High School Pathways Webinar 1

Challenges, Guiding Principles, Integrated Courses, Coherent Pathways and

Suggestions for Implementation

Steve Leinwand, American Institutes for Research (AIR);

Mark Freed, Oregon Department of Education

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October 27, 2022

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Oregon Department of Education

Agenda

• Welcome
• Webinar is being recorded
• Please mute microphone
• Overview of Oregon Math Pathways
• Guest Speaker
• Steve Leinwand, American Institutes for Research
• Challenges, Guiding Principles, Integrated Courses, Coherent Pathways and Suggestions for Implementation
• Q&A
• Type questions in the chat or use raise hand feature

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Oregon Department of Education

Math Webinar Series

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Oregon Department of Education

Engineering Equity: The Story of Modern Mathematics Education in the United States

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Where We Are:

Math as a Filter

Where We Want to Be:

Math as a Pump

Oregon Department of Education

Oregon Math Project:

Four Cornerstones

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Engineering a better system:

Meaningful math for every student

Oregon Department of Education

Examples of Cornerstone Principles

Instructional Materials Criteria

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Oregon Department of Education

Tracks vs. Paths

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Oregon Department of Education

Improved

Tracks

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Oregon Department of Education

Improved

Tracks

Pathways

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Oregon Department of Education

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Oregon Department of Education

Core 2 Course Examples

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Oregon Department of Education

Steve Leinwand

Challenges, Guiding Principles, Integrated Courses, Coherent Pathways and Suggestions for Implementation

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Oregon Department of Education

Let’s Talk High School Math:�Challenges, Guiding Principles, Integrated Courses, Coherent Pathways and Suggestions for Implementation�“The Status Quo is No Longer Acceptable”

Oregon – October 27, 2022

Steve Leinwand

American Institutes for Research

sleinwand@air.org www.steveleinwand.com

Opening Gift for Your Consideration:

Democracy

Debate

Evidence

Data

Data Analysis/Statistics

Ergo there is a direct line from data analysis and statistics to the survival of our democracy

Ready? (A low-floor opening engagement)

I say “high school mathematics.”

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The first thing that comes into your mind is _______.

How do you think your students would fill in the blank?

Opening Salvo – To invigorate or to deaden?

To invigorate is to give strength and energy to; to animate or give life to. We invigorate when we energize, enliven, jazz (up), jump-start, pep (up), stimulate and vitalize.

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Now think of high school mathematics.

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Too often it’s the opposite. A litany of invigorate antonyms: deaden, exhaust, depress, dull and tiresome.

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Ergo: The status quo is simply unacceptable and it isn’t going to change via top-down mandates nor, in most places, via teacher-led reform. Rather, it will take YOUR informed and committed BOLD LEADERSHIP navigating the playing field.

How does this humanize?

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How does this invigorate?

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How is this any different from the square root algorithm that no one misses?

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For many it deadens.

Alternatively:

It enlivens. It humanizes.

It invites interest. And it is fundamentally mathematical -

not as enrichment,

but as core instruction.

Intersectionality – Why are we “learning” this?

Look at what we talk about as

BOLD LEADERS and CARING TEACHERS:

• Limiting opportunity
• Irrational curriculum
• Inequitable teaching
• Inadequate differentiation
• Ignoring the power of technology
• The power of tradition and inertia
• Deficit thinking
• Unacceptable outcomes
• Brain-numbing classes

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And they all come together when we look at invigorating high school math!

A straightforward agenda for this morning:

• Why bother worrying about HS math?
• What specific changes need to be seriously considered?
• What are some essential implementation strategies?

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Why bother considering significant change?

Too much of high school math is obsolete, unteachable and exacerbates inequity.

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Not convinced?

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• Factoring with leading coefficients greater than 1; trig identities; synthetic division; memorizing theorems; rationalizing denominators, technology bans in a world of Desmos, Alexa and google
• Where is the statistics? The modeling? The opportunities for real problem solving?
• 60 standards, 14 chapters, 700-page textbooks
• An unrelenting focus on the one right remembered procedure to get the one right answer to and endless stream of exercises
• Tracking practices, different expectations, limited opportunities

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Why bother, more specifically?

• 100 years of Algebra 1 – Geometry – Algebra 2 – PreCalc/Trig
• Common Core K-8 vs. 9-12 resulting in little guidance or incentive to change (not fewer, not clearer, no progressions, not internationally benchmarked, not integrated)
• A race through the curriculum, but first ½ of Algebra 2 is simply a 2 to 1 dilation of all of Algebra 1 and every calculus teacher will tell you that there is a lot of Algebra 2 and Pre-Calc that isn’t needed for Calculus today
• NAEP, SAT, ACT and PISA all reveal serious problems with important mathematical understanding
• The colleges and universities really are changing

Report of the Committee of Ten on Secondary School Studies

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1894!!!

SAT and ACT Raw Score Realities

In other words:

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We are taking this on to address a range of very clear and very real challenges.

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“Hey world: the status quo in high school math is simply unacceptable.”

