An Empirically Grounded System of Supports for Improving the Quality of Mathematics Teaching on a Large Scale

Research on the teaching and learning of mathematics has made significant progress in recent years. However, this work has had only limited impact on classroom instruction in many countries. We report on an eight-year project in which we partnered with several large urban school districts in the US that were attempting to support mathematics teachers’ development of ambitious, inquiry-oriented instructional practices. These partnerships provided contexts in which we could iteratively test and revise conjectures about instructional improvement strategies intended to support teachers’ and others’ learning. The product of this work is a theory of action for instructional improvement at scale that spans from the classroom to school system instructional leadership. We present project findings as they relate to key elements of the theory including: teachers’ knowledge, perspective and practices; instructional materials and student assessments; participatory supports for teachers’ learning; and additional supports for currently struggling students.