Resource Hub
Explore guides, research papers, policy briefs, and tools to aid decisions on standards and assessments.
The Mathematics Common Core Toolbox
This toolbox is meant to support districts in their implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The Dana Center believes the new standards provide an opportunity for districts to move their students to higher levels of achievement. However, they also recognize the challenges districts face in meeting these rigorous standards. Thus they developed this resource to help districts reexamine what it means for all students to understand and do mathematics in ways that prepare them for success in life, college, and their future careers. The site is organized into three sections: Standards for Mathematical Practice, Standards for Mathematical Content, and Resources for Implementation.
Standards for Mathematical Practice
What processes and proficiencies do these standards ask us to develop in our students, and how can we do so? To answer this question, the toolbox provides animated key visualizations of the math practice standards for grades 6-12, formative assessment tools and tasks, classroom challenges for grades 6, 8, Algebra I and Geometry, and a template to create teaching tasks that infuse literacy skills in mathematics coursework.
Standards for Mathematical Content
What mathematics should our students understand and be able to do, and how can we ensure that every student has a genuine opportunity for mastery? To answer this question, the toolbox provides animations for how concepts are developed across grade levels and animated key visualizations of math content standards for grades 6-12.
Resources for Implementation
How can districts prepare to successfully implement the CCSS in mathematics? What steps should they take? What structures should they put in place? To answer this question, the toolbox provides a protocol for key leaders to engage in structured collaborative conversations about the implementation of the standards, a protocol for studying and effectively integrating the CCSS into teachers’ daily instruction, sample curriculum framework documents, and examples of the types of innovative assessment tasks that reflect the direction of the PARCC summative assessments.
The animations used for this toolbox were developed in collaboration with hundreds of exemplary mathematics educators throughout the country to give teachers access to promising practices in instruction and formative assessment. The animations provided here are only a small sample of the larger bank of animations. If you are interested in viewing more animations, the Dana Center offers a larger program that contains thousands of research-based animations of key concepts. This larger program is available to schools and districts by subscription. For more information on these resources, you can contact Kathi Cook at [email protected] or Susan May at [email protected].