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For many educators, “back to school” season feels like New Year’s. From the anticipation of building new relationships with students to creating engaging activities to orchestrating class-wide discussions to setting new professional goals, the start of a new school year is full of exciting possibilities. Perhaps most present in all our minds is the possibility that the hope that this school year may be the most “normal” year we’ve had in a while.
While it’s impossible to ignore the toll a global pandemic has taken on all of us and our educational system, we also anticipate opportunities that can fundamentally shift our practice to one that is more equitable and meaningful for all students. As we welcome students and families into spaces of learning it can feel overwhelming to consider how to prioritize the growing “to do'' list. Oregon has revised math standards, new courses in development, and professional learning opportunities on the horizon. As exciting as it is to be a math teacher right now, it can be hard to know where to begin.
This September, the ODE Math Team encourages all partners in education to prioritize creating a sense of belonging in their schools, classrooms, and other learning environments. Getting to know students is part of this work, as is fostering relationships between students. Yet increasingly, we know that acknowledging and honoring students’ cultural and linguistic funds of knowledge, social and emotional learning needs, and mental health and wellness are foundational to creating a sense of belonging in learning environments. As you start your school year, whether your first or fortieth, here are some resources to support building a sense of belonging. Here’s to an amazing 2022-23 school year!
Oregon Math Project - Lead with Vision
The landscape of math education has begun to shift over the past several months. From revised standards, to ongoing review of instructional materials, to upcoming changes in assessment blueprints, districts and schools across Oregon are facing an exciting and complex implementation challenge.
A district’s goals and vision should serve as a guide throughout this complexity. At the “State of the State” presentation at Oregon Math Leaders Conference in August, Mark Freed discussed how our vision for math education can lead to practices we value, which in turn can lead to policies to align with this vision. Through grappling with questions such as, “What does success look like in mathematics?” districts can elevate their commitments to more equitably serving all students. These perceptions then lead into a systematic evaluation of instructional practices, and then to policies such as those around course placement or instructional material adoptions.
Before you dive into the complexity of implementation, take the time to engage your schools, educators, families, and students to develop a common vision of math learning and teaching in your district. Let this vision guide your future work in professional learning, instructional materials adoption, assessment practices, community engagement, policy shifts, and more.
Don’t know where to start? Use this matching activity to look back through the decades to hear voices from past math leaders and connect to the vision of the Oregon Math Project to engineer an equitable math system though Focus, Engagement, Pathways, and Belonging.
Photo by Paul Skorupskas on Unsplash
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2022 Instructional Materials Review
The State review of instructional materials occurred over this past summer and will be presented to the State Board this fall. Materials used to support the review process will be posted on the ODE website in the coming months once formatted to verify accessibility. In the interim, many districts will start their own review processes soon. Google document versions can be accessed in a shared folder with this link. Within the folder, you will be able to access:
- Training files used with the 2022 IM committee including: Module 1: Introduction & Module 3: Rating, Feedback, and Consensus. Module 2: Accessibility is a recording from the Language Arts review that we used this past summer as well.
- Copies of the Instructional Materials Evaluation Tool (IMET) that provide rubrics for each metric
- Copies of corresponding Evidence Guides that expand on the IMET to provide additional information such as importance of the metric and questions review teams could ask.
- Blank IMET versions that review teams could use for notes as they look closer at materials.
Questions about the review process itself can be directed to Aujalee Moore, ODE Instructional Materials Specialist. Questions about the math content in the guides above can be directed to Mark Freed, ODE Mathematics Education Specialist.
Photo by Adam Winger on Unsplash
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2022-2023 Interim Assessments Now Available
Oregon’s Interim Assessments in ELA, Math, and Science are now available for the 2022-2023 school year. Schools and districts may administer these assessments to students in-person or remotely. Information and professional learning resources to support test selection, administration, scoring, and data use are available on ODE’s Interim Assessment webpage. Each math interim assessment block is linked to a Connections Playlist in Tools for Teachers, which provides learning progressions and instructional resources to support students in taking their next learning step.
Contact your District Test Coordinator (DTC) to activate interim assessments. Please contact Andrew Byerley, Math Assessment Specialist, with questions or support needs.
Photo by Alysha Rosly on Unsplash
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Seeking Educators for Smarter Balanced Item and Achievement Level Descriptor (ALD) Review
Did you know that Oregon educators are involved in every step of the development of Oregon’s statewide assessments? If you’re looking for professional learning opportunities in 2022-23, please consider signing up for an assessment opportunity! ODE and Smarter Balanced are actively recruiting Oregon educators to apply for the fall Math Item and ALD Review workshop, held virtually from October 17 - 20. Educators not under contract at the time of the workshop will be compensated. Educators who are under contract will have substitute/guest teacher costs reimbursed. Interested educators can apply directly with Smarter Balanced. Please contact Andrew Byerley, Math Assessment Specialist, with any questions.
