“What would you do with $20 million?”
That was the question they asked me as we walked to our cars after a meeting at the end of the day.
Trips to the Bahamas or purchasing a new guitar were out of the question because the $20 million in question was for the Mathematics Professional Learning Partnership (MPLP) Grant to support high-quality mathematics instruction to kindergarten through grade 12 students throughout the state of California.
Bahamas and guitars aside, my mind immediately began reeling at the possibilities.
Our initial thoughts started to flow like a river. We frantically captured our thinking on whatever scraps of paper were handy. By the end of our parking lot conversations we had the core of a wonderful plan. As with any plan, it morphed as we began writing up the proposal. It changed directions here…got a little bigger there.
After a frantic few weeks of Zoom meetings squeezed into our busy calendars, our plan grew from a partnership of two county offices of education to a consortium of SIX county offices representing more than 50% of the students in California: San Diego, Los Angeles, Kern, Merced, Santa Clara, and Sonoma. These six offices would serve as the statewide steering committee responsible for creating the training materials to be used in every county in California to train mathematics coaches and teacher leaders how to support teachers in their community to provide K–12 math instruction aligned to the 2023 California Mathematics Framework (CMF).
I’ll spare you the details of how hard we worked to write the grant proposal, the hours compromising, crafting, editing, revising. And then we suddenly had to prepare for a surprise round of interviews! Adding to the tension, the announcement date was delayed for THREE months. Pins and needles…needless to say.
The greatest news came a couple weeks ago. Against all odds (truly!), we won the grant!
What does this mean for districts in Merced County?
Merced COE will continue being the leaders and role models of what good math training, instruction, and learning looks like in the California mathematics community. I will be spending most of my time the next three years crafting and coordinating the training materials that your district will eventually be using to support your teachers implement the new framework.
This grant comes at a critical time. According to the most recent CAASPP standardized assessments results, 22 percent of Merced County students met or exceeded the standard for mathematics in 2024 — with significantly lower proficiency rates among students from historically underserved communities.
Through this initiative, the MCOE Math Team is poised to ensure educators will have access to:
- Research-based math content training aligned to California’s frameworks
- Culturally responsive, student-centered instructional practices
- Collaborative learning communities that prioritize educator voice and classroom impact
- Ongoing coaching and mentorship to support implementation and sustainability
If your district wants to introduce Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to your teachers, there is no need to hire some outside company. After all, I am LITERALLY writing the training materials for Chapter 2 of the CMF which is replete with references to UDL. Additionally, we charge one-fifth the rate of those fancy, but not better, outside consultants.
You want to support teachers to teach rigorous grade-level content in a manner that is accessible and inclusive of ALL students? This is chapters 6 and 7 of the framework. Once again, I’ll be writing those training materials. No need to go to an outside consultant.
The MCOE Math Team has long envisioned a world in which every student is enthused by mathematics, sees the value and beauty of mathematics, and is empowered by the opportunity mathematics affords. With this grant, we hope to make historic advances towards seeing our vision come to life.
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