Finding right math teaching technique shows results for NM schools

Too many students struggle in math. In New Mexico, four of five students score below grade level. But two school districts are showing what’s possible when teachers and students are working with innovative, research-based mathematics curriculum.

On the surface, these districts could not be more different. Mesa Vista Consolidated Schools, in Rio Arriba County, enrolls 250 students and, in 2019, had the lowest math scores in the state. Rio Rancho Public Schools, north of Albuquerque, enrolls 17,000 students who earn top scores on state exams.

Both districts opted to replace traditional memorize-practice-repeat math curricula with ones that build deep mathematical understanding and apply math to real-world situations.

After zero percent of Mesa Vista eighth-graders scored proficient on state math tests, educators decided it was time to make a change. Administrators and teachers reviewed curricula considered “high quality” by the New Mexico Public Education Department and voted to adopt Zearn Math. The district provided every student with a computer and teachers met to study and practice the new lessons. In 2022, 14% of Mesa Vista eighth-graders scored proficient in math and 36% were nearing proficiency.

The role of curriculum is hard to overstate, said Richard Apodaca, district principal for Mesa Vista. “If you have high-quality instructional materials, a teacher can get kids to a high level, because those materials guide them,” he said.

Rio Rancho adopted Eureka Math in 2015 but in the eight years since, student enrollment more than tripled. Still, despite this growth, math achievement improved every year, including when pandemic-related school closures caused learning losses nationwide. Teachers voted last year to re-adopt Eureka Math.

“This has gotten all our teachers on the same page. Now when we talk about expectations for math, we have a very clear picture of what that means — and we can be assured all classrooms are teaching to the same high bar,” said Karen Delay, the district’s leader for elementary math.

We recently visited both districts, as part of the Knowledge Matters School Tour, to learn more about their experiences. How did they roll out these new curricula? How can other communities learn from these experiences and replicate their successes?

In both districts, teachers and administrators worked together to review curriculum and voted on which one to adopt. It wasn’t a top-down decision. They invested time in ongoing professional learning. In Rio Rancho, teachers study and practice Eureka Math together. In Mesa Vista, teachers use Zearn’s library of on-demand training videos.

Finally, these curricula accelerate math learning. Most New Mexico students have math skills or concepts they’ve not yet mastered. Zearn and Eureka Math lessons are designed for grade-level instruction, with built-in opportunities to re-teach missing math content and move on.

Both curricula also give students the opportunity not just to learn math, but to do math — to become mathematicians. As Mary Shoemaker, a Mesa Vista parent, told us, “Zearn teaches math sense. It will show you how to do a problem over the course of several lessons, like four or five different ways. And I think the kids, rather than just memorizing facts, learn ‘how come.’ ”

Barbara Davidson is president of StandardsWork and executive director of the Knowledge Matters Campaign. Peter Coe is an education consultant working with schools and districts to improve K-12 math instruction.