{"id":2816,"date":"2025-04-14T17:10:01","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T00:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theothermath.com\/?p=2816"},"modified":"2025-04-14T17:10:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T00:10:01","slug":"updating-math-instruction-like-doctors-update-their-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theothermath.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/14\/updating-math-instruction-like-doctors-update-their-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Updating math instruction like doctors update their practices"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly two years ago the California Department of Education released the revised version of the\u00a0California Mathematics Framework<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Put simply, the CMF is a roadmap for how teachers, schools, and districts can update their practices in order to improve student achievement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also, since it is a\u00a0guidance<\/span>\u00a0document (not a LAW), the new CMF presents teachers, schools, and districts with the choice to profoundly improve mathematics instruction and learning\u2026or not<\/strong><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the CMF \u2013at 1000 pages in length\u2013 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\u00a070% of our students<\/a><\/span>. 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?<\/span><\/p>\n

Or some other version of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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But folks\u2026it 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\u00a0system<\/span><\/strong><\/em>\u2026not the teachers. Teachers are absolute heroes who are working their butts off!)<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0spend significantly more hours<\/a><\/span>\u00a0in 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\u2026using instructional practices that are outdated, inefficient, or down right harmful.<\/span><\/p>\n

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(Image source)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let’s think of an analogous situation: LASIK eye surgery.<\/span><\/p>\n

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No one\u2026NO 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!<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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?<\/span><\/p>\n

It begins with reading the\u00a0California Mathematics Framework<\/a><\/span>. Sure\u20261000 pages is a bit much, so start with\u00a0Chapter 2 Teaching for Equity and Engagement<\/a><\/span><\/em>\u00a0that lays out an amazing vision of how the\u00a03 Dimensions of Systemic Change<\/span>\u00a0and the\u00a05 Components of Equitable and Engaging Math Teaching for All<\/span>\u00a0might look in classrooms.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then read\u00a0Chapter 4 Exploring, Discovering, and Reasoning With and About Mathematics<\/a><\/span><\/em>\u00a0how 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wrap up your reading with Chapter 9\u2014Structuring School Experiences for Equity and Engagement<\/em><\/a> 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

At some point you are going to want to see how the strategies shared in the CMF work with classrooms in YOUR community\u2026at YOUR school. It is our understanding that California is hoping to provide $500 million in one-time Prop. 98 funding for TK\u201312 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?<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0newly minted coaches<\/a><\/span>\u00a0in Merced County.<\/span><\/p>\n

Contact me<\/a> if you want to hear more about how our Math Team can support you and your community update your practices. After all\u2026no one wants 30 year old LASIK eye surgery.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Nearly two years ago the California Department of Education released the revised version of the\u00a0California Mathematics Framework\u00a0(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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[127,128],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theothermath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2816"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theothermath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theothermath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theothermath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theothermath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2816"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theothermath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2819,"href":"https:\/\/theothermath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2816\/revisions\/2819"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theothermath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theothermath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theothermath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theothermath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}