“Future of Math” Release in School Rethink 2.0
March 6, 2025
“Welcome to sixth-grade math, Adrian. I’ll be one of your teachers, Ms. Callahan. Did you know there are approximately three hundred math skills and concepts you need to learn, understand, and apply to be ready for high school and beyond?”
So starts off Joel Rose’s chapter, The Future of Math, in the new book School Rethink 2.0, edited by Frederick M. Hess, Michael B. Horn and Juliet Squire. As a new teacher, when Joel asked his principal how to teach this disparate group of students using a single textbook, the response? “Just do your best, Mr. Rose. That’s what we all do.”
The bad news is that not much has changed. The good news is that they can. The current one modality assumption, that there needs to be a teacher at the head of the class teaching 28 students from a single text book, is being challenged. As Joel says, “[p]erhaps the introduction of modalities beyond teacher-led, whole-class instruction meant that it was time to revisit the instructional core itself.”
How can we transform the classroom from a single modality to multiple modalities, offering students different ways of learning through teacher-led instruction, collaborative learning, real-world tasks, and independent learning? And how can personalized, competency-based learning (PCBL) be used to build different pathways for the student, based on the skills they already know, or still need to learn? Combining a unique pathway for each student along with different modalities has allowed students to not only catch up, but get ahead.
Joel also addresses some of the barriers that schools have had to overcome in implementing PCBL, including such misconceptions as:
- PCBL is remediation
- Skills at the expense of abstract thinking
- Risks of incoherence
The chapter also highlights practical challenges such as:
- Fixed mindsets
- Grade-level-only assessments
- Time Limitations
- Unachievable pace targets
As Joel concludes, “[m]ath is cumulative based on skills. Grade levels are sequential based on
age. Those realities inherently conflict with one another, no matter how strong the teacher, how good the curriculum, or how stringent the ac-countability system.” Which is why we need to adopt these changes now so that the Future of Math will become – just math.
The book itself brings together a range of insightful perspectives on rethinking education—not just in theory, but with concrete steps to turn ideas into action. Get your copy and join the movement: School Rethink 2.0