The Math Pact, Middle School

Just for a moment, imagine the positive and impenetrable mathematics energetic force field that could be created in a school if every teacher strategically and collaboratively decided upon agreements around mathematics vocabulary, notations, representations, and the overarching philosophy about how mathematics should be taught? Guess what! You do not have to imagine! No more reteaching, revising previously taught material, and explaining that 'Well, in my classroom, we do it, say it, notate it this way.' Because let's face it, those messages confuse students and families and can frustrate teachers. Grab this book, gather your colleagues, and get started in creating a unified and comprehensive whole school agreement that will positively enrich your students' mathematics learning experiences! -- Beth Kobett Maya Angelou said, 'Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.' The Math Pact is a practical guide that supports us in collectively taking responsibility for helping each and every one of our students to become problem solvers, critical thinkers, and capable and confident doers of mathematics. The detailed vignettes and suggestions are vivid guideposts for a journey of self-reflection and collective decision making with colleagues about really critical components of mathematics instruction. It will leave you both knowing better and collectively doing better for your students. No matter your level of experience, there is something new to learn here! I think it would work beautifully with pre-service teachers, new teachers, and veteran teachers. I even picked up some new things on my read that I hadn't really thought about in my nearly 30 years in the classroom. -- Shawn Towle Wow! The Math Pact will lead the movement to help educators and students overcome the idea that math is a mysterious set of 'tricks and shortcuts.' The Mathematics Whole School Agreement process provides the steps, language, representations, and knowledge to build, implement, and sustain equitable learning outcomes for all students! The power to make change is in our collective hands and hearts! This book needs to be in the hands of all teachers, district leaders, and stakeholders. -- Cathery Yeh As a fan of the 'Rules That Expire' and 'Whole School Agreement' articles, I consider this resource a welcome addition to my professional library! In this practical, easy-to-follow book, the authors provide educators with an extremely thorough and useful go to guide on establishing a Mathematics Whole School Agreement (MWSA). For those not familiar with the NCTM articles that initiated the movement, this resource defines what an MWSA is and why each school should establish one. More important, educators learn how to create and implement an MWSA, and the role each school and district stakeholder plays in implementation. This user-friendly resource provides teachers, teacher leaders, parents, and administrators with a comprehensive blueprint that includes research-informed practices, vignettes, grade-specific examples, and tools to encourage reflection. -- Latrenda Knighten The Math Pact provides middle school mathematics educators a solid resource to increase their knowledge base, through thought-provoking content and practical instructional strategies. In addition, The Math Pact provides guidance to administrators seeking to develop collaborative and cohesive instructional teams focused on providing consistent high-quality mathematics environments and instruction for all students. This is an essential resource for mathematics educators. -- Kristopher J. Childs These books provide effective steps and strategies toward students being able to make powerful, purposeful connections across grade levels and across a wide variety of mathematical concepts. -- Christine Koerner This book brilliantly connects research-informed practices to empower stakeholders in engaging students in meaningful mathematics through a vertically articulated Mathematics Whole School Agreement! Building on the impact of the Rules That Expire series, the authors lay out an easy to implement approach to share, connect, and represent mathematical ideas across classrooms to intentionally and explicitly bring about change prior, during, and after instruction. -- Farshid Safi If you have anything to do with transforming mathematics teaching and learning at your school, then stop everything right now and read this book. Bush, Karp, and Dougherty's The Math Pact strategically navigates the complex topic of creating and cultivating cohesive mathematics instruction by introducing readers to their Mathematics Whole School Agreement and specific elements that ensure schoolwide success. Building on their renowned Rules That Expire work, this book takes readers through the essential components of best practices of mathematics teaching. This should be a required read for any mathematics leadership program. -- Hilary Kreisberg This is a long-awaited publication that will help preservice teachers, educators, and administrators of all levels and curriculum coordinators abolish the use of tricks and magic in mathematics instruction. For years we have inadvertently led students down a dead-end street in their math instruction by teaching them expiring rules, tricks, and cutesy sayings that may help them perform short-term on a test but leave them conceptually damaged in the long run. -- Julie Duford This is the perfect balance of inspiration and practical guidance! The inspiration motivates me to work harder at collaboration with peers, building common commitment. The practical guidance helps me put the ideas into action around what specific changes will improve mathematics teaching and learning. -- Lynn Selking What is one way that you and your colleagues can support all learners? By engaging in thoughtful conversations in which priorities and plans can lead to sustained change. At the outset, exploring and committing to a Mathematics Whole School Agreement with your colleagues creates the opportunity for consistency in a grade level, a school, as well as in a district. The Math Pact, Middle School: Achieving Instructional Coherence Within and Across Grades not only challenges stakeholders including teachers, parents, community members, paraprofessionals, coaches, learning specialists, and school leadership to explore these foundational agreements but importantly provides a clear pathway to achieve them, and as a result, creates a collective responsibility for the mathematical learning of all students. -- George J. Roy