Letter: 'Sudbury Public Schools...Does The Math Add Up?"

SUDBURY, MA — The following letter was submitted:

Common Core math standards were adopted in 2010 by more than 40 states. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education updated its math curriculum frameworks in 2011 to reflect Common Core standards. There has been a six-year lag between Common Core adoption and publishers releasing updated curricula. Elementary schools have needed to think creatively to build curricula to meet the needs of students and align with Common Core. SPS has faced this challenge with thoughtful hard work, and yet, our teachers and students have been plodding along without a core math curriculum.

On Jan. 19, the Sudbury Education Association published an article in the Crier called “Math Education: A Teacher’s Voice” detailing how math instruction is delivered in grades K-5. Classroom teachers, math coaches, and curriculum administrators gathered numerous resources for teachers to use in lesson planning. Some of these resources include Kathy Richardson, Investigations, Numicon, and Eureka Math curricula. This dedicated team brought in methods to deepen students’ math thinking, such as, Number Talks, 3-Act Tasks, and Math Journaling.

While waiting for publishers, SPS staff has done countless hours of collaborative work through professional development and a variety of math leadership teams, as described in the “Teacher’s Voice” article. This effort resulted in grade level curriculum maps detailing a scope and sequence that addresses each DESE standard, including links to lesson plans, activities, and other resources. Our teachers, coaches, and administrators have become curriculum developers.

This process provided excellent resources, however without core curriculum students do not have common language or a consistent format to build from each year. Teachers devote time to curriculum development that could otherwise be spent on lesson planning and differentiation. Inevitably, inconsistencies arise across schools, grade levels, and classes.

A few publishers have now released aligned curricula. Second grade is piloting Investigations, while third grade pilots Eureka Math. When the SPS budget was announced, new math curriculum was being delayed for yet another year. With community and teacher advocacy, administration has prioritized new math curriculum in next year’s budget. Our students will finally have the core instruction they need. Our teachers will be able to focus on lesson planning and teaching. The recent curriculum development work now provides extensive resources from which to differentiate and deepen instruction.

So, does SPS math add up? Through the collaboration and creativity of our SPS community, if it doesn’t yet, it will soon.

Maia Proujansky-Bell

38 Lakewood Dr.

Parent, Teacher, Taxpayer