Carnegie Math Pathways

What Adult Learners Want Us to Know About Mathematics Discourse

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What Adult Learners Want Us to Know About Mathematics Discourse

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Meaningful mathematics discourse isn’t just about what instructors do, but it’s also about how students take up the invitation to learn. For their final article in the series, “Listening to Students: How Adult Learners Make Sense of Mathematics Discourse,” which focuses on mathematics discourse in adult basic education (ABE) classrooms, Brent E. Jackson, PhD (WestEd) and Haley McNamara (WestEd), turn the spotlight on adult learners, asking them to reflect on the classroom practices that made the greatest impact on their learning. 

Using video-cued interviews, researchers invited Adult Numeracy in the Digital Era (ANDE) learners to watch classroom clips and share what they noticed. Their responses reveal a powerful message: students recognize, appreciate, and benefit from classrooms where discussion, collaboration, and reasoning are at the center of learning.

Three Lessons from Adult Learners

1. Explanation Enhances Understanding

Students consistently described the value of explaining their reasoning and hearing how others approached the same problem. One learner, Wyonna, appreciated being shown more than one path to a solution, noting that the approach was “teaching me more than one way how to do something.” Rather than focusing on a single correct answer, they appreciated opportunities to compare strategies, make sense of different perspectives, and learn from one another. These conversations helped transform mathematics into a shared learning experience.

2. Participation Takes Many Forms

The learners challenged a common assumption: that participation means always speaking up. Another learner, Gary, described days when listening was the more useful posture, noting that “somedays I know I wasn’t really talking too much.” Gary recognized that some days he talked a lot and other days he did not, and that simply “listening to my peers” in the discussion could be worthwhile in its own right. To them, sometimes contributing to discussion felt right; other times, listening carefully was the most productive way to learn. What mattered most was remaining intellectually engaged and recognizing that learners can  contribute to the classroom community in varied ways.

3. Community Makes Learning Possible

One of the strongest themes to emerge was the importance of belonging. Students described classrooms where respectful discussion, collaborative problem-solving, and even laughter helped create an environment where they felt comfortable taking risks. One learner, Quinn, echoed the same sense of ease, describing a class that enjoyed working in groups and an instructor who “knows our personalities” and used that knowledge to decide who to put together. They recognized that a sense of community was intentionally cultivated by their instructors through shared norms, thoughtful facilitation, and opportunities for every learner to contribute.

Why Student Voices Matter

For educators, these reflections offer an important reminder: adult learners notice the instructional moves that support their learning. Even when they’re challenged to explain their thinking or work through productive struggle, they understand the purpose behind those experiences—and they value them. The findings also reinforce the role of ANDE’s Cultivating Inclusive & Resilient Communities of Learners (CIRCL) Supports, which help build the confidence, belonging, and collaborative culture that make rich mathematical discussions possible.

This is a compelling reminder that the best way to understand the impact of our teaching is to listen to the learners themselves. Their voices affirm that when instructors create discourse-rich classrooms they are also building students’ confidence, strengthening their reasoning, and welcoming learners to be active members of a learning community.

Access the full article Listening to Students: How Adult Learners Make Sense of Mathematics Discourse to learn more. This article is the third and final installment in the ANDE mathematics discourse series, published in The Math Practitioner newsletter of the Adult Numeracy Network. To read the full newsletter, you will need to be a member of the Adult Numeracy Network.

The ANDE project is funded by the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education (Award #R305N210029).

To learn more about ANDE and other research work that Carnegie Math Pathways at WestEd is engaged in, sign up for our In Sum newsletter and visit the ANDE OER website.

 

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From Answer-Giver to Thinking Facilitator: How to Build Independent Learners in Math Class

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In their article “Creating Independent Learners in Mathematics Class,” published in The Math Practitioner newsletter of the Adult Numeracy Network, Brent E. Jackson, PhD (WestEd), along with Kim Mihalik and Haley McNamara (WestEd), argue that success in mathematics shouldn’t just be about getting the right answer. Instead, the focus should be on developing students into independent thinkers who can learn on their own.

This is especially important in adult basic education (ABE), where students have diverse goals, such as advancing their careers or becoming more involved in their communities. To achieve these ambitions, they need the ability to learn independently, not just memorize steps.

Why Independent Learning Matters

Independent learners don’t wait to be told what to do. They:

  • try different strategies when faced with a challenge,
  • monitor and adjust their thinking,
  • persist through uncertainty, and
  • apply what they’ve learned in new situations.

By contrast, dependent learners often rely on the teacher to carry the mental load. They may hesitate to begin tasks, seek constant reassurance, or disengage when they don’t immediately know what to do.

This isn’t a question of ability. It’s a question of opportunity. When students are consistently guided step-by-step, they may never develop the habits and confidence needed to think for themselves.