The excuses we make are legion

1. They don’t have the basic skills – But…
2. They just aren’t motivated – Well duh…
3. I’ve got to prepare them for the tests – Yes, but DOK 2 and 3
4. But it’s what colleges demand – Changing rapidly
5. There just isn’t enough time – YES!
6. My textbook guides what I do – Yeah, but…
7. I don’t have the technology needed to change what I do – Why not?
8. I don’t have the training –AMEN!

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And once we acknowledge needs and challenges,

we can turn to opportunities.

14 Guiding Principles

Chapter 3 available for free download at https://samplechapters.heinemann.com/invigorating-high-school-math

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1. Goals and Purposes – a shared, written and honored set of goals to guide decision-making, policy and program.
2. Vision – a descriptive and explicit vision of effective teaching and learning.
3. Equity and Access – an assurance of access to quality curriculum and teaching.
4. Culture – a culture of mutual respect and collegial collaboration.
5. Scope – a focus on the essential ideas and processes of math.
6. Differentiation – a common core of essential mathematics differentiated by life and career goals.
7. Integrated Math – a recognition that math is a unified body of knowledge about quantify, change, uncertainty, shape and dimension.

Guiding Principles (continued)

8. Content and Process Standards – a program driven by standards or expectations that inform course and unit learning goals.
9. Connections – an explicit and coherent exploration of how ideas relate.
10. Context and Modeling – an inclusion of situations, applications, contemporary problems that illustrate the power and usefulness of math.
11. Assessment – a recognition that assessment is an integral part of instruction.
12. Technology – a full uses of the technologies that increase the productivity of instruction
13. Adequate Time – it’s incredibly hard to do in less than one hour each day.
14. Professional Growth and Collaboration – an intensive focus on professional growth and collaboration among teachers

Guiding Questions

So Chapter 3 is freely available at:

https://samplechapters.heinemann.com/invigorating-high-school-math

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Start a discussion after reading the chapter with:

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1. Of these fourteen domains, which ones do you think your department comes

closest to meeting? In what ways is this the case?

2. Of these fourteen domains, which ones do you think your department is farthest from meeting? Why do you think this is the case? What specific steps can you take to change this?

3. Of these fourteen domains, and given that it is impossible to simultaneously address them all, which two or three do you and your colleagues believe are good places to start?

Converting Principles into Courses

One answer for grades 9 and 10:

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Two common, integrated (algebra, geometry, statistics) courses

- Integrated High School Mathematics 1

- Integrated High School Mathematics 2

Unit Example

Converting Principles into Pathways

Three Differentiated pathways for relevant, meaningful, appropriate mathematics for grades 11 and 12.

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(Wait, I’ll enlarge it in a second)

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And again, detailed course outlines for each new or nontraditional course

But curriculum is necessary, but not sufficient

It’s a system:

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• Curriculum – delete what is obsolete, add what is newly essential
• Pedagogy – equitable teaching practices as the norm
• Assessment – high quality common unit assessments
• Technology
• Professional Collaborations

What we know about change:

• Change takes time, but too often we are asked to implement changes prematurely, before getting buy-in and before those who need to do the implementation are adequately trained and ready.
• Change begins with informed discussion, but too often the scope of change is imposed without adequate discussion or without building a consensus for change.
• Change takes careful planning, but too often insufficient time and resources are allocated to this essential step, resulting in decisions that are imposed, made prematurely, or made without adequate thought to their implications.

What we know about change:

• Change takes winning over colleagues and decision makers, but too often we ignore recalcitrant colleagues who undermine change initiatives, we leave administrators having to defend decisions they don’t understand, and we forget that board members will worry that changes will negatively affect their own, or their neighbor’s, children, and we fail to brief all decision makers early in the process and continuously over time.
• Change requires mutual trust, a sense of collegiality, and shared purpose that must be built, but too often failure is blamed on recalcitrant teachers who are left uninvolved or uncommitted to the change.
• Change requires support, but too often the time, resources, and outside consultative assistance are not forthcoming.
• Change requires careful monitoring, nimble revision, and ongoing refinement, but too often change is “one and done,” without a deep understanding that nothing of quality is done in one iteration.

Accordingly, a 5-year implementation plan

• Year 1: Review current conditions, read research and build consensus
• Year 2: Pilot various shifts and engage in intense planning
• Year 3: Initial implementation of one grade 9 and one grade 11 course with close monitoring
• Year 4: Implementation of more courses and refinement of Year 3 efforts
• Year 5: Institutionalization of invigorated program

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Questions???

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Thank you

“The Status Quo is Simply Not Acceptable”

Q & A

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Oregon Department of Education

Mathways Grants (2022-23)

https://sites.google.com/mesd.k12.or.us/oregon-math-project-statewide/home

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Math Webinar Series

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Oregon Department of Education

Questions

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Mark Freed, Math Education Specialist

Andy Byerley, Math Assessment Specialist

Kama Almasi, STEM Education Specialist

Oregon Department of Education