What is Unite with Numeracy?

Unite with Numeracy is a comprehensive plan for educators at all programmatic levels to elevate the math4life goals of enhancing teacher content knowledge, improving teacher pedagogy, and increasing student achievement and engagement. The West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) is concentrating efforts on engaging, equipping, and empowering mathematics educators. 

Quality instruction lays the groundwork for a student’s success in future educational, employment, or enlistment opportunities. Factors inside and outside the classroom have influenced student achievement in mathematics throughout the last decade. Educator support, improved instructional practices, and partnerships between schools and families/guardians are a few ways to improve mathematical instruction and student comprehension. 

The Mathematical Habits of Mind (MHM) refer to the cognitive processes students use when identifying, classifying, solving, and communicating the findings of a mathematical problem. Students proficient in using the MHM can apply these eight processes to everyday problem-solving. These include:

• Make sense of problems and persevere and solving them.
• Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
• Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
• Model with mathematics.
• Use appropriate tools strategically.
• Attend to precision.
• Look for and make use of structure.
• Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

With a growing list of resources available at wvde.us/math4life, educators and families/guardians can be proactive in the learning process. The level of involvement educators and families/guardians show in a student’s mathematical learning can influence achievement, increase interest in mathematics, and strengthen the resilience to overcome challenging concepts. Collaborative efforts in the classroom and at home help to foster students’ skills in their journey to become successful mathematicians.