The Subtle Ways We Reinforce Dependence

Consider a common classroom interaction: a student is stuck, and the teacher steps in to help. The teacher asks a series of guiding questions, narrowing the path until the student arrives at the correct answer.

It feels supportive, and in many ways, it is. But it can also send an unintended message: You can’t do this without me.

When teachers do most of the thinking, such as breaking down problems, steering decisions, and confirming each step, students have fewer opportunities to grapple with ideas, make sense of mistakes, or build confidence in their own reasoning.

Over time, this pattern can reinforce dependence.

Shifting the Role of the Teacher

What happens when teachers step back just enough to let students step forward?

A shift in instructional approach, particularly in how teachers facilitate classroom conversations, can make a powerful difference. Three simple but impactful strategies can help:

1. Invite Student Thinking

Instead of leading students toward a specific method, ask open-ended questions:

    • What are you thinking?
    • Can you solve it differently?
    • What questions do you have about this approach?

These prompts create space for students to share their ideas, even if they’re incomplete or incorrect, and position their thinking as central to the learning process.

2. Use Wait Time Intentionally

Silence can feel uncomfortable, but it’s essential for thinking. Giving students time to process a question signals that effort matters more than speed. It also allows them to develop strategies for getting unstuck, without immediate intervention.

3. Engage with Peer Reasoning

Encourage students to interact with each other’s ideas:

    • Compare different methods
    • Ask clarifying questions
    • Agree or disagree, and explain why

When students analyze and build on others’ thinking, they deepen their own understanding and begin to see themselves as capable contributors.

The Role of Productive Struggle

One of the biggest tensions teachers face is knowing when to step in. Time is limited, and watching students struggle, especially when they’re heading in the wrong direction, can be difficult. But not all struggle is a problem.

Productive struggle is where real learning happens. When students test ideas, make mistakes, and revise their thinking, they build stronger connections and greater confidence. They also begin to trust their own ability to figure things out.

The key is not to remove struggle, but to support it. Creating a classroom culture where mistakes are normalized and effort is valued helps students stay engaged, even when the path isn’t clear.

Building a Culture of Independence

Instructional strategies alone aren’t enough. Students need an environment where they feel safe to take risks and where their contributions matter.

Approaches like the Cultivating Inclusive, Resilient Communities of Learning (CIRCL) framework emphasize:

  • A sense of belonging
  • Reduced anxiety around math
  • Encouragement of a growth mindset

When students feel supported socially and emotionally, they are more willing to participate, persist, and take ownership of their learning.

Reflection: The Starting Point for Change

Perhaps the most powerful insight is this: small shifts in teaching practice can have a big impact, but they require intentional reflection.

Recording lessons, analyzing questioning patterns, and asking “Who is doing the thinking?” can reveal habits that either support or hinder independence.

The goal isn’t to step away entirely. It’s to shift from being the primary problem-solver to a facilitator of thinking, someone who creates the conditions for students to do the cognitive work themselves.

Rethinking Success in Math Class

If we want students to succeed beyond the classroom, we need to redefine what success looks like within it. It’s not just about correct answers. It’s about confidence, persistence, and the ability to learn independently.

When educators embrace this shift, math classrooms become more than places where problems are solved—they become spaces where learners are built.

For a deeper look at classroom examples, teacher reflection, and discourse strategies in practice, read the full article. To access the full The Math Practitioner newsletter of the Adult Numeracy Network, you will need to be a member of the network.

The ANDE project is funded by the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education (Award #R305N210029).

To learn more about ANDE and other research work that Carnegie Math Pathways at WestEd is engaged in, sign up for our In Sum newsletter.

 

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Transforming Math Learning for Adults Through Talk: Three Routines from WestEd’s ANDE Project

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In his article “Routines to Scaffold Mathematics Discourse,” published in The Math Practitioner newsletter of the Adult Numeracy Network, Brent E. Jackson, PhD (WestEd), shares how three simple discussion routines can help both teachers and students engage more authentically with math. Integrated throughout the Adult Numeracy in the Digital Era (ANDE) curriculum, which is part of a course model designed to improve mathematics teaching and learning in adult basic education, these routines make math discourse—talking about reasoning, questions, and strategies—both approachable and effective for adult learners and instructors.

Why Math Talk Matters

For many adult students, math class has meant memorizing formulas and working quietly toward the “right” answer. But as Jackson explains, true learning happens when students can discuss ideas, justify their reasoning, and listen to different perspectives.

At first, both teachers and students were initially hesitant about this shift. That’s why the ANDE team built in signature routines—structured warm-ups, crafted with adult learners and instructors in mind, that give everyone a safe, low-stakes way to practice math talk. Over time, these routines helped instructors feel more confident leading discussions and learners feel more comfortable contributing their voices.

