that addresses conceptual guiding posts as well as students’ common misconceptions in investigating and discussing important mathematical ideas related to number sense, computational fluency, algebraic thinking and proportional reasoning. In each chapter, the authors opens with a rich real-world mathematical problem and presents classroom strategies (such as visible thinking strategies & technology integration) and other related problems to develop students’ strategic competence in modeling mathematical ideas.

Math coaches wear many hats. You think on your feet and have to invent, react, and respond—often without time to prepare—in a myriad of professional contexts. What’s your go-to resource for support? Plan, focus, and lead: Your toolkit for inspiring math teachers Meet Everything You Need For Mathematics Coaching: Tools, Plans, and a Process That Works for Any Instructional Leader. This one-stop, comprehensive toolkit for improving mathematics instruction and learning is designed for busy math coaches and teacher leaders who often have to rely on their own competencies. Using the Leading for Mathematical Proficiency Framework, the authors position student outcomes as the focus of all professional work and connect the Eight Mathematical Practices for students with NCTM’s Eight Effective Teaching Practices to help you guide teachers toward growing mathematics proficiency in their classrooms. This hands-on resource details critical coaching and teaching actions, and offers nearly a hundred tools for: Shifting classroom practice in a way that leads to student math proficiency and understanding of mathematical concepts. Honing in on key areas, including content knowledge and worthwhile tasks, student engagement, questioning and discourse, analysis of student work, formative assessment, support for emergent language learners and students with special needs, and more. Navigating a coaching conversation. Planning and facilitating professional learning communities. Finding a focus for professional development or a learning cycle. Making connections between professional learning activities, teaching, and student learning. Using the coaching cycle—plan, gather data, reflect—to build trust and rapport with teachers. With examples from the field, a comprehensive list of resources for effective coaching, and a plethora of tools you can download and share with teachers, this toolkit is your must-have guide to designing a professional learning plan and leading with clarity and purpose.

Adding It Up explores how students in pre-K through 8th grade learn mathematics and recommends how teaching, curricula, and teacher education should change to improve mathematics learning during these critical years. The committee identifies five interdependent components of mathematical proficiency and describes how students develop this proficiency. With examples and illustrations, the book presents a portrait of mathematics learning: Research findings on what children know about numbers by the time they arrive in pre-K and the implications for mathematics instruction. Details on the processes by which students acquire mathematical proficiency with whole numbers, rational numbers, and integers, as well as beginning algebra, geometry, measurement, and probability and statistics. The committee discusses what is known from research about teaching for mathematics proficiency, focusing on the interactions between teachers and students around educational materials and how teachers develop proficiency in teaching mathematics.

This report is a resource for those who teach mathematics and statistics to PreK-12 mathematics teachers, both future teachers and those who already teach in our nation's schools. The report makes recommendations for the mathematics that teachers should know and how they should come to know that mathematics. It urges greater involvement of mathematicians and statisticians in teacher education so that the nation's mathematics teachers have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to provide students with a mathematics education that ensures high school graduates are college- and career-ready as envisioned by the Common Core State Standards. This report draws on the experience and knowledge of the past decade to: Update the 2001 Mathematical Education of Teachers report's recommendations for the mathematical preparation of teachers at all grade levels: elementary, middle, and high school. Address the professional development of teachers of mathematics. Discuss the mathematical knowledge needed by teachers at different grade levels and by others who teach mathematics such as elementary mathematics specialists, special education teachers, and early childhood educators. Each of the MET II writers is a mathematician, statistician, or mathematics educator with substantial expertise and experience in mathematics education. Among them are principal investigators for Math Science Partnerships as well as past presidents and chairs of the American Statistical Association, Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, Association of State Supervisors of Mathematics, Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences, and National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. The audience for this report includes all who teach mathematics to teachers--mathematicians, statisticians, and mathematics educators--and all who are responsible for the mathematical education of teachers--department chairs, educational administrators, and policy-makers at the national, state, school-district, and collegiate levels.

With an emphasis on inquiry and process, "Teaching Mathematics in Elementary and Middle School "embraces active mathematics instruction and the development of mathematical thinking through problem solving. The text challenges future teachers to prepare their K-8 students for a world that requires a higher level of mathematical literacy and enables them to compete in a global society.Teachers will develop their own mathematical abilities, allowing them to help students discover a rich combination of thinking processes and problem-solving strategies, raising the learning expectations for all. Unique text features "TIE-Thought, Investigation and Exploration "features ask pre-service teachers to develop their own thinking and learning abilities, preparing them to better challenge their students. "Mathematics in the Real World," "Idea Files," and "Teacher Profiles "model best practices and supply readers with concrete teaching tools and strategies. "Mathematical Thinking," "Mathematical Games" and "Mathematics and Technology" features detail activities to engage and develop students' mathematical thinking. Accompanying student artifacts illustrate the progression of students' conceptual understanding. [CD logo replaces bullet] "Math Activities CD-ROM" provides an outstanding text component containing more than 100 activities that use a three-step process-explore, invent, discover-to foster the development of mathematical thinking through guided inquiry. Aligned with the NCTM standards, each activity is integrated within the text and designed to help develop students' conceptual understanding of mathematics. "Mathematics in Literature" offers thoroughly developed ideas for using children's literature to create meaningful contexts for mathematics learning. An extensive bibliography that can be used for this purpose appears on the CD-Rom. "I think the text is an excellent resource for elementary and middle school methods courses. In particular, I like how the textbook handles the 'bigger issues' such as geometric reasoning rather than just 'geometry.' I also like the excellent foundation in educational research that the textbook provides, as well as some very careful attention and consistent referencing to the NCTM standards and principles. The incorporation of classroom vignettes, teacher illustrations, and samples of student work also all add to the excellent grounding of the text in real world classroom work." Dr. Neal Grandgenett, University of Nebraska at Omaha