LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Nearly two thousand Jefferson County Public Schools teachers are learning how to instruct math in a different way. The goal is to set up students for success, regardless of where they live.
JCPS is instituting a systemwide reading and math curriculum for kindergarten through eighth grade students for the 2023-24 school year. Educators are receiving training on Imagine Learning's Illustrative Mathematics (IM), which is curriculum designed to give all students equity and access to grade-level mathematics.
On Tuesday, more than 600 elementary and middle school teachers participated in collaborative exercises to learn about the instruction and the best tactics to teach students at Atherton High School. More teachers, coaches, and leaders from JCPS will participate throughout the week.
"One of the most important things to me as an educator and a parent is that no matter where my child goes to school, no matter what seat they sit in, they get a high-quality, engaging and exciting experience in all content areas," said Elisabeth Read, JCPS Curriculum Design and Support Specialist. "This provides us with that level playing field -- common resources, common language, common routines -- so that kids will know what to expect when they come into the math classroom. That's how we provide equity for all our students."
Christopher Miller, a fourth grade teacher at Wilkerson Elementary, said the new initiative will make things easier for instructors. Miller also believes the new curriculum will help students who are transitioning to new schools.
"A lot of times, you get kids who move schools during the middle of the year," Miller said. "You're already coming in as a new student, and that's scary. Then, you come in, and you're learning all new things. That won't happen now."
Illustrative Mathematics provides interactive experiences for students with instructional routines, collaborative math discourse and digital tools that promote thinking and reasoning. It also provides a cohesive foundation for students as they move to the next grade level.
Educators hope students will feel valued and empowered to ask more questions and that a deeper understanding will translated to better standardized test scores.
"We know that the deep thinking and conversations that they have in their everyday classroom will translate to more creative problem solving on some of those high-stakes assessments," Read said.
The state's largest school district has been rolling out the plan for the past several years.
"We're finally at a place where the majority of our students are going to get to benefit from this program," said Read.
JCPS will share family support videos to explain how Illustrative Math works.
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