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DescriptionofMathematicsPrograms

FoundationaltotheDanaCenter/AgileMindmathematicsprogramsaretheseprinciples:thatallstudents,regardlessoftheirlifecircumstances,needanddeserveaccesstochallengingcurriculaeveryday,andthatallteachersneedanddeservetoolsanddatathathelpthemaddressthechangingdemandsoftheaccountabilitylandscapeandthevariedexperiencestheirstudentsbring.

Developmentofconceptstoreflecttherigorofnext-generationstandards

Adeep,authenticcommandofmathematicsisreflectedinthreeaspectsoflearning:conceptualmastery,proceduralskillandfluency,andapplication—ortheabilitytocorrectlyapplymathematicsindifferentsituations.Throughoutourlessons,homework,andformalassessments,studentsworkonrichtasksthatensuretheirlearningreflectstherigorofthestandards.Lessonsaredesignedtosupportthedevelopmentofdeepconceptualunderstanding,andtheuseofmultiplerepresentationsandreal-worldcontextssupportdifferentiationfordiverselearners.

Strategic,deliberatepracticeandreview—supportedthroughprintmaterialsandonlinepracticeandassessment—enablestudentstoattainthefluenciesandproceduralskillsthestandardsrequire.

Whydowe—andtheeducatorsweserve—thinkoursarethebest,mostsupportive,programs?

• Professionaldevelopment.Ourrobustprofessionalsupportsystem—online,inprint,andfacetoface—isdescribedbyteachersandadministratorsasthebesttheyhaveexperienced.Itsupportseducatorsaseliteprofessionals,andrecognizestheirdifferingneeds,backgrounds,andpractices.

• Interactivevisualizations.Ourprogramsincludehundredsofinteractivevisualizationsofkeymathematicsconceptsateachgradeleveltopromotestudentengagementanddeepenunderstanding,collaboration,anddiscourse.Bydesign,theyenableeducatorstodifferentiatetheexperienceoflearnersthroughmultipleentrypoints.

• Practiceandassessment.Ourthousandsofonline,technology-enhancedpracticeandassessmentresourcesreflecttheexpectationsofnext-generationassessment.Theyareautomaticallygraded,tofreeeducatorstofocusonoutcomes,notonchasingorgradingassignments.

• Real-timedata.Oursystemreportseffort,progress,andperformanceforindividualsandgroupsofstudentsinrealtime.Thismakesiteasyforteacherstodifferentiateinstructionbasedondataandtoidentifychallengeareasthatneedfurtherinstruction.Itequipsstudentsandtheirfamiliestotakeresponsibilityforlearning.

• Teachertestedandprovendesign.Everycomponentofourprogramsistestedandimprovedbasedontheadviceofeducators.Morethan40,000teachersin15,000classroomshaveused

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ourcomprehensiveprogramsinthelastdecade,andthousandshaveprovidedfeedbackthathasshapedimprovementstoensureourprogramswillworkforallschoolsanddistricts.

Designedforallstudents

Ourprogramsequipteacherstoenactacurriculumineveryclass,foreverystudent,everyday;toenablestudentstotakeresponsibilityfortheirownlearning;tointensifyinteractionsbetweenteachersandlearnersincriticalcompetencysubjects;andtousedatatoinformtheseprocesses.

Weworktofirstmakethemostcrucialbigideastransparenttoteacherandlearnerandthensequencetheminsuchawaythatstudentsareabletobuildtheirunderstandingbymakingconnectionsamongandacrossthoseideas.Integratedintothesyllabusarestrategiesandsupportsindicatedbyresearchtobemosteffectiveforstudentlearning.

Theprogramsappearina“blended”format,meaningthatsomeessentialmaterialsareprovidedonlineandothersinprint.Thisenablesustoenrichtheresourceswithinteractiveanimationsandextendedexplorationsthatdeepenstudentunderstandingofcentralconceptsandallowteacherstoeasilyrepresentconceptsthatmightotherwisebedifficulttoteach.Programmaterialsaresharedbyteacherandstudentsduringclass,andareusedbystudentsoutsideofclasstoreinforcetheirlearning.AgileMindprintedmaterials—StudentActivitySheets—aredesignedtobeusedintandemwithonlinecontenttofurtherdevelopstudents’conceptualunderstanding,providepracticetowardsmastery,consolidatelearning,andapplyittosolvingproblemsinreal-worldcontexts.Emphasisonproblemsolvingandmodeling

Throughproblemsolvingandmodelingapproaches,ourprogramsrequirestudentstoengagewiththemathematicsanddrawontheirexistingknowledgetobuildnewunderstandings.Learnersaresupportedthroughembeddedquestionsandpromptstohelpthemgetstartedonnewactivities,maintaincognitiveengagement,focusonkeyideasandrelationships,persistproductively,andinternalizeandengageintheStandardsforMathematicalPractice.

