The basis for my expertise in K-12 mathematics is grounded in my work
for Illustrative Mathematics,
where I am a
Content Leader. That work includes writing, reviewing and editing tasks, each
of which must be reviewed by at least one mathematics expert and one content
expert before it can appear on the site. (Alas, I haven't been spending as much
time on the task bank lately.)
Within Illustrative Mathematics, I have been working in a group focussed on the
Mathematical
Practices and with another group which aims to provide resources
such as these
videos for teacher professional learning. It has been a real pleasure to meet and work
with K-12 teachers and fellow university faculty from around the country as part of these
efforts.
I have been supporting the
Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium in a number of ways.
- The "balance" in the consortium's name refers to a balance of different kinds of assessment
including formative assessment, which teachers use to understand where their students are
during the learning process. These formative materials will be available in a digital
library available to teachers. They are being written by teachers (who form a State
Network of Educators in each participating state). I am part of Oregon's State Leadership Team,
whose job it is to help train these excellent teachers in some of the finer points of the
development of these resources. We will be having plenty of conversations about "juicy math."
- I review
items which will be used in both the interim assessments (that is, could be used as a
unit test by a teacher at any time) and the summative assessments (end-of-year tests which
can sometimes have high stakes attached). My main concerns are mathematical correctness and
fidelity to the Common Core.
- I was interviewed for a
document which discusses the changes we are working to make based on the Common Core,
aimed at teachers, principals and parents. It is organized as a discussion of tasks, which
I think is the right way to approach such a discussion.
- I participated in the process of writing of Achievement Level Descriptors.
The work which brings the most satisfaction through face-to-face interaction
has been through a partnership with
the Lane Education Service District and local school districts which we have
been calling
Lane Ignite the Core. District math leaders, teachers and I have been meeting regularly,
and we have a number of common efforts, mainly in the area of professional learning.
For example, in summer of 2013 we had over one hundred teachers broken into four grade bands,
for a
week-long training session. Now that the University of Oregon
Mathematics Department has hired Tricia Bevans to do such work, we plan to continue
these kinds of efforts throughout the school year. Tricia likes to talk about concepts which
"stick", so we make up the "juicy math/ sticky math" team.
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