Making Math Moments That Matter Are You Setting The Wrong Math Improvement Goals?
K-12 Math Leaders: Download our free Math Coherence Compass to help your teammates, system leaders, and educators create aligned instructional practices—without adding another initiative. https://makemathmoments.com/coherence-compass/
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In this episode, Jon Orr and Yvette Lehman tackle a common problem in math improvement planning: leaders setting key results for teachers. They explain why year-long targets are often too far away to drive action, why quarterly milestones keep momentum going, and why the people creating the change should be the ones setting the targets.
Yvette walks through a K–12 school that chose the first Standard for Mathematical Practice as its objective, then had each PLC commit to its own short-term change, including a key result focused on just three students. Jon and Yvette also share advice for system leaders supporting many schools: learn the conditions for success in one place before trying to scale.
In this episode, you'll explore:
- Why key results should be set by the people who will create the change
- Why six- or nine-month targets are too far out, and why quarterly milestones work better
- How key results differ from end-of-year achievement scores
- How a K–12 school used the first Standard for Mathematical Practice as its shared objective
- How each PLC chose its own short-term change based on what students were showing
- A real key result focused on three students retelling a problem without the numbers
- What makes a strong key result: a baseline, a clear bar, a date, and multiple sources of evidence
- The leader’s role in protecting PLC time and connecting every team back to the objective
- Why system leaders should learn the conditions for success in one school before scaling to many
Look at the key results or targets your team is working toward right now and ask: Who wrote these? If they were set at the leadership level, consider bringing your PLCs together to choose their own short-term change instead. Ask each team what they’re seeing in students, what one move they could realistically commit to this quarter, how they’ll gather evidence, and when they’ll bring it back to share.
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We’ve partnered with them to help bring more collaborative learning into classrooms. Whether you’re supporting one class or math instruction across multiple schools, find the right way to get started at wipebook.com/mathmoments.
Are you wondering how to create K-12 math lesson plans that leave students so engaged they don’t want to stop exploring your math curriculum when the bell rings? In their podcast, Kyle Pearce and Jon Orr—founders of MakeMathMoments.com—share over 19 years of experience inspiring K-12 math students, teachers, and district leaders with effective math activities, engaging resources, and innovative math leadership strategies. Through a 6-step framework, they guide K-12 classroom teachers and district math coordinators on building a strong, balanced math program that grows student and teacher impact. Each week, gain fresh ideas, feedback, and practical strategies to feel more confident and motivate students to see the beauty in math. Start making math moments today by listening to Episode #139: "Making Math Moments From Day 1 to 180.