Three Signature Routines

According to Jackson, the team focused on three main strategies for classroom discussions:

  • Inviting student participation – helping start conversations, bring out different viewpoints, and encourage students to listen to one another.
  • Orienting to each other’s reasoning – empowering students to consider different ways of thinking, build on their classmates’ ideas, and engage in active listening.
  • Asking students to “revoice” – encouraging students to restate what another student said to show understanding, listen carefully, and take a more active role in the discussion.

These engagement strategies are woven into the routines, providing an encouraging environment for teachers to practice new ways of engaging in discussions. Below are example signature routines that focus on three types of discourse moves, or an action taken by an instructor to guide the classroom conversations and discussions. Each routine highlights the discourse moves of inviting, orienting, or asking. 

Signature Routine 1: Which One Doesn’t Belong?

In this routine example, students are “invited” to examine four numbers, shapes, or fractions and decide which doesn’t fit—and why. Each student “orients” themselves by discussing what they discover and engaging in active listening amongst themselves. With no single right answer, the instructor asks students to share their opinions and to “revoice” others, with the goal being to justify thinking and explore multiple perspectives.

Signature Routine 2: What Do You Notice? What Do You Wonder?

For this sample routine, students are “invited” to view a graph, table, or diagram and “orient” themselves by sharing observations and questions. This routine provides the space for students to “ask” the questions that sparks curiosity, makes room for all learners, and gives teachers insight into student understanding.

Signature Routine 3: Comparing Solved Problems

In this last example, students are “invited” to look at two solutions to the same problem—one correct, one incorrect—and “orient” their discussions on the similarities and differences. This routine not only “asks” students to rethink mistakes but also normalizes mistakes as part of learning and strengthens conceptual understanding.

“Math isn’t just about answers—it’s about ideas, community, and confidence.”

The Impact

These routines are small but powerful. They:

  • encourage participation from every student,
  • give teachers structured practice with leading discourse, and
  • move learners away from memorization and toward collaboration and sense-making.

By embedding these routines into lessons, instructors can create a culture where learners see themselves as capable mathematicians and where classroom dialogue naturally extends beyond the warm-ups.

Looking Ahead

Access Jackson’s full article to read more on improving math discussions in adult education, which is the first of a three-part series for the Adult Numeracy Network‘s The Math Practitioner newsletter. 

The next articles, which will be published in winter and spring of 2026, will offer more strategies and tools for teachers who want to encourage conversation and collaboration in their math classes. 

To read the full The Math Practitioner newsletter, you will need to be a member of the Adult Numeracy Network.

The ANDE project is funded by the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education (Award #R305N210029).

To learn more about ANDE and other research work that Carnegie Math Pathways at WestEd is engaged in, sign up for our In Sum newsletter.

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Five Takeaways from 2025 Project Success TCU-Carnegie Math Pathways Convening

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This past September, Carnegie Math Pathways partnered with Red Lake Nation College to host the final TCU-Carnegie Math Pathways Network Convening in Minneapolis, MN. For eight years, the collaboration between Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCU) and Carnegie Math Pathways supported by Project Success has fostered meaningful growth in math teaching and learning for TCU students and produced valuable professional camaraderie. This year’s event brought together tribal college math instructors, administrators, and Indigenous education experts from across North America to celebrate that progress, reconnect as a community, and imagine what’s next.

Looking back on it a month later, here are a few of the key takeaways from this year’s gathering:

1. Math Is More Fun in Community

How often do you get to participate in enriching professional learning alongside your closest colleagues and then indulge in friendly, competitive game nights? These are regular core elements of a TCU-Carnegie Math Pathways Convening. Coming together year after year as a network around a common goal of improving math education for TCU students has helped connect TCU math faculty from rural campuses to collaborate, share and learn. Being with peers from similar institutions has driven innovations and changes aligned with the unique needs of TCUs. It’s also been a chance to just nerd-out in fun ways with passionate math educators.

2. Flexible Tools + Culturally Relevant Teaching Make Math More Accessible

Online learning is here to stay, so how do we keep students engaged when they’re logging in from anywhere? TCU instructors shared some of their innovations and learnings: Hyflex models, virtual tools like Amplify and Desmos, and culturally grounded instructional activities are making math more inviting for students across all modalities. Flexibility means students can participate in ways that work for them, removing barriers and boosting retention in classes.

3. Let’s Shine a Light on TCU Innovations

TCUs are transforming math education, but these innovative practices deserve more visibility. There’s a growing call for undergraduate math research rooted in tribal contexts and priorities. Exciting projects presented by TCU math research fellows on student engagement strategies, Indigenous math program design, online developmental math certification, and culturally embedded math games illustrated fresh, student-centered approaches and showcased the value of amplifying TCU voices in the broader canon of undergraduate math research.

