Wallingford‑Swarthmore TOSAs outline Reveal Math rollout, teacher supports

At the Wallingford‑Swarthmore School District Educational Affairs Committee meeting on March 12, 2025, math teachers on special assignment (TOSAs) Chad Mitchell, Shelby Blake and Jenny (last name not specified in the record) described the district’s rollout of the Reveal Mathematics curriculum and the classroom supports they provide for teachers.

The TOSAs emphasized that their role is to support teachers’ instruction rather than to replace direct student teaching. “TOSAs are teachers on special assignment,” said Ms. Williams, acting chair, introducing the presenters and the topic. The presenters described forward planning begun in summer work, creation of grade‑level scope and sequence documents, daily lesson plans, and pacing guides intended to ensure curriculum coverage and fidelity across classrooms.

The TOSAs told the committee they have been integrating digital activities (notably Desmos) with Reveal units, developing unit plans and daily lessons, and holding weekly grade‑level planning meetings to review instruction and analyze assessment data, including exit tickets. Chad Mitchell described using data to “help guide and inform teachers’ instruction,” and Shelby Blake said the team has created planning guides that gather the program’s many activity and extension resources in one place for teachers to use directly.

In classrooms, TOSAs reported heavy emphasis on co‑teaching and modeling inquiry‑based lessons so teachers can observe and adopt new instructional strategies. Presenters said they also create teacher materials—augmented slide decks with clearer activity directions, recording sheets for manipulatives, leveled assessments (“challenge by choice” grade/moderate/enriched), progress‑on‑standards documents and revised report‑card descriptors. Those materials are shared through Schoology (grades 3–5) and Seesaw (lower grades) so teachers can copy resources into their courses.

The TOSAs said they support interventions and extensions by producing ready‑to‑use lessons for intervention blocks and by helping teachers use quick formative checks (exit tickets) to group students efficiently. They also organize parent information nights and participate in professional development and vertical team meetings. The presenters reported ongoing outreach to recruit teachers for summer curriculum writing and to attend external conferences (e.g., NSTA).

On teacher feedback, presenters said 22 elementary‑level teachers responded to a voluntary survey and generally found the TOSA role “very supportive.” For the middle school, the presenters noted a high percentage of responses given the smaller teacher pool. A parent speaker, Sarah Levinson, said the district’s replay videos and access through Clever made it easier for parents to see how lessons are taught: “The replay videos are really nice … it gives you as a parent a sense of how the skill was taught in school,” she said during public comment.

Looking ahead, the TOSAs listed priorities for year two: helping teachers plan deeper mathematical discussions and build math vocabulary, moving further toward standards‑based/mastery reporting, streamlining intervention/extension blocks, preparing elementary students for fully online PSSA administration, and increasing math–science integration tied to STEEL (science, technology, engineering, environmental literacy and sustainability) standards.

Committee members thanked the presenters and indicated support for continuing the TOSA positions in next year’s budget to sustain curriculum implementation and teacher coaching. Ms. Lippett, a committee member, said she would “be the first to say that you will be budgeted for next year,” citing progress toward the district’s instructional objectives.

District materials and teacher supports described at the meeting will be shared electronically with committee members; presenters asked the board to review the teacher survey feedback and planning guides when available.