Math Educator Update :: August 2021

Entering 2021-22 with Care and Connection

As Oregon students return to classrooms full-time this fall, there will understandably be a range of excitement, fear, and caution among students, their families, and school staff.

The Oregon Department of Education is urging every school and district to welcome its staff and students back with Care and Connection Week. This means devoting the first weeks of the school year to building relationships and community, and creating welcoming spaces for everyone.

For additional information and resources, please visit the ODE Care and Connection webpage.

ODE’s Commitment to Equity and Access in Math Education

ODE is committed to supporting an equitable mathematics system that intentionally broadens the participation and engagement of all students while harnessing the cultural, linguistic, and mathematical competencies they bring to the classroom. The vision of the Oregon Math Project is to engineer a system of equitable and rigorous mathematics teaching and learning where all students are invited to the table with an authentic sense of belonging, purpose, and joy throughout their K-12 learning.

Understand ODE’s commitments to equitable mathematics education by visiting the ODE Mathematics webpage.

Continuing the Journey: Mathematics Learning 2021 and Beyond

“With so many interruptions and variations in student experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, there are those who assume that students will have lost a year or more of learning. But students did learn during the pandemic.” So begins Continuing the Journey: Mathematics Learning 2021 and Beyond, a joint publication from NCTM, NCSM, and ASSM.

ODE joins the math education community in our commitment to provide equitable learning experiences through the pillars of Grade-Level Content, Equitable and Effective Teaching Practices, and Advocacy. Find more ideas, questions to consider, and resources in the full publication.

2021 Math Standards Review and Revision Update 

In July, the second draft of the revised Oregon Mathematics Standards was posted for public review.  Draft documents can be found on the ODE Math Standards page, and comments can be submitted through this public feedback form until September 20, 2021.  

Highlights of changes from the previous draft include:

• The addition of a K-12 Data Reasoning domain based on the American Statistical Association’s GAISE II framework;
• The consolidation of measurement standards into a Geometric Reasoning & Measurement domain;
• The re-organization of High School Standards into clusters using NCTM Essential Skills framework; and
• The renumbering of High School Standards to eliminate gaps found in the previous version. 

Feedback will be collected in September in preparation for the first reading by the State Board of Education at their September 2021 meeting. Updates will be included in the math educator update newsletter. Please contact Mark Freed, Mathematics Education Specialist, with any questions or for more information.

Mathways 2021-23 Grant Update 

The 2021 Legislative Session included $2.0 million in support for mathematics in the upcoming biennium.  The new funds will be used to support implementation of the 2+1 Math Pathways model by:

1. Creating statewide professional learning opportunities related to research-based equitable teaching practices in high school mathematics;
2. Supporting the regional design, development, and implementation of high school math courses that align to the Math Pathways model;
3. Creating a communication plan that will help schools and communities understand the benefits of the Math Pathways model for all students; and
4. Developing a coalition of secondary, postsecondary, and community math partners to guide and advance a vision of math education that better serves all students.

Course development and professional learning opportunities are anticipated to begin in early 2022. Stay tuned for more information about this exciting opportunity! Contact Mark Freed, Mathematics Education Specialist, with any questions or for more information.

Oregon Open Learning Featured Resource

The Oregon Open Learning Hub is a digital resource repository and collaboration space for educators, administrators, and other educational partners to curate, create, and remix open educational resources (OER). The Hub is a portal to over 50,000 openly licensed resources available on OER Commons, searchable by grade level, subject, and standard. 

This month, we are featuring Universal Screeners for Number Sense (USNS) in Grades K-5. These interview-based tools contain assessments for fall, winter, and spring, and are available in English and Spanish. Screeners can be found here: Grade K, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, and Grade 5

Want to learn more about OER and the Oregon Open Learning Hub? Join the Oregon Open Learning team for an OER Workshop on Tuesday, October 12 at 4 p.m. Register here. More information can be found on this promotional flyer. Asynchronous learning options include the OER Professional Learning Group on the Hub and the User Guide for Oregon Open Learning.

Equitable Grading Practices Fall PLC

• What is your purpose for grades and grading?
• How do you ensure both are equitable for learners you serve?
• How do your current grading practices and policies align with your beliefs about teaching, learning, and equity?

These questions have been underscored in distance learning and navigating teaching and learning through a global pandemic. At the request of several Oregon districts, the Oregon Department of Education is collaborating with national educational leaders to develop professional learning modules for school-based teams in Fall 2021. These modules will help teams facilitate their own analysis of their school’s grading practices and draft an action plan to continue their work in the spring. School-level teams will represent K-12 schools, should comprise around 5 educator-leaders (including instructional coaches) as well as the building administrator, and are not content-specific. 

Teams will engage in five Canvas modules in two-week cycles -- two modules in October, two in November, and one in December -- completing checkpoints along the way. The modules are designed for local in-person learning, and each team will have the opportunity to share and collaborate with other teams around the state. Teams can learn more here and registration is open through September 17, 2021. Please email the ODE Equitable Grading Practices team with any questions.

[Photo by Agence Olloweb on Unsplash]

Oregon’s Interim Assessment System and Tools for Teachers

Oregon students and educators continue to have free access to a high-quality, standards-aligned interim assessment system and Tools for Teachers resources. Oregon’s interim assessments are optional “just-in-time” blocks that can easily be aligned to grade- and course-level units. These interim assessment blocks provide educators with actionable data about student knowledge and abilities to help target instruction to meet students’ individual learning needs.

Oregon’s interim assessments are seamlessly linked to the Tools for Teachers platform, which includes student performance progressions, instructional resources, formative assessment strategies, and professional learning resources that are created by educators, for educators. For more information, contact Andrew Byerley, Mathematics Assessment Specialist.

Oregon Math Leaders Network

The Oregon Math Leaders Network is a community of math practitioners who work together to implement and support math teaching and learning in Oregon. Participants include teacher leaders, TOSAs, program administrators, college faculty, and math community partners. If you identify as a math leader, you are! We support each other personally and professionally by asking critical questions, collaborating on problems of practice, and sharing our work. 

Because this network spans the state, the topics of our collaboration will generally be driven by district needs. Examples of such activities include:

• Professional learning opportunities, for both teachers and administrators.
• Curating and sharing promising resources and effective strategies.
• Support for evaluation and implementation of instructional materials.
• Support for building-level activities such as lesson study groups and one-on-one discussions.
• Networking with other math leaders across Oregon.

For the 2021-22 school year, the network plans to meet virtually on the third Thursday of each month from 3:30-4:30pm. To receive a calendar invitation and Zoom link, please join the Oregon Math Leaders Google Group. If you’re already a member, you don’t need to sign up again -- you’ll get the invite and link. The first meeting of 2021-22 will be Thursday, September 16, 2021. Hope to see you online!

[Image source: Icon-library.com, #85678]

Synchronous Online Professional Development for Rural Mathematics Coaches (SyncOn)

The University of Rochester and University of Idaho are collaborating on an NSF-funded project supporting rural math coaches, and have begun recruitment for a second cohort for 2021-2023. Participants will engage in an online course, online coaching video clubs, and online video coaching cycles, as well as research activities over the two year term. Please see the program flyer for more information about these activities and specific dates for the upcoming year. 

The professional learning and research activities are at no cost to you or your district, and participants will receive a payment up to an annual maximum of $500. In addition, your district will receive $500 per coach participant for professional development that can be spent at the district’s discretion. These funds will be paid out after the first year of participation in the project.

Please email Jennifer Kruger if you are interested in finding out more information about this project and/or would like to attend the information session on September 13, 2021, from 4:00-5:00pm PT (Zoom link will be provided).