The San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE) and the San Mateo County Community College District (SMCCCD) announced today the development of a new series of courses designed to promote greater equity in mathematics education. The courses, offered in partnership with Education Trust-West, will provide educators with an integrated approach to mathematics that centers on Black, Latinx, and multilingual students in grades 6-8, addresses barriers to math equity, and aligns instruction to grade-level priority standards.
Equity gaps for historically disadvantaged student groups are well documented. In the 2019 California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) administration, 17 percent of Black/African American and 24.2 percent of Hispanic/Latino 8th graders met the Math standard, compared to 73.9 percent of Asian students and 51.6 percent of White students. On the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a national test of student performance, California’s students are 4 percent points below the national average, with Black, Hispanic, Low Income, Students with Disabilities, and English Learners performing in the lowest performance band (NAEP basic).
Responding to this glaring need to improve math outcomes for all students, SMCOE, SMCCCD, and Education Trust-West gathered instructional designers, math experts, teachers, and teacher-trainers to design and deliver the online series of classes. The program is based on Education Trust-West’s toolkit, A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction Dismantling Racism in Mathematics Instruction, which addresses gaps in student outcomes with activities for uncovering bias and strategies for infusing antiracist pedagogy.
The training will address methods for deepening content understanding and relevance; creating environments and practices that support students’ social, emotional, and academic development; and strengthening the interconnectedness of English language learning and the development of mathematical thinking.
“We are thrilled to partner with the Community College District and Education Trust-West on this critical initiative,” explained San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools Nancy Magee. “It is only by working together, especially across systems, that we can accelerate success for all students.”
The series launches today on October 27, 2020, and includes a set of short courses held once a week over five weeks. In this first offering, SMCOE and SMCCCD, through its Community, Continuing & Corporate Education (CCCE) division, anticipate training up to 200 middle school teachers. The California Partnership for Math and Science Education will organize special groups to provide follow-up support and give teachers the opportunity to speak with each other about their work implementing the toolkit.
With this training series, SMCOE and SMCCCD build on their experience designing and delivering training for teachers on distance learning throughout the summer and early fall. That training, which is still in demand, has equipped 20 percent of San Mateo County educators with the skills not only to teach online, but also design lessons, conduct assessments, keep students engaged, and communicate effectively.
For more information on this partnership, please visit the Micro-Course website.