Math Curriculum Adoption - Public Viewing

Secondary Math Curriculum Adoption - Public Viewing
Posted on 04/01/2021
This is the image for the news article titled Secondary Math Curriculum Adoption - Public ViewingIn 2019-20 a district wide group of teachers and administrators began to look at what it meant to teach math in NKSD. The group looked at philosophy, standards, alignment and pedagogy and correlated these to the materials that were being used across the district. Our current MS and HS materials were determined to be the most in need of updating.

A team of teachers from four MS/HS buildings spent the fall and winter of this current school year reviewing a combined 18 curricula covering the 6-8 and 9-11 grade bands. Based on those reviews, a recommendation was given to the Instructional Materials Committee (IMC) and subsequently to the School Board that two curricula should be put forward for a pilot during the fall of 2021. This recommendation was accepted by both IMC and the School Board.

The two programs selected were McGraw Hill Reveal Math (MS and HS Integrated) and MS/HS Illustrative Math (officially licensed through McGraw Hill). We are making these materials available for public comment. Due to the COVID restrictions we are only able to offer this via an online preview of the student materials. In the table below are a series of links that will take you to a review of the materials, to the publishers’ websites, the direct link to the previews and to a form that you can use to provide any feedback that you may wish to give.
Math InfographicWhat is Integrated Math?
Many, if not most of us were taught math in High School by splitting up different schools of mathematics into different classes, such as Geometry, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Statistics, Calculus and so on. Students would take Geometry class, focus in for one year, and then never truly use it again until it was time to study for the ACT or SAT. Integrated math is a different approach. It involves many topics of mathematics each year. Every math course students take involves algebra, geometry, trigonometry, statistics, and more. Lessons builds on each other and get more advanced year after year. Spiraling concepts in this way supports the continued practice of mathematical skills and concepts to help embed them in long-term memory.

After three years of Integrated Math, students will have mastered the concepts presented in a traditional three-year pathway. However, students’ problem-solving and reasoning skills should be much stronger, because Integrated Math more deeply explores the relationships among algebraic, geometric, and statistical concepts. Through the Integrated Math curriculum, students are challenged to solve “math tasks” rather than simply focusing on mastering algorithms.

Is integrated math a better system?
According to this article by Madeline Will for EdWeek.org, students who have
an integrated math curriculum have been proven in studies to outperform students who followed the traditional American math curriculum. This same article also stated: “Many countries—including those whose students outperform the United States in international assessments—use an integrated-mathematics sequence at the secondary level. And many American teachers and administrators who have transitioned to a combined-math pathway say they have seen benefits.”

How does it work?
Check out the infographic to compare what classes students take with the integrated math approach vs. The traditional American approach.

To access the Illustrative Math Curriculum and Reveal Curriculum, download the PDF attached below. The link to each feedback form is available at the bottom of the spreadsheet.  Thank you for participating in the public review process.

Math Adoption Overview pdf