Home REL Central Studying a Toolkit to Support Evidence-Based Algebra Instruction in Middle and High School

New professional learning opportunities for teaching pre-algebra and algebra!

The U.S. Department of Education is offering schools and districts an exciting opportunity to help educators use evidence-based practices for teaching algebra and supporting algebraic reasoning in middle and high school mathematics. A new resource, called the Toolkit to Support Evidence-based Algebra Instruction in Middle and High School, is a comprehensive set of tools that translates research and expert recommendations into effective strategies for teachers to use in the classroom. Based on evidence about how teachers can work together in supportive professional learning communities and explore new instructional approaches in their own classrooms, the Toolkit helps teachers build on their strengths and acquire new skills that support students' algebraic reasoning.

Is your school district interested in being an early adopter of the Toolkit?

The U.S. Department of Education is inviting school districts from the Central Region to participate in a study to implement the Toolkit during the 2024-25 school year. It will assess whether using the Toolkit helps teachers use recommended, evidence-based practices for pre-algebra and algebra instruction and if using those practices helps improve students' performance in math and on tasks of algebraic reasoning. Through participation in this project, educators get early and exclusive access to the Toolkit during the 2024/25 school year and support from the Toolkit's developers, before the Toolkit is publicly available.

Learn more about the study

What will teachers and school leaders learn from using the Toolkit?

Teachers will receive professional development in using evidence-based teaching practices and strategies for being better able to teach algebraic concepts to students. They have the opportunity to try new instructional strategies with the support of professional learning community (PLC) colleagues and toolkit resources.

School leaders or instructional leaders will receive support from developers of the Toolkit to facilitate teachers in using the Toolkit and evidence-based teaching practices and using actionable strategies that can be applied across various contexts, curricula, and teaching circumstances.

How will participating in this project benefit my school or district?

• Collaborating with the REL Central to implement and evaluate the Toolkit will provide the partner district with several benefits: Early access to the Toolkit for a set of schools within the district.
• Training and implementation support from the developers of the Toolkit.
• An opportunity to provide critical evidence and feedback to improve this free set of resources that will support pre-algebra and Algebra instruction and learning nationwide. 
• Compensation for participation will be provided to the district, schools, and teachers.

How does the Toolkit align with the other priorities of my district or school?

Supporting algebra knowledge and course-taking has been a longstanding priority for education agencies within the Central region. This priority is more important than ever as districts are trying to accelerate student growth in math achievement in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Toolkit addresses this priority while being designed to be flexible and adaptable to local curriculum, teachers, and professional development and instructional design goals. Schools and districts will be able to set up professional development that fits their teachers' schedules, curriculum, and assessments.

How long will the Toolkit take to complete?

The Toolkit includes 14 PLC sessions of one hour each. Completing all PLC sessions and related between-session work will take approximately 18 hours for each participating teacher over about five months of the school year, although districts will have flexibility to adjust scheduling and pacing of the sessions to meet teacher and school needs.

How will the study work?

Out of interested schools, at least half will be selected randomly to receive early access to the toolkit and support in using it. Other schools will use their "business-as-usual" professional development for the 2024/25 school year.  

Details: During summer of the 2024/25 school year, the study team will randomly assign recruited schools within each district to one of two groups:

• First group. In schools assigned to the first group, pre-algebra and algebra teachers (as well as 8th- or 9th-grade teachers teaching integrated math with significant algebra content) will receive early and exclusive access to the Toolkit and the additional supports described above. These teachers will participate in associated professional development sessions in the 2024-2025 school year.
• Second group. In schools assigned to the second group, teachers will continue to receive their usual professional development supports in the 2024-2025 school year, and will receive access to the access to the Toolkit in summer of 2025, prior to the 2025-2026 school year.- These schools will not receive the study's additional supports but will likely benefit from the district's experiences implementing the Toolkit with the first group.  

The study team will examine how the Toolkit affects teachers' instructional practices and students' math outcomes through focus educator groups/interviews, educator and study surveys, and district administrative data.

Where do the evidence-based practices come from?

The Toolkit builds on ED's What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) practice guide¹, Teaching Strategies for Improving Algebra Knowledge in Middle and High School Students. The WWC analyzes research on educational interventions to determine whether the research meets its high standard of evidence and identify which teaching practices and strategies work best in helping students learn. The WWC then compiles research that meets these standards into practice guides to help educators use evidence-based teaching strategies. Learn more about the WWC.

The Algebra Toolkit is being developed by the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Central, a project of the U.S. Department of Education that partners with states and districts in the Central region.

Are the resources really free? 

The course materials, including Participant Workbooks, Facilitator Guides, and slide decks, will be free to participating districts during the pilot study and freely downloadable as electronic files from the toolkit website once fully released following the pilot study in 2024-25. Online versions of the materials, videos and math activities will be available to all schools after summer 2025 at no cost. District resources, such as a facilitator and materials, are required to successfully implement the course.