4. Students Are the Greatest Teachers

Student panelists at the Red Lake Nation College Minneapolis site visit shared a variety of math stories and experiences, illuminating impactful practices and insights on what matters to them. The students spoke powerfully about how cultural games, real-life applications, and hands-on learning made a positive difference in their math learning experiences. Many shared stories about “relearning” math, highlighting the impact that patient, supportive instruction makes.Their suggestions, from math clubs to community projects, revealed how integrating math into everyday life and culture helps make the subject feel welcoming and relevant to students.

5. A Path Forward Built on Relationships and Trust

The TCU-Carnegie Math Pathways convenings have been a space to elevate TCU educator voices and center the needs and contexts of TCUs with respect to math education. With the end of Project Success, attention turned to future opportunities to build on this collective effort. Convening discussions emphasized reciprocity, trust, and aligning research with what’s meaningful to TCUs and the communities they serve. The Project Success partnership has set a powerful example for future collaborative efforts with and among TCUs. It has also demonstrated the value of expanding our conceptions of what counts as math. The future of math education at TCUs lies in blending traditional knowledge, cultural values, and contemporary evidenced-based practices to create a more relational and inclusive path ahead. 

The 2025 TCU-Carnegie Math Pathways Network Convening highlighted how community, culturally relevant teaching, and student voices continue to drive innovation and meaningful change in math education across tribal colleges and universities. Looking ahead, the commitment to collaboration, trust, and honoring Indigenous traditions will guide the next chapter of our work in creating accessible, engaging, and relevant math pathways for TCU students and communities.

Stay informed on this project and other research work that Carnegie Math Pathways at WestEd is engaged in by signing up for our In Sum newsletter.

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Enhanced student supports for Quantway and Statway will be available as OER this November

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In spring and summer 2024,  Carnegie Math Pathways embarked on the development of an updated student supports framework to aid instructors in fostering a positive and productive learning community for their students. The new framework, known as Creating Inclusive, Resilient Communities of Learning or CIRCL for short, builds off the Productive Persistence package originally integrated within Carnegie Math Pathways’ Quantway and Statway course solutions. CIRCL incorporates important changes making it relevant and accessible to more classroom contexts using Quantway and Statway as well as those teaching other subjects.

CIRCL reflects the latest research and best practices in the fields of social psychology, math education, and learning sciences, especially with respect to culture and identity in mathematics. The practices and routines are specifically designed to give instructors:

  • more flexibility to select and use the activities that make sense for your context;
  • guidance to locally adapt the activities to align with your unique student community;
  • revised versions of the essential activities from the Productive Persistence package, and
  • a fresh framework for co-creating inclusive and engaging learning environments with your students. 

Tribal college and university (TCU) educators using Quantway and Statway have been instrumental in pushing Carnegie Math Pathways to rethink and revise the Productive Persistence supports through their own adaptations of the routines and activities to meet the needs of TCU values and missions and reflect their students’ cultures. This shaped the decision to utilize a co-development process to re-envision these supports. 

To create this updated package, Carnegie Math Pathways worked with experts in STEM education and culturally responsive education to conduct a literature review of the current research and engaged collaboratively with tribal college students and instructors who have participated in Quantway and/or Statway to gather feedback and codesign the updated activities. By the end of this process, both TCUs instructors and students saw the new framework changes as valuable improvements that strengthened the package of supports and its use in diverse settings. 

Haley McNamara, lead researcher for Productive Persistence at WestEd, notes, “We have been learning and codesigning with Carnegie Math Pathways’ faculty and students for over a decade. The work with the TCUs in particular has been central to making this package more accessible and relevant to more students and classrooms, setting us up for the OER release. I’m excited that we’re able to share this learning as an open resource and help many more students in Quantway and Statway courses and beyond.”

The new CIRCL package will be openly available as a stand alone resource beginning this November 1st. It will continue to support instructors implementing Quantway and Statway courses, yet the resource can now also be accessible to and used and adapted by instructors in other courses and programs. To learn more, sign up for our December orientation webinar for an overview of the new resource, and look out for our spring training series in which we’ll provide deeper divers into each driver at key points during the term.

 

Sign up for the CIRCL Supports Training Series

Comprehensive Support to Navigate the Reform Process: Exploring the New Strong Start to Finish Service Menu

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Originally published for and posted by Strong Start to Finish. Reposted here with permission.

For over a decade, Carnegie Math Pathways at WestEd has been working alongside educators to design and implement math pathways solutions to support more students’ success in gateway college mathematics. Through this work, we’ve seen that it is possible to create more equitable learning systems that can benefit and support all learners. Yet, we’ve also come to understand that creating and effectively scaling developmental education reforms takes complex thinking, engagement of diverse stakeholders and a focus on equity at all levels. Because of this, we think Strong Start to Finish’s (SStF) newly updated Partner Services Menu is a helpful guide to institutions, decision-makers and change teams. 

