When I taught middle school math, some of my worst days as a teacher were spent sitting at an uncomfortable cafeteria table, watching someone go through a PowerPoint on classroom management or student engagement strategies.
Like students, teachers learn best by doing; Research has long shown that learning is most effective when it is active. The ineffectiveness of our training was compounded by the fact that in my school district, Brockton Public Schools, near Boston, we had no mathematics curriculum, so classroom instruction was disjointed.
As a result, our students’ math scores were steadily declining. Then Covid hit. By 2021, only 12 percent of our middle school students met or exceeded the mathematics expectations of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS).
When I became the middle school math and science program coordinator in 2021, after teaching in the district for 13 years, one of the first things we did was adopt a basic mathematics program for all colleges. And our deployment among teachers has been active. For every class in grades 6-8, we provided in-person professional learning that invited teachers to experience math content as their students would.
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Of course, this didn’t guarantee that our teachers would use the curriculum, so we scheduled daily joint planning time and had each grade level team sit down together to discuss what students would learn. We looked at how students would be assessed, how teachers could support all learners – including students with disabilities, underserved populations, and multilingual learners – and how teachers would work with groups of students.
Teachers were skeptical at first. Some have told me, “My students won’t work in groups” or “They won’t talk about math.”
But when instructional coaches from our curriculum provider modeled the lessons in front of their classes, teachers saw what was possible. Their students were talking, collaborating, and fully engaging in the work.
Teachers also found that coaches were there to observe, model, and provide feedback, not to judge. This opened the door to trust. Teachers felt safe to admit what they didn’t know and try new strategies. Very quickly, teachers understood the benefit of moving from the status of “sage on stage” to that of learning facilitator.
We also added peer observations. Teachers now observe themselves teaching and give their opinions. It’s feedback that leads to change.
Change is not always easy, even when it is necessary. But if we can do it, any district can.
When we were researching a math curriculum, we wanted to change not only what was taught, but also how. Before, teachers focused primarily on procedures because that’s how they were taught: “Memorize these steps. Now practice the problems on this worksheet.”
However, this approach does not help students understand the “why” of mathematical ideas. Now we balance procedural mastery with conceptual understanding and real-world applications so that students can understand the principles and reasoning behind mathematical concepts.
Yet even as teachers see the effectiveness of this approach, they sometimes fall back into old routines because it seems easier to hand out worksheets than to help students understand how and why math works. This is why accountability is crucial.
At each middle school, leaders hold regular learning walks, during which they walk through math classrooms to ensure teachers are teaching to grade level standards using our curriculum. Because leaders have been trained through our program, they know what instructional practices to look for and what math practices students should demonstrate. When our walks reveal that teachers need support, we provide it. I constantly take classes and adapt my coaching to meet the needs of teachers. Sometimes a few small adjustments can help even the best teachers take their practice to the next level.
Over the past four years, our schools have made significant improvements. From 2021 has 2025the percentage of students meeting or exceeding MCAS math expectations increased from
- 11 to 21 percent in sixth grade (an increase of 91 percent).
- 13 to 16 percent in seventh grade (an increase of 23 percent).
- 13 to 21 percent in eighth grade (an increase of 62 percent).
This progress has required deep reflection on how we view mathematics education, how we support our teachers, and how we believe in our students.
This approach is particularly important in a neighborhood like ours, where needs are so diverse. We serve over 15,000 students in Brockton. Seventy-two percent have low income; more than 34 percent are multilingual learners; and 53 percent identify their native language as something other than English. Last year, 1,500 migrant students entered our district; some of these new middle school students had not been to school since second grade.
It’s gratifying to see progress, especially when so many other districts still haven’t caught up to where they were before the pandemic.
To help students re-engage with concepts and fill gaps in their prior knowledge, we offer an interactive course. video streaming program to our colleges. By participating in level-appropriate exercises and fun activities, students develop their skills in a low-risk environment, mitigating math anxiety.
Given the current situation shortage of teachers — we still have five positions to fill this year — the video program has been a lifeline in providing targeted remediation when certified teachers are not available. Unsurprisingly, the two schools using the program are also our highest performers. In fact, one school saw a 440 percent increase in sixth-grade MCAS passing rates between 2021 And 2025.
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Another obstacle we faced was promoting the idea of productive struggle. Productive struggle keeps students in the learning zone where they feel challenged but not overwhelmed.
When students solve problems that require effort, they develop perseverance and flexibility. When they try, fail, and try again, they learn from their mistakes. They develop resilience and begin to take more ownership of their learning.
Many teachers are nurturers. They don’t like to see their students struggle, so they sometimes model too much or intervene too early. But math requires struggle.
To help teachers become familiar with this idea, we have adopted the teaching practices of mathematics education professor Peter Liljedahl: “Building Thinking Classrooms.” Practices such as assigning thinking tasks and using non-permanent vertical surfaces, such as whiteboards and chalkboards, challenge students to develop their thinking and support each other.
By 2025, according to an independent educational consultant, 93% of our teachers were using our core curriculum. There is now consistency in mathematics in our colleges. Students can move from one school to another and pick up where they left off. This consistency lends itself to greater collaboration. When teachers no longer have to worry What to teach, they can work together and focus on how to better teach their students.
We still have much to do, but our progress shows what is possible when we believe in teachers and students and give them the resources they need to do their best.
Candice McGann is the Middle School Math and Science Coordinator for Brockton Public Schoolslocated 20 miles south of Boston. Before taking this position in 2021, she taught middle school mathematics for 13 years in the district.
Contact the opinion editor at opinion@hechingerreport.org.
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The article TEACHER’S VOICE: A district-wide curriculum and group teaching helped improve middle school math scores in my high-needs district appeared first on The Hechinger Report.
