Washington, DC is Working – on Math

It’s great to see things working in Washington again – and not just in the federal government. Building on DC’s recent success on annual assessments and NAEP, the DC Math Task Force has shared recommendations to further boost math proficiency for all students.

The Task Force convened every six weeks last school year, analyzing existing research, assessment data, policy, and community input – including a survey of educators, parents, school leaders, and others. Their first recommendation is music to my ears: All local education agencies should select, adopt, and implement high-quality instructional materials for grades K-8 and all math courses required for graduation. Even better, it continues:

Local education agencies should report the names of the instructional materials they use to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) for annual publication, and
OSSE should create and publish a toolkit for local education agencies to use to adopt and implement high-quality materials – which it published in June.

There are plenty of recommendations for high-quality professional learning, too. To name just a few:

OSSE should develop or adopt an evidence-based math instruction course.
OSSE should develop and publish a list of high-quality professional learning opportunities for evidence-based math.
OSSE should develop and facilitate a math instructional leader cohort.

This type of surround-sound support for improving math instruction is rare, and it shows what states can accomplish with the support of engaged community leaders who can do the hard work of thinking critically about what is needed to support teachers and students.

DC’s efforts to improve math instruction should be praised, and that’s what the Collaborative for Student Success aims to do with its new initiative, Math That Works. Created in partnership with the Greater Washington Board of Trade and the local news station WTOP, this radio and video series highlights math initiatives in the DC-Maryland-Virginia area. Stay tuned for more updates from Math That Works by checking out the website.

Jocelyn Pickford is an education policy and communications specialist focusing on understanding and promoting practitioner-informed public policy across the private, public and non-profit sectors as a Partner with Waypoint Education Partners. She began her career in education as a high school English teacher in a regular and special education inclusion classroom and is now a public school parent and recent member of her local district school board. Previously, Jocelyn led the design, launch and implementation of the Teaching Ambassador Fellowship at the U.S. Department of Education to integrate teachers into the national education policy dialogue.

Jocelyn’s passion for her work was seeded during her own public school education and took root during her classroom teaching experience in Fairfax County, Virginia, where she led action research and presented instructional materials to a variety of audiences. Jocelyn earned her bachelor’s degree from Trinity College (CT), working as a professional writer and editor prior to becoming a teacher, and obtained her master’s in secondary education from George Washington University. Jocelyn lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and two children.