The Partner Services Menu centers around six high-leverage service categories for developmental reforms — math pathways, corequisite support, placement redesign, other support structures and equity-first integration support.   

While the menu provides information about specific supports and services, it doesn’t mean that they need to be thought of in isolation. The value of this tool, from our perspective, is that it provides institutions and decision-makers with a useful framework to holistically prepare for and implement change. The tool aides strategic planning and scoping the needs and associated activities of institutional reform at multiple levels. The menu allows institutions to understand how the services intersect and build upon one another with the way the supports are presented. These supports enable leaders to identify the kinds of support needed and develop a more comprehensive plan to effectively achieve their reform goals.  

Seeing how these kinds of services have been combined in the past helps illustrate the benefits of using the Partner Services Menu. More impactful change plans are built when services are scaffolded across categories rather than selecting one-off services.  

Recently, we worked with a community college to redesign their math offerings and institute math pathways. This effort aimed to reduce equity gaps and improve student outcomes across their department. We supported the college as it engaged in multiple, overlapping activities to execute their planned changes. The following table shows how the overall body of work aligns to services from three of the four service categories in the SStF menu. 

 

Example of Institutional Activities  Related Services in Service Menu 
Restructuring and Case–making – Following the college math department’s decision to redesign their offerings and eliminate their developmental courses, key departmental leadership and math faculty worked with Carnegie Math Pathways. They worked to engage in math pathways case-making and course alignment consensus-building within and across departments. 

 

 Case-making for Math Pathways  
Professional Learning – Math faculty participated in Carnegie Math Pathways professional training in collaborative learning approaches and promoting productive student mindsets using social emotional student supports.   Equitable Teaching and Learning Strategies and Instructional Design 

Mindset Support 

Instructional support 
Leadership Support – Departmental leadership received coaching support from Carnegie Math Pathways’ administrator coaches to successfully organize, manage and sustain the change. Departmental leadership also received assistance to get buy-in from various institutional stakeholders, including faculty and advisors. 

 

 Math Pathways Action Planning 

Policy Development and/or Revision 

Leadership Development 

 

This college’s comprehensive approach to reform ultimately resulted in a successful transition. They saw markedly improved student outcomes by narrowing equity gaps in the students achieving college math credit and greater instructional confidence among the faculty.  

Creating impactful change requires broad thinking and engagement. The case above highlights the variety of actions and supports that institutions may need to execute a successful change plan. To increase equitable access and outcomes in college math, structural changes are not enough for success. Institutional decision-makers must also attend to the classroom learning experience and ensuring understanding and support for change across the institution, including among faculty and students. Yet, we know that doing so takes planning and partnership, which is where the Partner Services Menu comes in.   

The new SStF services menu illuminates options and possibilities for institutions navigating the developmental education reform process, taking out much of the guesswork. It is a great starting place for planning and identifying partners to help institutions and decision-makers. The tool supports the journey to create impactful and lasting change that supports the success of all students. Take the first step by reviewing it today and see how it can help build and execute a vision for meaningful, equity-centered reform.  

_____

Strong Start to Finish is a network of policy and research partners, institution and systems leaders and foundations advancing system reforms in developmental education, so every student can succeed in their first year of college. In particular, we support college success for Black, Brown, Asian American and Indigenous students, adult learners and students with low incomes, who have been underserved by the education system for too long. We work to scale the use of proven, proactive strategies that remove barriers that typically impede these students from earning essential college credits in English and math courses in their first year. Education Commission of the States is the host of the Strong Start to Finish network. 

The Shift to Open Educational Resources (OER): A Step Toward Our Vision Of Equity-Centered Mathematics Education

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In just a few weeks, Carnegie Math Pathways will release our Quantway and Statway courses as Open Educational Resources (OER). This means that students and instructors will have free access to high-quality mathematics curricula proven to support students for success. It also means low-cost access to printed materials and the learning platform to enhance delivery of the curricula. Carnegie Math Pathways’ transition to open and affordable access marks a significant step in our commitment to create a more equitable system of mathematics education that empowers all students to succeed and advance toward their personal and professional goals. 

 

Impactful Courses With an Equity-Centered Design 

For more than a decade, Carnegie Math Pathways has been dedicated to improving outcomes and closing equity gaps in mathematics. Working alongside educators, we’ve helped shift the field to more inclusively see and value all learners and provide the support needed for them to succeed. Since their creation in 2011, Quantway and Statway course solutions have given institutions new mathematics options that provide meaningful and equitable paths for students to excel in math, graduate on time, and go on to achieve their career goals.  

With more than 100,000 students and more than 140 institutions served, the solutions have proven remarkably effective, with students consistently succeeding at 3 to 4 times the rate of their peers in traditional developmental math sequences and in half the time or less. These rates have held year after year across sex, race, and ethnicity, even as Pathways course enrollments have grown tenfold. 

