Overview

When early high-quality math instruction is aligned across grades, it can have a positive effect on children’s math skills, attitudes toward math, and working memory. However, evidence-based pre-K learning trajectories and instructional practices are not typically integrated into the curriculum for the early elementary grades. This lack of integration can have negative results: Children may encounter the same content more than once from pre-K to kindergarten through third grade. Conversely, the math instruction they receive may not  cover the areas or progression of learning that research says young children follow for learning math. Finally, instructional methods promoted in those curricula do not always pay attention to research-based pedagogies of what may be most appropriate for younger learners.   

While there has been considerable research on best practices and proposed approaches for math instruction, no one has yet integrated all that research into a single, usable tool to help curriculum developers create curricular materials that provide high-quality math instruction from pre-K through third grade.   

This project aims to develop such a tool, one that clearly articulates the core components of a high-quality math curriculum from pre-K through third grade, defines the necessary scope and sequence for curricular products, and provides guidance on lesson planning and implementation.