...serving over 14,000 Ohio teachers since 2000
Making Math Matter
Online 3 Graduate Credit Hours
Instructor: Kelly Moran, Ed.D.
Cell Phone: (440) 376-0673
Email: kellyannteacher@gmail.com
Classroom Location: NA, online
Office hours: anytime, simply send an email. I will respond within 24-48 hours.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Elevate your impact as a math educator and join the movement to raise mathematics achievement across Ohio. This course empowers teachers, coaches, and instructional leaders with the knowledge and tools to implement high-impact, research-based strategies aligned with Ohio’s Plan to Raise K–12 Mathematics Achievement. Participants will explore how students learn math through the lens of brain science, engage with national and state-level NAEP data to uncover achievement gaps, and translate that data into action.
Designed for educators committed to improving math instruction, this course highlights effective, evidence-based teaching practices that build deep conceptual understanding, support productive struggle, and foster student confidence in math. Participants will gain practical strategies to strengthen instruction, align with Ohio’s strategic priorities, and create equitable math learning experiences for all students.
This is a 100% online asynchronous course. No face-to-face meetings are required to complete this course.
INTRODUCTION
This course is designed to elevate the instructional knowledge and decision-making of educators, instructional coaches, and teacher leaders committed to improving mathematics outcomes. Grounded in Ohio’s Plan for K-12 Mathematics and aligned with national research on how students learn, the course provides practical, evidence-based strategies to support high-quality math instruction at all grade levels.
Participants will explore and unpack the latest findings from brain science and learning research to better understand how students build mathematical understanding and fluency. A central focus of the course will be interpreting and responding to NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) data, using national and state-level trends to guide a deeper investigation into current instructional practices and identify urgent areas for improvement.
Through reflective, job-embedded exercises, participants will:
● Analyze Ohio’s Plan to Raise Math Achievement and its implications for classroom practice and leadership.
● Examine NAEP results to understand where Ohio students are struggling and why.
● Learn and apply evidence-based strategies that align with how the brain learns math.
● Build instructional habits that support conceptual understanding, productive struggle, and long-term retention.
Throughout the course, participants will use self-assessment tools and implementation frameworks to foster continuous professional growth and instructional improvement. Emphasis will be placed on designing learning environments that promote reasoning, engagement, and mathematical discourse for all learners.
This course directly supports Ohio’s Strategic Plan for Education—Each Child, Our Future—by advancing three priority strategies under the Excellent Educators and Instructional Practices pillar:
● Strategy 1: Increase the supply of highly effective teachers and leaders and provide supports to ensure they are effective or highly effective.
● Strategy 2: Support every principal to be highly effective—especially those leading schools that serve the neediest children.
● Strategy 3: Improve targeted supports and professional learning so teachers can deliver excellent instruction today, tomorrow, and throughout their careers.
By the end of the course, participants will be equipped to lead instructional shifts in their schools and districts that reflect the cognitive science of learning and meet the urgent call to raise mathematics achievement in Ohio. This course empowers educators to be catalysts of equity, excellence, and innovation in mathematics instruction
INSTRUCTOR’S STATEMENT
This syllabus may be modified at any time by the instructor. The class will be informed of any changes, but it is the responsibility of the students to make themselves aware of these changes. Please contact me in case of any confusion, concern or question.
REQUIRED TEXTS
All required readings are linked in this week-by-week assignment document.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
- Interpret state and national NAEP mathematics data to identify trends, gaps, and areas for instructional improvement.
- Explain how students develop mathematical understanding based on current research in brain science and cognitive psychology.
- Identify and define evidence-based instructional practices that support conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and mathematical reasoning.
- Recognize the impact of mindset, identity, and belief systems on student engagement and achievement in mathematics.
- Understand the role of formative assessment and feedback in promoting student growth in mathematics.
- Describe the characteristics of effective math instruction that align with the principles of universal design for learning (UDL) and high expectations for all students.
- Summarize instructional shifts needed to address opportunity gaps and raise math achievement, particularly for historically underserved populations.
CLASS PARTICIPATION
Students are expected to actively engage in online class discussions, article readings, online tasks, and individual assignments. Students are also encouraged to ask questions and use analytical reflection and conceptual skills to develop their own thoughts and conclusions on how to apply learned concepts to their respective work environments.
Class participation rubric: IDS Participation Rubric
ASSIGNMENTS For almost every session in the course there will be four assignments.
➤Assignment one (read) - a weekly reading assignment.
➤Assignment two (watch) - a viewing assignment in which you will watch a posted video.
➤Assignment three (listen)- a weekly listening activity (usually a link to a podcast episode)
➤Assignment four (create)- a weekly artifact posting assignment. You will be required to post an artifact you create related to a given prompt.
GRADING - ASSIGNMENT POINTS
|
30 points |
|
|
Artifact Assignments (9 total) |
12 points each / 108 points total |
|
80 points |
|
|
|
Total course points available - 218 |
It is the responsibility of the student to track their grade and maintain assignments according to the due dates posted..
GRADING SCALE
|
A 93 to 100 A- 90 to 92.99 |
B+ 87 to 89.99 B 83 to 86.99 B- 80 to 82.99 |
C+ 77 to 79.99 C 73 to 76.99 C- 70 to 72.99 |
D+ 67 to 69.99 D 63 to 66.99 D- 60 to 62.99 |
F 0 to 59.99 |
ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTIONS:
A week-by-week glance and description of all assignments can be found here.
I suggest that you make a copy of this document so that you can check off completed assignments as you go along. In addition, you will then have a repository at your disposal of helpful and useful resources.
Please note: All assignments are due at 11:55 p.m. on the date listed.
Late Work: Overdue work will only be accepted within five days of the original due date. Remember that your final grade is calculated according to the above percentile weights. If you have questions about assignment grades, those concerns must be discussed personally with the professor within one week of receiving the corrected work from the professor. No overdue work will be accepted after the last regularly scheduled class meeting. Please note: no late assignments accepted for the final project.
CARNEGIE UNIVERSITY CREDIT CALCULATION
Students are awarded credit for classes on the basis of the Carnegie unit. This defines a semester unit of credit as equal to a minimum of three hours of work per week for a semester.
|
Course Type |
Unit Value |
Lecture Hours Per Week |
Lecture Hours per semester |
Lab / Hybrid hours per week |
Homework hours per week |
|
Lecture |
1 SH |
1 |
16 |
NA |
32 |
|
Lecture |
2 SH |
2 |
32 |
NA |
64 |
|
Lecture |
3 SH |
3 |
48 |
NA |
96 |
References:
National Research Council. 2001. Adding It Up: Helping Children Learn Mathematics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/9822.
Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. (2025). Ohio’s Plan for K‑12 Mathematics [PDF]. https://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/Topics/Learning-in-Ohio/Mathematics/Ohios-Plan-for-K-12-Mathematics.pdf.aspx?lang=en-US
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