 

Getting Closer to an Equity Vision for Math Teaching and Learning Through Open Educational Resources 

Math is an essential skill that benefits the lives and livelihoods of every learner. While the field has made important progress in adopting inclusive practices and pathways to support diverse learners in mathematics, equity gaps persist. 

For us, a more equitable system of math education would be one that 

  • ensures that all students have access to a high-quality mathematics curriculum that is relevant to their lives and propels them toward their academic and career goals, 
  • creates learning experiences that meet students where they are and allow for equitable ways for students to engage, and 
  • supports and empowers faculty to make curricular and instructional decisions that best meet their students’ needs. 

A move to OER gets us closer to our vision in the following ways:

It eliminates cost as a barrier to high-quality math education. Equity gaps can’t be addressed as long as high-quality education resources are accessible only to those who can afford them. By making our course curricula freely available and our print materials and learning platform available at much lower cost, we’re creating a way for more students both in the United States and globally to access and benefit from a proven curriculum. For institutions and instructors seeking opportunities to reduce student costs while maintaining a quality learning experience, Quantway and Statway OER provide them with tried and trusted, ready-made course solutions that remove the pressure to build a course from scratch, giving instructors the time and flexibility to focus on instruction and engage with their students.   

At LaGuardia Community College (LAGCC), where Statway pass rates consistently average 70% compared to traditional courses where fewer than half of students pass, having an OER option is key to equitably serving students with an already effective course solution. A math faculty member at LAGCC notes, “Making the high-quality Statway math curriculum openly available increases access to this proven pathway and removes financial anxiety for students enrolled in this course. And the downstream benefits are immense – higher graduation rates lead to higher incomes, better health, and generational uplift.”

Access to knowledge and education is priceless. The shift to OER enables us to live our ideals of ensuring that high quality proven curriculum and instructional materials are available to everyone.

It grants educators open access to an impactful approach that supports diverse learners. With the right set of supports, every student is capable of learning math. By shifting to an OER model, we open access for educators to use research-based curricula that have demonstrated impressive outcomes year after year, boosting student confidence in their math abilities and helping more students succeed in entry-level college math. 

Quantway and Statway are deliberately designed to engage and support learners who have previously struggled with math and to enable them to deeply understand and even love the subject. With relevant, contextualized curricula that are scaffolded to help students build and practice deepening their skills across concepts and targeted activities that address math anxiety and nurture a sense of belonging, the comprehensive curricula offer educators valuable tools to create a math learning environment that is safe and supportive for their students to grow as math learners. 

As a math faculty member from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee notes, using Quantway’s curriculum with its embedded student supports has benefited so many of their students and helped reduce equity gaps: “[With the adoption of Quantway College and​Corequisite], we’ve narrowed a 32 percentage point gap in success rates between Black and White students to just 5 points. Using Quantway Coreq has enabled us to give all students more equitable access to college math and a better chance at success in college, career, and beyond.”  

It gives instructors flexibility to meet their students’ needs. Oftentimes, curriculum materials are context agnostic and culturally biased. Yet, we know that when a student can relate to what they are learning, it can transform their experience in the classroom and with a subject. Through partnerships with tribal colleges and universities in the United States and the University of the Free State in South Africa, we’ve witnessed the impact of empowering instructors to adapt and innovate lesson contexts, assessments, and student supports to reflect their students’ lives, cultures, and communities. For Indigenous students who regularly experience a sense of alienation from what they read and see in their textbooks, to see themselves in culturally adapted Statway and Quantway lessons was notable, as a math instructor from the College of Menominee Nation reports: “[Tribal college] students know that they’re not represented in the textbooks, and they’ve known it all along. But when they see themselves represented, you can’t imagine what an impact that has.”

Giving instructors license to modify, mix, and build upon the curriculum creates opportunities to elevate new and different perspectives into the course, including those of traditionally marginalized communities or underrepresented scholarship that may better resonate with and reflect students’ backgrounds. And, as was noted above, when students feel seen, it has an impact on their engagement, sense of belonging, and motivation to persist in the course. 

 

Our Learning Has Led Us to This Point 

Working with educators for more than a decade to test, improve, and continue to innovate Quantway and Statway, we’ve learned that transforming math education to support all learners takes a holistic approach—one that values the potential of every student to succeed in math and that empowers instructors with the flexibility and resources to meet the needs of their students. Our transition to OER gives us a chance to broaden access to our impactful curricula and approach, supporting educational communities everywhere to bring meaningful math pathway options to more students.   

As we progress on our journey toward a more equitable system of mathematics education, we look forward to continuing to learn together how we can best support and serve students.  

