Teaching With Tasks For Effective Mathematics Learning

​This book is about how teachers can use classroom mathematics tasks to support student learning, and presents data on the ways in which teachers used those tasks in a particular research project. It is the product of research findings focusing on teacher practice, teacher learning and knowledge, and student learning. It demonstrates how teachers can use mathematics tasks to promote effective student learning.​

This text offers guidance to teachers, mathematics coaches, administrators, parents, and policymakers. This book: provides a research-based description of eight essential mathematics teaching practices ; describes the conditions, structures, and policies that must support the teaching practices ; builds on NCTM's Principles and Standards for School Mathematics and supports implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics to attain much higher levels of mathematics achievement for all students ; identifies obstacles, unproductive and productive beliefs, and key actions that must be understood, acknowledged, and addressed by all stakeholders ; encourages teachers of mathematics to engage students in mathematical thinking, reasoning, and sense making to significantly strengthen teaching and learning.

What is effective mathematics teaching? This book represents the first purposeful cross-cultural collection of studies to answer this question from teachers’ perspectives. It focuses particularly on how teachers view effective teaching of mathematics. Teachers’ voices are heard and celebrated throughout the studies reported in this volume. These studies are drawn from many parts of the world representing both Eastern and Western cultural traditions. The editors and authors have deliberately included the views of teachers and educators from different cultural backgrounds, taking into account that beliefs on effective mathematics teaching and its features are highly influenced by one’s own culture. The book will provide readers and scholars with the stimulus to take the ideas presented and expand on them in ways that help improve mathematics education for children, teachers and researchers in both the East and the West.

*THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AS OPEN ACCESS BOOK ON SPRINGERLINK* This open access book is the product of ICMI Study 22 Task Design in Mathematics Education. The study offers a state-of-the-art summary of relevant research and goes beyond that to develop new insights and new areas of knowledge and study about task design. The authors represent a wide range of countries and cultures and are leading researchers, teachers and designers. In particular, the authors develop explicit understandings of the opportunities and difficulties involved in designing and implementing tasks and of the interfaces between the teaching, researching and designing roles – recognising that these might be undertaken by the same person or by completely separate teams. Tasks generate the activity through which learners meet mathematical concepts, ideas, strategies and learn to use and develop mathematical thinking and modes of enquiry. Teaching includes the selection, modification, design, sequencing, installation, observation and evaluation of tasks. The book illustrates how task design is core to effective teaching, whether the task is a complex, extended, investigation or a small part of a lesson; whether it is part of a curriculum system, such as a textbook, or promotes free standing activity; whether the task comes from published source or is devised by the teacher or the student.

Are you ready to take your teaching to the next level? Taking Action: Implementing Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices in Grades 6-8 offers a coherent set of professional learning experiences designed to foster teachers' understanding of the effective mathematics teaching practices and their ability to apply those practices in their own classrooms.

Design effective, learner-driven math interventions with this accessible and thought-provoking guidebook. Learn how to set up instruction to promote participation and understanding, plan purposeful, targeted tasks, develop student thinking, and create tools to assess student work in a way that measures learning, not just performance. Chapters explore questions that educators frequently struggle with when designing interventions, offering user-friendly research and evidence-based strategies to help overcome common hurdles. This book is essential reading for anyone seeking an adaptive approach to Tier 2 and 3 interventions that positions struggling students as competent learners.

During his years working as an instructional coach for a national network of schools, Geoff Krall had the chance to witness several inspirational moments when math class comes alive for middle or high school students - when it is challenging but also fun, creative, and interactive. In Necessary Conditions: Teaching Secondary Math with Academic Safety, Quality Tasks, and Effective Facilitation, Krall documents the essential ingredients that produce these sorts of moments on a regular basis and for all students. They are Academic Safety, Quality Tasks, and Effective Facilitation. Academic Safety: Krall implements equitable classroom experiences that help fight stigmas associated with race and gender in schools. This allows students to feel socially and emotionally secure while nurturing their identities as mathematicians and increasing engagement during classroom discussions Quality Tasks: Teachers can adapt or create dynamic, student-centered lessons that break down math into small, manageable sections, removing the frustrations felt by students who aren't considered math people Effective Facilitation: This book shows how to incorporate teaching moves and math routines designed for engagement, persistence, and interactivity. Teachers can allow students to explore safely while maintaining consistent classroom expectations. "My work as a math instructional coach for a network of schools has afforded me the unique opportunity to visit exceptional teachers across the country, documenting their tasks, teaching moves, and academically safe learning environments. You'll experience dispatches from these effective classrooms in which we'll observe how teachers attend to all three elements that make up the ecosystem." - Geoff Krall from his book, Necessary Conditions.