Supportsforacademicliteracy

Researchonhowlanguageimpactslearninginmathematicshasexpandedsubstantiallyinthepastdecade,andmakescleartheimportanceofacademicliteracytoachievingtheintentofgrade-levelstandards.Ourprogramsapplythisresearchtohelpstudentsbuildessentialacademicvocabulary,comprehendandanalyzekeyelementsofmathematicsproblems,explicitlyconnectdifferentrepresentationsofmathematicalsituations,andreflectuponandcommunicatetheirunderstandings.Theyencompassrich,practicalteachingstrategiesbeneficialtolanguagelearners,tospecialpopulationsofstudents,andtoallstudentsinthefollowingways:

• Termsareclearlydefinedwithinthecontextofwhatisbeinglearned• Languageconnectionsandvisualrepresentationsstrengthenvocabularydevelopment• Wordoriginsandmultiplemeaningsfortermsareusedtodevelopconnectionsbetween

familiar,everydaylanguageandacademicvocabulary• AGlossaryofkeytermswithvisuallyrichexamplesisavailableinEnglishandSpanish• TheAdviceforInstructionprovidestargetedsupportsforteacherstopromoteacademic

languagedevelopmentandinstructionalstrategiesthatareeffectivewithEnglishLanguageLearners(ELLs)aswellashesitantlearners

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Real-timedataandreportsontheprogressofeffortandlearning

Havingtimelydatatorepresentandreportstudenteffortandprogressiskey.Reportssurface“whatnow?”questionsinrealtimeforindividualsandgroups,andsupportuseofdatatoinformdifferentiationstrategies.Thedatamakeiteasyforbusyeducatorstoknowhowstudentsperformedoneachitemandidentifypotentialchallengeareasthatneedfurtherinstruction.Vividgraphicspinpointstudentprogressonassignmentsandidentifywhicharestrugglingandwhicharethriving.Thesedataequipteachersandleaderstolookatinstructionalefficacyandconnecteffortwithoutcomes.Additionally,teacherscanusedatatoaddressdifferencesinlearningneedsearly.

Robustteachersupports

Thetoolsandresourcesthataccompanyeachtopicsupportteachersasprofessionalsandequipthemintheirdailypractice.Adviceforeverytopiccontainsrespectfulguidanceforplanningandteachingeachlesson:

• Strategiesforfacilitatingexplorationofkeyconceptsthatengagealllearners• Suggestionsforpromotingdiscourse,andforindividual,small-group,andwhole-classlearning• Guidanceforscaffoldinganddeepeningstudentlearning,andfordifferentiatinginstructionfor

learnerswithdiverseneeds• Embeddedquestionsandadviceinlessonstohelpteacherssupportstrugglinglearners• InstructionalstrategiesproventobeeffectivewithEnglishLanguageLearnersaswellashesitant

learners• Furtherquestionstoextendstudents’conceptualunderstandingandpushathigherDepthof

Knowledgeindicators• Periodicadvicetoteachersthathighlightsstrategiestobuildstudents’proficiencywiththe

StandardsforMathematicalPracticeBlendedprofessionalsupports

Ourmodelofprofessionaldevelopmentisdesignedtointroduceandsustainhigh-yieldstrategiesintheuseofourprogramstoincreasestudentengagement,achievement,andpersistenceinmathematics.Partnerschoolsreportsignificantgainsinthenumberanddiversityofstudentswhoareleavinghighschoolreadyforcollegeandforthecontemporaryworkplace.

Duringannualface-to-faceprofessionaldevelopmentInstitutesandongoingin-personandvirtualsupport,teachers,coaches,andinstructionalleaderslearntouseandintegrateAgileMindresourcesintotheirpractices,gainexperienceincollaboratingoncommonlessonsandassessments,andlearnstrategiesforensuringasuccessful,rigorouslearningexperienceforallstudents.InadditiontoInstituteattendance,mostpartnerdistrictschoosetohavefollow-upsessionsduringtheacademicyearcustomizedtomeetspecificneedsofparticipatingfacultyandstudents.

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EvidenceofEfficacyasReportedbyDistrictsLakeBluff,IL

NorthofChicago,LakeBluffElementarySchoolDistrict65servesapproximately1000K-8students.

AgileMind’sMiddleSchoolMathematics6,7,and8programshavesupporteddramaticgainsinstudentachievement.LakeBluffstudentsarefaroutperformingthe2015NWEA2015MAP®normativedataacrosstheboard,and2016resultsdemonstrategrowthincreasingateachbenchmarkingstage:

• LakeBluff’sMAPgrowthsignificantlyoutpacedNWEAnormsfrombeginning-toend-of-yearassessment,with48%greatergrowthatGrade6,15%greatergrowthatGrade7,and61%greatergrowthatGrade8.

• UnlikewhatispredictedbyNWEAnormsandsimilardatanationwide,LakeBluffstudentsexperiencednosummerlearningloss.

• Fromthebeginningofgrade6totheendofgrade8,districtMAPscoresgrewby28.4points.Thisrepresents114%greatergrowthinmiddleschoolthanthatpredictedbyNWEAnorms.

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LakeBluff NWEANorms

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Farmington,NM

FarmingtonMunicipalSchoolsisacomprehensiveschooldistrictinNewMexicoservingover11,000studentsat18schools.Morethan50%ofstudentsinthedistrictqualifyforfreeandreducedlunch.

Duringthe2015-2016schoolyear,FarmingtonenactedAgileMind’sMiddleSchoolMathematicsprogramsasthecoreinstructionalresourceformiddleschool.Students’performanceonend-of-course(EOC)examsrevealeddramaticgrowth–a37%increaseinthenumberofstudentswhoachievedproficientorhigherontheEOC.