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR TRANSITION TO OER

From Classroom to Workforce – Using Quantway to Prepare Students for Work and Beyond

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An innovative approach to help struggling students succeed

Learning loss impacted students and schools across the country, including Brooke Stewarts’. Stewart teaches mathematics within the alternative education program at Oak Creek High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

“Before COVID, nobody knew who the alternative education teachers were,” says Stewart. “And now, post-COVID, everybody knows us.” With the impacts of COVID on the K12 education system, many more high school students fell behind and educators have found themselves trying to get students caught up, filling learning gaps, and encouraging credit recovery to help students complete and advance beyond high school. Stewart notes that “because of this, alternative education has exploded.” 

Her school has long served students who are in need of credit recovery to continue on their education path. Yet, while credit recovery and course support helps some students return to, and complete traditional high schooling, it isn’t a solution for all students.

In 2020, she and a team of colleagues created an innovative competency-based diploma program designed specifically to meet the needs of students who have historically struggled in school. The program serves students in their junior year, who are not four-year college bound and are significantly lacking in credits to complete traditional high school. Stewart and her colleagues wanted to build something that would support this group of students to graduate with competitive skills and be ready to enter the workforce. “The goal is get them to be on a path of success rather than stuck in this cycle of failing classes, credit recovery, failing more classes, credit recovery.” 

Identifying the right math solution

The one-year program beginning in the second semester of a junior year, is focused on resumè building skills and preparing students for employment immediately after graduation. There is a work requirement; students participate in a shortened school day to accommodate their work schedule, and they have the opportunity to graduate one semester early based on successful completion of the program. With these incentives, Stewart and her colleagues, hope it will motivate students to persist and complete the program.

Critical to the programs’ success, though, was finding the right math course to support students on this path. For Stewart, it was necessary that the curriculum not only develop her students’ basic math skills, but that it connect the math to real world experiences that her students were going to need to know about. “I wanted this to be something where if they’re going into the trades, or if they’re going into any sort of technical degree, that they could use these skills, or even just [better understand and manage their] personal finances – how to make a budget, how to have a credit card.”

Stewart’s search led her to Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC), a close partner of Oak Creek and located just down the street. There she learned about their use of Quantway Core for technical college students not requiring algebra for their field of study. The course appealed to her because of its highly relevant curriculum that focused on practical application of the math concepts and its collaborative learning approach. This seemed like the right option for her students.

Transforming mindsets on math and the future

Since Oak Creek’s competency program launched in 2021, Stewart has noticed a lot of positive changes in her Quantway students. In particular, she has seen dramatic shifts in students’ mindsets about math and their own math abilities. “I’ve noticed a lot of confidence boosts in my students. One student of mine told me she hated everything about math. And now, after going through this class, she saw the value in what we were doing. She was understanding the concepts and getting the big picture of why we need math. And she ended up doing awesome in the course.” 

These boosts are gratifying to Stewart, but even more meaningful is how this confidence has helped her students engage and persist in the course. Stewart sees how as her students build their math skills and collaboratively navigate the problem exercises in the curriculum they begin to connect how this matters for their lives and feel that what they are learning is worth their time and their effort. 

This program is having a profound impact on her students, and the transformation is motivating for Stewart. She enjoys being able to have conversations with her Quantway students about real world topics connected to the math they are learning. Their engagement and interest is also leading to changes in their attitude toward school as a whole and how they think about and plan for their future. While at the start of the program students may not have set goals for themselves, Stewart says this completely changes through the program, and when, two months before graduation, she asks students about their plans, she will now hear things like, “”Oh, I’m going to MATC. I’m going to study welding. And I’m starting on January 19th, and I’m going to do an apprenticeship in welding, and I’m going to get a job.”

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Creating Culturally Responsive Math Pathways Together with Tribal Colleges & Universities (TCU)

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In 2017, Carnegie Math Pathways and several TCU formed a professional network with the shared goal of increasing student outcomes and college completion through culturally aligned mathematics learning and teaching that centers Native students and communities. 

Today, with over 3,500 TCU students served, we’ve made significant progress toward this goal. Our network of faculty have adapted the Pathways approach in meaningful ways to reflect and uplift their tribal communities and seen student retention and outcomes soar. TCU student success rates in Pathways courses have averaged 71% compared to 43% in the previous TCU developmental math programs or sequences, and students are more engaged, better connected with their peers, and showing enhanced confidence in their abilities as math learners.

A learning and teaching approach aligned with Indigenous values and practices 

Tribal Colleges have a mission to sustain and support the tribal culture, identities, and sovereignty of the tribal communities they serve. These unique institutions play a critical role in tribal educational sovereignty and nation building efforts by providing Native students access to education and services that are aligned with Indigenous values and ways of knowing and learning. 

