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Challenge We want to shift teachers' attention from what they are doing to what students are doing and thinking

Summary

Our teachers have been working hard at implementing a curriculum that is oriented, in part, toward engaging students in mathematical problem solving. We have supported the implementation with professional development to help teachers understand the design principles and structure of the curriculum, and the components that organize the units and the lessons. We have spent time helping teachers broaden and deepen their knowledge of the mathematics in the curriculum.

It is clear that teachers' continue to focus primarily on what they need to do to implement the curriculum. This is resulting in a kind of mechanical use of the curriculum, with teachers making sure they are doing all the components of each lesson and each unit. And they are becoming quite skilled at this level of implementation.

We have been unsuccessful, however, at getting teachers to shift their focus to what students are doing and thinking.

Strategies