The Illinois State Board of Education adopted its first-ever statewide numeracy plan to improve math instruction.
The nearly 200-page document doesn’t require school districts to use any new curriculum.
Dr. Ronda Dawson, the Illinois State Board of Education’s executive director of teaching and learning and a former-math teacher, says the goal is to lay out the best practices for teaching math.
“It could be conversations, it could be projects, looking at the way that they present scenarios for students to problem solve, where there's more inquiry, there's more discussion,” she said.
The plan encourages teachers to praise strategy and reasoning, not just correctness or speed. It also talks about using math concepts in real-world contexts.
Dawson says plenty of Illinois school districts are already providing excellent math instruction.
“What the plan is encouraging our school districts to do is to refine their practices, kind of take a look at your curriculum, take a look at what is happening in your classrooms,” she said. “What is professional learning looking like, and then what is it producing?”
She says success would be if districts use their guidance to develop local plans and, of course, if they see continuous math improvement on classroom assignments and state assessments.
They call it a “numeracy” instead of a “math” plan because “numeracy” means that you know how to use math and reasoning skills in everyday life, like planning a trip or baking a cake.
Math scores in Illinois and nationwide haven’t recovered as quickly as literacy since the pandemic. The plan has been in the works for several years and included listening tours across the state.
It comes right after Illinois’ statewide literacy plan, which was adopted in 2024.
