By the Illustrative Mathematics team
A new parent poll from EdTrust–New York marks the first step in a statewide effort to better understand persistent challenges in mathematics instruction and outcomes. The findings offer important insights into what families are experiencing, what they value, and what they want to see from schools and systems moving forward.
One takeaway stands out: When parents understand the goals of NYC Solves—the district’s systemwide initiative focused on strengthening math instruction through high-quality materials, professional learning, and coaching—support is strong and consistent across communities.
Why Math—and Why Now
For New York City Public Schools (NYCPS), this moment matters. Recent assessment data and growing public attention have underscored the urgency of improving math outcomes in ways that are evidence-based, coherent, and responsive to families’ priorities.
This will require more than short-term interventions or fragmented efforts. Research and experience point to the need for sustained investment in high-quality instructional materials, aligned professional learning, and consistent instructional expectations across classrooms and schools.
EdTrust–New York’s poll offers an opportunity to understand how families see this work and how public priorities align with what research tells us is effective. It also highlights a critical distinction between awareness and support.
What Parents Say About NYC Solves
The poll found that awareness of NYC Solves remains relatively low. Only 31% of NYC parents of students in grades 6–12 reported having heard of the initiative prior to the survey. However, once parents were informed about NYC Solves and its goals, support was broad and consistent.
In fact, 61% of parents reported strong support for the initiative, with similarly high levels of support across communities, including:
- 71% of Black parents
- 63% of White parents
- 57% of Latinx parents
- 56% of Asian parents
These findings suggest that the primary challenge is not opposition, but awareness. When families understand what NYC Solves is designed to do—support high-quality instruction, consistency across schools, and meaningful learning for students—they see its value.
What Parents Want: Evidence-Based Math Instruction
The poll also revealed strong parent support for statewide efforts to strengthen and standardize math instruction—particularly in ways that reflect the core components of NYC Solves:
- 80% support requiring schools to use evidence-based math curriculum, with half expressing strong support
- 75% favor a state-vetted list of high-quality math curriculum options
Taken together, these findings point to a clear throughline: Families want consistent, high-quality math instruction grounded in evidence and supported by training for educators. As Kristin Umland, CEO and cofounder of Illustrative Mathematics, reflects in a recent post responding to the poll, these priorities closely mirror what research and implementation experience suggest is necessary for sustained improvement—and what initiatives like NYC Solves are designed to provide.
Why Continuity Matters
Building understanding, trust, and instructional improvement takes time. Initiatives like NYC Solves are designed as long-term system investments. Sustaining them allows educators to deepen practice, schools to align instruction, and students to experience coherent learning year after year.
When research, policy, professional learning, and public understanding are aligned, systems are better positioned to drive meaningful change at scale.
Looking Ahead
The message from families is clear. They value coherent, evidence-based approaches that support both students and teachers. NYC Solves reflects those priorities by bringing together high-quality instructional materials, professional learning, and systemwide coherence—and, when supported over time, initiatives like this have the potential to drive meaningful improvement.
Examples from within the city offer a glimpse of what’s possible when these conditions are in place. In NYCPS District 11, sustained investment in high-quality instructional materials, paired with strong professional learning, has contributed to significant math gains over multiple years.
As city leaders look ahead, the opportunity is to build on what families are asking for and what evidence already shows is working: maintaining coherence, strengthening implementation, and continuing to invest in the conditions that support high-quality math instruction for all students.
To learn more about Illustrative Mathematics, our mission, and the partners we work with to support coherent, long-term improvement, visit illustrativemathematics.org.
