Nearly two years ago the California Department of Education released the revised version of the California Mathematics Framework (CMF). The CMF is a guidance document every 7-10 years to support high-quality mathematics instruction aligned with the Common Core State Standards. It provides research-based recommendations for curriculum design, instructional strategies, and assessment practices that promote equitable learning opportunities for all students. The framework emphasizes reasoning, problem-solving, and deep conceptual understanding across all grade levels.
Put simply, the CMF is a roadmap for how teachers, schools, and districts can update their practices in order to improve student achievement.
Also, since it is a guidance document (not a LAW), the new CMF presents teachers, schools, and districts with the choice to profoundly improve mathematics instruction and learning…or not.
Unfortunately, the CMF –at 1000 pages in length– is not a particularly easy read nor are the recommendations particularly easy to implement, which makes it very easy for the education community to ignore the contents of the CMF and instead maintain a status quo that is failing more than 70% of our students. In fact, when I share the news about the updated framework I am often asked why we need a new framework? What was wrong with the old framework?
Or some other version of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
But folks…it IS broke. A system in which 70% of the students are not performing at grade-level cannot be called anything else. (We are talking about the system…not the teachers. Teachers are absolute heroes who are working their butts off!)
The framework is full of recommendations for how we might update our teaching practices to accelerate student learning. But making sure those recommendations reach the teachers will be a challenge since U.S. teachers spend significantly more hours in the classroom than teachers in countries who outperform us in mathematics. As a consequence, teachers are largely left to their own devices and end up teaching the way they themselves were taught…using instructional practices that are outdated, inefficient, or down right harmful.
It is the role and responsibility of district leaders and county office math coordinators to deliver meaningful and relevant professional learning to support teachers in updating the instructional strategies at their school.
Let’s think of an analogous situation: LASIK eye surgery.
No one…NO ONE!…goes to an eye doctor to fix their nearsightedness and asks the doctor to only use LASIK surgery practices from 30 years ago. No one!
Thirty years ago, eye surgery required the doctor to use an actual blade to do the cutting. Now lasers have eliminated the need for blades, improving precision and safety. Wavefront technology analyzes the eye’s surface to personalize treatments that lead to better quality of vision improvement.
Recently, I have spent a lot of time thinking about how to get the updated instructional recommendations of the framework into every classroom. How do we create the conditions in which teachers, like eye doctors, are equipped with the LATEST and MOST EFFICIENT skills and tools?
It begins with reading the California Mathematics Framework. Sure…1000 pages is a bit much, so start with Chapter 2 Teaching for Equity and Engagement that lays out an amazing vision of how the 3 Dimensions of Systemic Change and the 5 Components of Equitable and Engaging Math Teaching for All might look in classrooms.
Then read Chapter 4 Exploring, Discovering, and Reasoning With and About Mathematics how to teach the Big Ideas of mathematics through powerful mathematics experiences that centers students in exploring, discovery, and reasoning for them to develop and deepen those math skills as they move through the grades.
Reading either chapter 6, 7, or 8 will highlight how teachers can use inquiry-minded instruction for students to see themselves as mathematicians as they investigate and connect the main math ideas of their grade band.
Wrap up your reading with Chapter 9—Structuring School Experiences for Equity and Engagement that describes how to design instruction and course pathways that enable all students to be appropriately challenged while simultaneously increasing the percentage of students who reach advanced mathematics.
At some point you are going to want to see how the strategies shared in the CMF work with classrooms in YOUR community…at YOUR school. It is our understanding that California is hoping to provide $500 million in one-time Prop. 98 funding for TK–12 Literacy and Mathematics Coaches to support educators implement the findings in the framework. Who is going to support all this change that is coming down the pike?
If all this feels a bit much, invite the MCOE Math Team to listen to your vision for math instruction. They will provide ideas for how you might navigate the next few years as teachers update their instructional strategies. The folks on the MCOE Math Team are daily practitioners of the recommendations in the framework. We will teach demonstration lessons using your current curriculum to bring the CMF to life in real classrooms with actual students. We are also poised to coach the newly minted coaches in Merced County.
Contact me if you want to hear more about how our Math Team can support you and your community update your practices. After all…no one wants 30 year old LASIK eye surgery.
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