Creating a New Math Culture

How to transform math instruction to improve student learning. There’s an enormous challenge facing school principals and central office staff administrators: How does a leader provide relevant, meaningful feedback to teachers with the goal of improving instruction? Here’s an even more challenging task: How does one gain the content knowledge and skills needed to ensure this feedback is specific and appropriate? For the past two years, Lake Stevens School District (LSSD) has been tackling these questions in partnership with CEL side-by-side with teachers, and the results are impressive.
 
Lake Stevens began its work with CEL in 2007 with a focus on math through a 6th through 12th grade initiative focused on math, which later expanded to include 5th grade.  The goal: for central office and school leaders to expand their math content and instructional knowledge.  CEL math consultant, Dorothy Geary, and CEL Project Director, Wilma Kozai, worked in tandem to support the content and leadership learning of the district.  This entailed offering math content sessions focused on topics such as improving the quality of student discourse in explaining mathematical reasoning.  The leadership sessions supported this learning through guided walkthroughs in which participants practiced looking at classroom practice using their new learning as a lens.  The walkthroughs were structured to encourage administrators to suspend judgment about teaching, and instead to record what their observations made them notice and wonder about teaching and learning as it applied to their math goal.  Leaders also had the opportunity to identify strands that were consistent across classrooms, to inform their planning of future professional development.

Rob Manahan, LSSD Executive Director of Mid-Level Teaching and Learning, explained how this professional development has impacted his leadership, “I was not a math teacher.  But now I feel like I can speak pretty intelligently about what good math instruction looks like and I’m more confident in having these conversations with teachers. I totally respect their [the teachers’] work and feel we’re having great conversations about the issues of [student] equity in our district.”   Rob helped lead the math initiative with the goal of creating an embedded professional development opportunity for teachers.  He provided release time and established a residency model.  The model enabled teachers to observe a lesson taught by Geary, to co-teach a lesson with her, and then to collaborate in planning a lesson that fellow teachers would later observe and help to fine- tune.  This residency classroom structure supported teachers in working collaboratively while trying on new instructional strategies.  “Teachers are now clamoring to get release days to see one another teach.  It’s really great,” Rob told us.

Teachers were not the only ones to participate in these “fishbowl”-type experiences aimed at making the private practice of teaching more public.  Principals also practiced giving teachers specific feedback about their math instruction in the presence of their peers.  During the course of a year, Kozai took principals through guided walkthroughs where everyone observed instruction and Kozai then modeled debriefing conversations with teachers.  During the second year, the group of leaders joined Kozai in observing a lesson together, after which she debriefed the lesson with the building principal.  The principal then shared feedback with the teacher in front of the group of leaders.  Following this conversation, the group discussed their questions and what they learned from the experience.  “As a principal, I learned a lot about how to have a discussion where you can really get a teacher to reflect upon their practice,” shared Dave Bartlow, Skyline Elementary’s principal.  “It was also great to have high school teachers and administrators observe at the elementary level.  I think they learned a lot from seeing what we were doing [with students].”  

Tim Haines, principal at Sunnycrest Elementary, concurs.  “The most valuable lesson I’ve taken away is how to have classroom observation conversations.  I’m more able to ascertain the needs of the teacher and have a highly relevant conversation to help them grow in their math instruction.  I’ve learned concrete, developmentally appropriate ‘look fors’ before an observation so I’m able to hone in on strengths and craft powerful, meaningful conversations.”  Gary Taber, principal at Northlake Middle School, also has learned from the experience. “I was a German major.  Math was not my area.  So I’ve gained new filters to look at instruction.  We’re now talking about [student] discourse using CMP [Connected Math Project, the district’s math curriculum] and how to include the strategies and techniques learned through our work with CEL.”  A key element of the learning process with administrators is the gradual release component.  That is, beginning by modeling the process for administrators, then coaching alongside them, and finally “releasing” them to use techniques they have learned on their own.

Although administrators’ learning is significant, what is most important is the change leaders are noticing in regards to student learning since the beginning of this partnership.  “I’m hearing more student dialogue around math justification: specifically, the thinking around a response,” Haines told us.  “There’s been a transformation in how math is taught.  The ‘private think time’ students have is greatly beneficial.  All kids then have equitable opportunity to think; there isn’t interference with everyone’s ability to learn.”  Changes are also being noticed at the middle school level.  “I’ve noticed kids are taking on more ownership and explaining their reasoning more often,” Taber reported. “They’re starting to look at alternate ways to solve a problem with a deeper understanding of math concepts.  When I was in school, there were certain steps to solve a problem and an answer.  Now students need to explain what they’re learning and why they’re solving it that way.  Math teachers are also working more closely together at the mid-level.  They’re looking at common assessments, materials and coordinating approaches.  It’s morale-building.”

As educators, we know how difficult and challenging it can be to transform classroom instruction with the goal of improving student achievement.  It doesn’t just entail hard work.  It takes the right kind of hard work.  Lake Stevens has embraced the premise, consistent with CEL’s theory of action, that for true systemic reform to take place, leadership training needs to happen in concert with content-focused work.  That is, in order for teachers to receive specific, meaningful feedback to improve the quality of classroom instruction, leaders need to know what this powerful instruction looks like.  The leaders in Lake Stevens continue to strive toward this goal, and they are to be commended for their dedication and commitment.  As Haines observed, “I feel fortunate that Lake Stevens has partnered with UW CEL.  It has changed my own thinking about math instruction.”