CPS Math Department Strategic Plan

1 2 3 4 5
STRATEGIC EQUITY PROFESSIONAL LEARNING, MATH FAMILY & CONTINUOUS
OBJECTIVES CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION MINDSETS COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT
& ASSESSMENT

Provide equity and access Provide rigorous, joyful, and Provide experiences to Engage family and Monitor & advocate for
to increase opportunity culturally responsive learning for show teachers, families, community members implementation of the
and achievement in students & staff to strengthen and children that they in school & district strategic plan
mathematics instruction for all learners can “enjoy and succeed math initiatives.
in math” (Boaler).

Strategic Provide all students with Facilitate the sharing of teacher and Expand the vision of math Support community & Engage stakeholders in
Initiatives access to challenging coach practices across classrooms and as a creative, discussion- family members to deeply creation of and progress
math curricula in schools. oriented subject in which understand and joyfully monitoring of strategic
heterogeneously grouped sensemaking, discussion, engage in mathematics, plan.
classrooms. Establish robust and coherent coaching and questioning are and to understand why
that is structured similarly across schools. prioritized and procedures heterogeneous math Monitor implementation of
Prepare educators to lead are examined. classes are equitable and and progress toward the
equitable, discourse-rich Align elementary and middle school offer benefits to all. math department strategic
classrooms where students curricula based on common primary Incorporate the use of plan three times a year
engage in the mathematical resources. clinical interviews and Partner with community
practices and build protocols for Looking at groups to engage the Partner with OSS and
procedural fluency through Build common understanding among Student Work into public in mathematics other departments to work
conceptual understanding. teachers, coaches, and administrators of professional learning to including ambitious toward common goals.
what high-quality, culturally responsive broaden definitions of instructional routines.
Embed the examination math instruction looks like to ensure what constitutes math Advocate for (district and
of access, equity, power, coordinated support and feedback to knowledge and to focus Regularly engage school) structures and
& bias in every professional educators. educators’ all members of the systems that support math
learning opportunity that attention on assets rather community in common department goals.
the math department Strengthen pedagogical content of than deficits. mathematical experiences,
offers. knowledge1 of educators to build deep then reflect on those Proactively &
understanding of the math content & Expand the use of experiences by thinking systematically seek out
Build capacity of all practice standards and how students ambitious instructional about what it means authentic feedback from
stakeholders to examine learn math. routines3 that focus on to do math, how to students and teachers,
racism and injustice in the student sensemaking and create equitable math especially people of color
math classroom and at a Utilize principles from Universal Design equitable interactions classrooms, and what and others from non-
systemic level. for Learning2 to provide differentiated in the classroom until helps us learn math dominant groups, so
Tier 1 instruction that is accessible to all all students engage in deeply. that those most impacted
Support all schools to learners. these routines at least by this plan are directly
continue to teach in three times per week. Ensure that all describing the
heterogeneously grouped Collaboratively develop systematic Support teachers to adopt stakeholders understand effectiveness of
classrooms to ensure that approaches to intervention that support equitable practices based and can speak clearly implementations and
all students have access to all students’ meaningful participation in on these reasoning about the district math progress/challenges
Algebra standards before equitable math communities. routines during all math plan/initiatives, and toward our common goals.
entering high school. lessons. welcome opportunities to
Support Effective Use of Data to Improve do math.
Use Five Equity Based Instructional Practices.
Practices in Math as a
lens guide instrution and
observe math classroom

Developed by CPS Math Department DRAFT DOCUMENT, last updated 10/2021

Footnotes
1
Pedagogical Content Knowledge: 2
Universal Design for Learning:
Pedagogical content knowledge includes teachers’ interpretations and
• Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a way of thinking
transformations of subject-matter knowledge in the context of facili-
about teaching and learning that helps give all students an
tating student learning. There are several key elements of pedagogical
equal opportunity to succeed.
content knowledge: (1) knowledge of representations of subject matter
(content knowledge); (2) understanding of students’ conceptions of • This approach offers flexibility in the ways students access
the subject and the learning and teaching implications that were as- material, engage with it and show what they know.
sociated with the specific subject matter; and (3) general pedagogical
• Developing lesson plans this way helps all kids, but it may
knowledge (or teaching strategies). The knowledge base for teaching,
be especially helpful for kids with learning and thinking
also includes other elements: (4) curriculum knowledge; (5) knowl-
differences. (Morin)
edge of educational contexts; and (6) knowledge of the purposes of
education (Shulman, 1987). 3
Ambitious Instructional Routines:
“Ambitious teaching requires that teachers teach in response to
what students do as they engage in problem solving performances,
all while holding students accountable to learning goals that include
MATHEMATICS OBSERVATION TOOL procedural fluency, strategic competence, adaptive reasoning, and
5 Equity-Based Practices In Mathematics Classrooms productive dispositions.” (Kazemi, Franke, Lambert)

1 Going Deep with Mathematics

2 Leveraging multiple mathematical

competencies.

3 Affirming mathematics learners identities.

4 Challenging spaces of marginality.

5 Drawing on multiple resources of

knowledge (math, culture, language,
family, community)

Developed by the Cambridge Public Schools’ Math Department

Julie Ward, Katisha John & Heidi Fessenden, 2021