Math Professional Development for Teachers: Highlighting Vertical Coherence at the End of the Year

Designing relevant professional learning for elementary teachers during the last quarter of the year is challenging. Educators are focused on annual assessment and preparing students for the next grade. In that vein, how can we design mathematics professional learning that maximizes educator time and works toward these goals?

End of year reflection and discussions around math vertical coherence achieve this mission. The Learning Services team at ORIGO Math have designed a framework to facilitate end of year conversations that provide a social context to empower teachers to solve problems and initiate change.

According to Getting Smart, Vertical Coherence is, “the intentional selection of curricula over the span of K-12, each of which is logically-structured, builds on previous learning, and facilitates student mastery of standards in every grade.” Optimally, state and local math curriculum identify essential standards that meet this expectation; however, what is covered within the classroom may not meet those expectations for a variety of reasons such as:

• Lack of curriculum resources
• Change in curriculum resources
• Change in standards
• High turnover in staffing
• High turnover in students

End of Year Discussions provide teachers with the opportunity to reflect and share math specific conversations about curriculum between grade levels to prevent unintentional gaps in student learning from year to year. Reach out to us if you’re interested in booking a session with our Learning Services team.

References

https://www.gettingsmart.com/2021/02/23/what-is-vertical-coherence-and-why-does-it-matter-for-equity/

https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-create-vertical-professional-learning-community/