Too often, students get the message that it’s acceptable to underperform in math because, well, lots of people just aren’t good at math.
We all know that’s not good enough.
At Columbia Early College High School, we’ve set out to change that mindset in students by changing the attitudes of the adults who work with them almost everywhere in school. Our faculty and staff have long advocated the approach to literacy integration across the curriculum. We believe without question that “students should read, write, think and talk in every classroom every day.” We’re confident that approach helps students strengthen those skills.
So why not apply that also to math?
This year, teachers at Columbia Early College are adding a new wrinkle to their lessons, with the integration of MATH across the curriculum.
This idea grew out of our work last school year with the NC New Schools’ Secondary Lenses on Learning professional development, which focuses not only on math teachers, but also school and district leaders and guidance counselors to work collaboratively to improve our ability to encourage mathematical thinking in our students.
During sessions, our team did mathematics together, discussed research articles, and examined cases that provided insight into powerful mathematics teaching and learning. Between sessions, we collected data and reflected as a team. The series culminated in the development of a mathematics improvement plan that is grounded both in the research literature and in a wide range of school data collected by our team.
Our plan centers on a goal, which is part of our overall school improvement plan for the year, to improve mathematical thinking among our students. To get there, our math teachers realized, they wanted to tackle the negativity, fearfulness, and avoidance that many adults convey to students about mathematics.
One teacher stated, “You never hear teachers say they are not good at reading, but it is common to hear otherwise positive educators say they are not good at math.” These negative attitudes allow our students to make excuses for a less- than-stellar performance in math, and we’ve resolved to tackle the negativity and find ways to show our students how math can be engaging, meaningful, and relevant to their lives.
More than a dozen years ago, the National Research Council was underscoring the importance of mathematical literacy, and that kind of understanding has only become even more crucial in today’s STEM-driven world.
“To function in today’s society,” the National Research Council said in 2001, “mathematical literacy is as essential as verbal literacy. These two kinds of literacy, although different, are not unrelated. Without the ability to read and understand, no one can become mathematically literate. Increasingly, the reverse is also true: without the ability to understand basic mathematical ideas, one cannot fully comprehend modern writing such as that which appears in the daily newspapers.”
Taking advantage of new options for customized professional learning, we worked with NC New Schools’ Senior Director Robin Marcus to design “Mathematical Practices Across the Curriculum” professional learning for all Columbia Early College and high school teachers. To extend our reach, we invited the entire faculty from our feeder middle school to join us.
Our first task was to show all teachers that they can successfully “do math.” Robin accomplished this with a thought-provoking “border problem,” requiring teachers to collaborate, develop multiple methods to solve a challenging math problem, and to experience success. Unlike typical algebra problems, which for the most part require moving symbols around on paper according to given rules or procedures, the border problem provides multiple entry points, allows for varied approaches, and supports sense-making - of one’s own thinking and that of others. Next, we dove into a study of the Eight Mathematical Practices and brainstormed ways these could be integrated into diverse curricula. Teachers then integrated these practices into rigorous lessons in subjects ranging from science to art to history to English.
Our work is continuing as the school year progresses. Teachers continue to find ways to share the responsibility to help our students use the math they know to enrich their understanding of other subjects, and to help students understand how mathematics is relevant to their everyday lives. Each month teachers bring examples of lessons integrating mathematics into their curricula to faculty meetings, sharing their ideas with colleagues and brainstorming new ways to make math accessible and meaningful to their students.
Together, we are working to banish mathematics negativity, to improve mathematical literacy, and to help all students make connections between mathematical practices, cross curricular disciplines, and their daily lives.
