Improving math instruction and achievement in older grades and for students furthest behind to strengthen outcomes

On Wednesday, November 6, 2024, Education Policy Initiative Director Chelsea Coffin testified before the D.C. Council Committee of the Whole at its Mathematics Education Improvement hearing. Her testimony focuses on strengthening math instruction and achievement, specifically in older grades and for those struggling the most, recommendations for the newly created task force, and prioritizing professional development training and resources, especially for new teachers. You can read her testimony below, or download a PDF copy.

There is need to focus on strengthening math instruction and achievement in D.C. through a dedicated Task Force. Statewide assessment results show that a smaller share of students are meeting or exceeding expectation in math (23 percent in math compared to 34 percent in English Language Arts, or ELA). Furthermore, the gap between pre-pandemic achievement and achievement in school year 2023-24 is greater in math (8 percentage points lower) than ELA (3 percentage points lower).

Beyond the lower overall achievement, a larger share of students (especially at secondary schools) are at the lowest performance levels in math than ELA. For example, among middle school students, the share of students performing at Levels 1 & 2 (did not yet meet or partially met expectations) is 55 percent doing in math and 40 percent doing so in ELA. The gap between ELA and math is even larger for high school students,¹ more than 20 percentage points in the percent at Levels 1 & 2—this means it will be harder to catch up students in math than ELA.

Bill B25-800, Mathematics Education Improvement Amendment Act of 2024, proposes a task force to identify actionable steps to improve math instruction and achievement, especially for struggling students. This work will build on some strategies used for literacy in D.C., focusing on evidenced-based instructional materials, professional development for educators, and curricula to improve math education. Prioritizing resources and training for math teachers is imperative, particularly given that 27 percent of math teachers are new to their school, subject, or grade band in a given year.

I will close with some recommendations for OSSE’s newly-created Math Task Force. The Math Task Force should approach the problem in a way that is different from the Early Literacy Task Force² in important ways. First, given the greater challenges to math achievement in middle and high school grades, the Task Force should focus on these grades, or continued support after a strong foundation in elementary school grades. Second, the Task Force should emphasize a strong connection to learning outcomes and evaluation related to professional development and recommended materials instead of just the availability of materials and professional development. This will allow the system to see which approaches are working and where to intensify efforts. Third, there should be a stronger focus on tools for families to support math learning at home. This should be a core recommendation, not just of an area for further consideration, as the DC SBOE includes in SR24-24, “Recommending Actions to Improve Mathematics Performance in the District of Columbia.” Families play a vital role in supplementing learning, but most parents have likely been taught math in a different way and can benefit from a better understanding of how the subject is taught now.

1. Students in high school take different math subjects, meaning the standardized assessments are not the same for each student in math during these grades.
2. Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE). 2023. “Recommendations for Structured Literacy Instruction in the District of Columbia.” OSSE. Retrieved from https://osse.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/osse/page_content/attachments/Official%20Early%20Literacy%20Task%20Force%20Report.pdf