The TCU-Carnegie Math Pathways network’s approach builds upon the Carnegie Math Pathways courses Statway and Quantway. Drawing on their institutional values around group learning and community-based values, TCU faculty have adapted the Pathways collaborative, active learning model as well as the embedded social emotional support designed to foster inclusion and belonging in important ways that reflect the Indigenous traditions and identities of the communities they serve

By shifting away from the direct instructional style commonly used in math classes, TCU instructors have been able to better align their instructional practice with their institutional missions and introduce a more culturally sustaining learning experience that better supports their students. As one Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College math instructor notes, “the pedagogy used in the Pathways completely changed how I teach. The cooperative and experiential learning in [Carnegie Math Pathways] reflects the learning-by-doing nature of traditional indigenous education.”  A math professor at Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish college shares the impact for his Indigenous students: “The [Pathways] group activities enable the students to develop the spiritual qualities of patience, cooperation, friendship, compassion, responsibility, and love which are part of our college’s mission.”

Innovations and adaptations driven by TCU faculty

Ensuring the Pathways courses are aligned with the needs and missions of the TCU has been critical to their success. To achieve this, TCU educators have played a leading role in adapting the Quantway and Statway courses to make them relevant for Native students and create supports for TCU educators. Our network has:

  • designed new Quantway and Statway lesson contexts to reflect issues and themes of value to Native communities.
  • adapted the embedded Pathways social emotional supports and routines to incorporate local Native teachings and traditions that support collective engagement and productive mindsets.
  • explored and tested alternative mastery-focused assessment and grading approaches, and
  • formed an advisory committee of TCU educators who regularly meet and contribute insights and knowledge to guide our network activities.

The network provides an opportunity for educators to engage and exchange ideas with peers at similar institutions. These connections have proven extremely valuable, especially when exploring and developing culturally relevant resources and lessons to support Native students.

Math faculty at Red Lake Nation College noted, “I have made connections with other TCU math educators and progressively implemented improvements in teaching, especially in making math more relevant to TCU students.” At Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College, a math instructor shared, “Working with native instructors and faculty from other TCU has helped me understand the culture on my own campus and community. “

The approach is benefiting students

The results of this effort have been impressive. TCU that have adopted Pathways courses to replace a developmental-level or college-level course have increased their success rates by roughly 30 percentage points.

TCU that have used Pathways courses to shorten their developmental math sequence, replacing between two to four courses with a single Pathways course, have on average achieved success rates with Pathways that are almost twice that of their original course sequences. They’ve also reduced students’ time to completion by more than half. 

Just as important, TCU math faculty have reported positive impacts in their students’ mindset, including increased confidence in their math abilities and greater recognition of the value in learning mathematics, a greater sense of belonging in the math classroom and willingness to persist through challenging problems, and a greater commitment to the success of their peers.

Administrators see this program as a valuable part of their effort to improve student success. For example, Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College’s VP for Student Services reports, “This program has been and is continuing to be one of the best instructional modes that our students have benefited from. Our math scores, completion rates, and retention rates have improved every semester.”

We look forward to embarking on the next phase of this collaboration beginning this year and to expanding our efforts to support TCU in creating meaningful math learning experiences that are culturally responsive and sustaining for their communities.

Moving Mathematical Mountains: A Decade of Educator-Led Change to Make Math a Gateway to Success for All Students

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For far too long and for far too many, particularly Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students, and students impacted by poverty, the traditional developmental math system has been a barrier to college completion, perpetuating inequalities in degree attainment and income. Since 2010, Carnegie Math Pathways has been committed to transforming this system of math teaching and learning in order to make math a gateway to success for ALL students.

In our latest Carnegie Math Pathways report, Moving Mathematical Mountains: A Decade of Educator-Led Change to Make Math a Gateway to Success for All Students, we show that changing the status-quo approach to math education is not only possible, but imperative to helping students not just pass college math but thrive academically, professionally, and personally. 

Working alongside educators for over a decade we’ve helped instructors, administrators, and institutions implement more equitable math learning by:

  • introducing math pathways aligned with majors, relevant to students’ lives, and to 21st century career paths;
  • engaging all students directly in college-level math, with the supports they need to be successful;
  • creating an active, collaborative learning experience centered on relatable and meaningful contexts;
  • attending to the needs of the whole learner through embedded social emotional learning supports that address key non-cognitive factors, such as growth mindset and belonging; and
  • supporting faculty and administrative leaders in transforming the student experience through rich professional learning and peer support. 

Moving Mathematical Mountains highlights the power of an educator-driven network and the impact of our community’s efforts through 10 years of outcome data, as well as student, faculty, and institutional feature stories. It synthesizes our learnings about what it takes to create and sustain equitable math reform and sets the stage for the exciting possibilities for the decade ahead. It shows us the potential of making lasting and impactful change in the service of students, something we as a field can learn from and continue to advance collectively to ensure more equitable learning and success in mathematics. 

READ THE REPORT