Improvement science is helping local schools look more closely at conditions in their own schools, generate ideas for change directly from teachers, and implement change ideas quickly. Here is what some of the CORE Districts are doing:

  • In Santa Ana, the district recognized that many middle school students are struggling to think conceptually about math. Teachers on improvement teams now are working to change classroom math experiences, with an initial focus on group work. They regularly collect data about group learning experiences, and use that information to introduce changes to how group work is structured and supported in their classrooms.
  • In Los Angeles, teachers on improvement teams began their work by conducting “empathy interviews” of their students to better understand their experiences with math. They have begun testing changes around specific instructional areas of focus, such as increasing relevance to students when introducing new topics and improving students’ number sense.
  • In Garden Grove, teachers on improvement teams are using student work, formative assessments and collaboration time to assess their teaching strategies and to guide instruction. Educators are not the only people who are highly motivated. In interviews about improvement at one school site, 91 percent of students said they believe they can get better in math if they work hard.

Read the full article about school district networks in California by Rick Miller at edsource.org.