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Designer of new math curriculum in NYC schools urges patience after criticism
By
Jessica Gould
Published Feb 24, 2025
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Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
By
Jessica Gould
Published Feb 24, 2025
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The developer of a new math curriculum in New York City schools said in an interview that teachers are in the midst of a “learning process” with the materials that will improve after a bumpy roll-out this school year.
The curriculum, Illustrative Math, places an emphasis on creating a sense of “discovery” in students as they try to figure out math problems — rather than teachers lecturing students and modeling problems for them from the start. McCallum said studies show this approach is more engaging for students, and their learning is more “durable” as a result.
The Adams administration made the curriculum a requirement for algebra 1 in ninth grade this fall, with plans to expand it throughout all high school grades in the next few years.
As more schools have adopted the curriculum, criticism from teachers has rolled in. United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew told Chalkbeat New York in October that educators felt like they had “a mess on our hands.”
“It’s heartbreaking and heart-wrenching to go through this,” said Sharada Greene, a high school geometry teacher whose school required Illustrative Math for algebra 1 and 2 as well as geometry this year.
Illustrative Mathematics' CEO Bill McCallum said it’s common for teachers to have a tougher time with the materials during the first year.
“An implementation like this, it’s not an overnight success," he said in an interview with Gothamist this week. “We’ve talked to lots of teachers who struggled the first year and then [in the] second and third year they begin to get the feel for it. … So I think it takes time.”
The stakes for the curriculum are high. Mayor Eric Adams has made overhauling the math curriculum – along with a similar effort with literacy materials – central to his education initiative. Just over 50% of third through eighth graders scored proficient on last year’s state math tests.
“We believe that kids learn math by doing math not by watching somebody else do math,” McCallum said. “To me it's a little bit like, you know, if you're teaching someone to ride a bicycle, you don't ride a bicycle in front of them and then tell them to imitate you. You put them on the bike, you stand there supporting them ... and then you let them give it a try.”
Not all educators are critical of the new math materials, which are part of an Adams initiative called NYC Solves.
“I love it,” said Mia Price, who’s using Illustrative Math for her seventh-grade students at a middle school in Brooklyn for the second year. She said her class’s math scores jumped 28 points on last year’s state tests, and she’s noticed more engagement from students, especially those with disabilities.
Education officials said a December survey of 875 teachers and school leaders involved in the NYC Solves conducted found nearly 80% of teachers said they felt they were getting the support they need to implement the new curriculum.
But Greene, the geometry teacher, said the curriculum wrongly assumes students understand prior math concepts. The word problems, Greene said, are “too wordy” for her kids who missed fundamental literacy skills during the pandemic. She also said the materials lack flexibility and are supposed to be followed verbatim.
“The students you want to engage disengage,” she said. “And our hands are tied.”
Overshadowing the shift to the new curriculum is educators’ experience with a since-discredited literacy curriculum that has been blamed for poor reading scores around the country. The shift to a new literacy curriculum, NYC Reads, has faced similar complaints.
McCallum said he supported tweaks to the curriculum announced earlier this month by the education department and the teachers union to allow more flexibility. Teachers can now adapt the curriculum and pacing up to two weeks to complete units, and are freed from some assessments and data collection they said were too time consuming. The department also promised more training.
“I think it's great they made those adjustments,” McCallum said . “The Department of Education heard teachers and wanted to show some flexibility.” He said the introduction of a new curriculum is always a “learning process” for educators and policymakers alike.
Education department officials said students’ math scores show an overhaul is necessary, but will take time.
"Change is imperative and the status quo is unacceptable when fewer than half of our Black and brown students passed the algebra I regents exam," education department spokesperson Nicole Brownstein said. "Our educators in the field deserve tremendous credit for recognizing the need for change and doing the hard work to support it. ... From day one, we have said this is a marathon, not a sprint, and we are just at the beginning of this work."
Antigone Cox, a ninth-grade algebra teacher, said she has “mixed feelings” about the curriculum, and added that her students don’t like it.
Cox agreed that the curriculum assumes too much prior knowledge, causing her to supplement it with remedial lessons and additional problems. But she thinks there’s potential.
“I’m hopeful,” she said. “I see the vision.”
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education
Jessica Gould
Jessica is the education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Jessica reported on the shutdown and reopening of the nation’s largest school system, highlighting the unprecedented impacts on learning, health and mental health for students, staff and families. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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