Photo by Quino Al on Unsplash
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You are Invited to the 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 invited!
During the 2022-23 school year, the network will meet virtually on the third Thursday of each month, with both morning (8:30-9:30am PT) and afternoon (3:30-4:30pm PT) options. 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.
Statewide OER Workshop
September 29, 2022
Looking to reinvigorate your practice and keep things fresh by incorporating new ideas and materials? The Oregon Open Learning team will host a statewide OER workshop on Thursday, September 29th from 4:00 - 5:30 pm. This virtual workshop will be an interactive professional learning event that will provide participants an opportunity to learn about open educational resources (OER) and the Oregon Open Learning Hub, Oregon’s K-12 repository for OER.
Register for the event here and share the opportunity with your colleagues. Contact the Oregon Open Learning Team at OregonOpenLearning@ode.oregon.gov with any questions. To receive the Oregon Open Learning quarterly newsletter, sign up here.
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Portland State University - Deepening Understanding of Mathematics Teaching and Learning Series
Registration is now open for PSU’s fall course designed for PreK-8 teachers and teacher leaders in mathematics: CI 512 Examining Operations with Whole Numbers and Fractions. See flyer for details.
Each class meets Tuesdays from 4:30 to 7:30 pm. We plan to continue using the Attend Anywhere format or the combination that works best for you (you may choose either face-to-face or online synchronous through Zoom).
These courses are part of the Deepening Understanding of Mathematics Teaching and Learning Series at Portland State University; they can be used for the Mathematics Instructional Leader Specialization from TSPC or a certificate of completion from PSU. Click here for program application information and scholarship options.
The ‘M’ in STEM and STEAM
Effective and engaging STEM programming must have a strong basis in mathematics, yet the focus is often more on integrating math into science, technology, and engineering activities than on integrating any of those subjects into math class. Yet what better way to ensure that students of STEM are gaining developmentally appropriate math concepts by having math educators engage in this work? For more information, see the joint position statement on STEM from the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Be sure to check out the U.S. Department of Education’s STEM website, with many valuable resources, including their monthly STEM newsletters.
If you are interested in STEM/STEAM and facilitating your students as they learn the real-world applications of math, have you thought about working with or utilizing your regional STEM/STEAM Hub? Oregon has thirteen Hubs that cover all school districts in the state. Check out this website to find out what your regional Hub is doing. In this month’s newsletter, we highlight two of the many STEM/STEAM Hub math-related activities and resources for PK-12 Math Educators.
Did you know that many STEM/STEAM Hubs have Educator Lending Libraries or Trailers with math-related materials available for checkout? One such item is the SumBlox Educational Package in the Mid-Valley STEM CTE Hub Lending Library. Available for checkout by teachers in Linn and Benton counties, the highly popular SumBlox set is an interactive, hands-on and visual tool for teaching both elementary math concepts, such as math operations and fractions, and secondary concepts, including algebra and geometry. The kit includes four teaching manuals and a new set of 80 Early Childhood Activity Cards, with completely new games and activities. For more information, be sure to visit the Mid-Valley STEM CTE Hub online, or navigate directly to the Educator Lending Library.
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Oregon’s New High School Mathways Progression
For many Oregon high school students, the historical math course sequence of Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 presents barriers because the courses may not be relevant or responsive to their post-graduation goals. To help improve student engagement, access, and relevance to college and career goals, the Oregon Math Pathways (or Mathways) Project was started in 2014 to explore other math sequence models that are more aligned to the strengths and needs of students. To support the recent revision of Oregon’s State Standards in Mathematics, the Oregon Legislature appropriated funding to enable collaboration among math educators from around the state, as well as national math and equity experts, to put the work into formal action. The revised K-12 standards include a two-year “core” set of high school standards focusing on the domains of algebra, geometry, and data science, along with a third year of rigorous coursework that is relevant to students’ postsecondary goals. This two-year core of math courses followed by a third-year math course is referred to as the “2+1 Model.”
To begin developing potential 2+1 courses, the Oregon Department of Education is funding six projects, facilitated by Oregon STEM Hubs. These projects engage math educators from around the state to develop and pilot high school math courses during the 2022-23 school year. One such program is the development of Core 9 and 10 applications, facilitated by Southern Oregon STE(A)M Hub. This group is actively seeking high school math teachers in the state to develop current and relevant applications for Algebra and Geometry, aligning to CTE programs and various industry sectors. If you are interested in joining this cadre, please fill out this application form. Successful applicants who complete the work have the opportunity to earn a stipend of up to $2,500.
We will continue to bring you updates on this and the other Mathways Projects in future newsletters, so stay tuned!
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Announcements or Opportunities to Share?
If you have an opportunity or announcement to share statewide, please contact the ODE Math Team. Our goal is to publish the Math Educator Update around the middle of every month throughout the academic year. As always, we appreciate your participation as Oregon’s mathematics community!
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