By Cherelle McKnight, Director, PK–6 Content During a virtual writing retreat, IM’s PK–6 content team gathered on Zoom and . . . played. My desk was covered with loose parts—small objects meant for building, arranging, and imagining. At one point, we were invited to...
By Lindy Olejniczak, PK–6 Content Specialist This past year, I was playing with my friend’s 2.5-year-old sons. The “game” started with bringing colored balls from a ball pit and tossing them to me. As I caught each one, I began arranging them in different ways. At one...
By Sarah Caban, Director, PK–12 Learning Experiences and Dionne Aminata, Former Grade 2–5 Lead Writer“Some students are never given the opportunity to engage with mathematics in rich and meaningful ways that emphasize critical thinking and problem solving. Moreover,...
By Sarah Caban, Director, PK–12 Learning Experiences and Dionne Aminata, Former Grade 2–5 Lead Writer “The idea of being a ‘math person’ is based on two pervasive world views; first, the so-called ‘fixed’ mindset, that what one knows about math cannot change...
By Sarah Caban, Director, PK–12 Learning Experiences and Dionne Aminata, Former Grade 2–5 Lead Writer “We have to break from the notion that learning mathematics must be a linear and procedural endeavor mastered through rote practice and memorization. Instead, we must...
By Sarah Caban, Director, PK–12 Learning Experiences and Dionne Aminata, Former Grade 2–5 Lead WriterWhen do students practice their math facts? How is math fluency assessed?We appreciate these questions for a couple of reasons: 1) We took great care in thinking...
By the Illustrative Mathematics team Pittsburgh Public Schools’ (PPS) third-grade proficiency rates nearly doubled just two years into implementing IM® Math through Imagine Learning, one of our IM Certified® curriculum distribution partners. But behind these recent...
By the Illustrative Mathematics team In the 2024–2025 school year, 40.7% of Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) third-grade students scored proficient or advanced in mathematics, surpassing the district’s interim goal of 33.4% and nearly doubling proficiency rates from...
By the Illustrative Mathematics team In February, a group of Illustrative Mathematics (IM) leaders spent a day at PS 121, an elementary school in NYC Public Schools District 11 located in the Bronx. The purpose of the visit was straightforward but meaningful. We...
By the Illustrative Mathematics team When districts commit to high-quality instructional materials and the conditions that make strong implementation possible, the impact on student outcomes can be powerful—and measurable. A new case study from Columbia University’s...
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