Status & Mindset Interventions

In her book Strength in Numbers: Collaborative Learning in Secondary Mathematics, Ilana Horn writes: “Judgements about who is smart based on prior achievement or social categories violate a fundamental principle of equity and are consequential: learning is not the same as achievement” (2012, p.20). The resources below were curated to help you redefine "smarts" in math, disrupt status divisions, develop growth mindsets, and foster a collaborative math community.

Anticipatory Planning

How often does your planning for math involve searching for the "best" problem and then thinking about how you want to teach the problem? It's safe to say this is how most of us approach(ed) lesson planning. The problem with this approach, however, is that it is teacher focused and neglects to consider how students might perceive and respond to the problem. Conversely, anticipatory planning focuses planning efforts on imagining how students might respond to a problem and using that information to plan questions that will push and clarify student thinking and build understanding by sequencing and connecting approaches students are already using.

If you've ever tried to facilitate constructivist math learning in your classroom and it fell short of your expectations, it's likely because the key factor, anticipatory planning, was missing! The template below can help you prepare to facilitate constructivist math learning in your classroom. Grab a planning buddy and give it a try!

Anticipatory Planning

How often does your planning for math involve searching for the "best" problem and then thinking about how you want to teach the problem? It's safe to say this is how most of us approach(ed) lesson planning. The problem with this approach, however, is that it is teacher focused and neglects to consider how students might perceive and respond to the problem. Conversely, anticipatory planning focuses planning efforts on imagining how students might respond to a problem and using that information to plan questions that will push and clarify student thinking and build understanding by sequencing and connecting approaches students are already using.

If you've ever tried to facilitate constructivist math learning in your classroom and it fell short of your expectations, it's likely because the key factor, anticipatory planning, was missing! The template below can help you prepare to facilitate constructivist math learning in your classroom. Grab a planning buddy and give it a try!

Mathematical Agency

Improvement Community

Abolishing the phrase "I'm not a math person."

Since Fall 2016, the Center for Research on Equity and Innovation at the High Tech High Graduate School of Education has brought together 17 elementary, middle and high schools from across Southern California to improve student agency and learning outcomes in math, particularly for students from traditionally marginalized groups. We test, refine and spread student-centered classroom practices that build:

Growth Mindset - “I can learn if I put in the effort”
Sense of Belonging - “I am part of a mathematical community”
Purpose/Value - “I feel intellectually engaged and challenged."

Participating Schools

San Diego MET

Vista High School

Ingenium Schools

Vista Magnet

Middle School

High Tech High Schools

Discovery Charter School

Chula Vista Hills

Vista Innovation &

Design Academy

This work is generously supported by:

Jobs for the Future, the Nellie May Foundation, and the Overdeck Family Foundation

Anticipatory Planning

Equitable Groupwork

Launch, Explore Discuss Lesson Structure

Status & Mindset Interventions

Student Centered Lesson Structures

Low Floor, High Ceiling Problem Structures