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State math office reports rapid rollout of summer math camps, 200 coaches and new 'Fun Zone' curriculum
Summary
The Alabama Office of Mathematics Improvement told the State Board it has grown from zero to 200 math coaches and 108 unlimited-support schools this year, reported preliminary summer program assessment results and promoted a new problem-solving curriculum called Fun Zone.
The Alabama Department of Education’s Office of Mathematics Improvement (OMI) reported Wednesday that it moved from startup to statewide operations this year, scaling to 108 full unlimited-support schools, about 200 math coaches and 18 regional coordinators while piloting a summer-camp curriculum focused on problem solving.
“The Office of Mathematics Improvement is really in full swing,” Dr. Anderson said in the board meeting as she presented data on summer math programs, regional staffing and curriculum resources.
OMI staff described the office’s staffing and regional structure, and said they plan to increase regional coordinators to 25 as they name another cohort of unlimited-support schools. The office said regional coordinators worked with local districts and the Alabama Reading Initiative on summer camps and professional learning, and that OMI provided curriculum and training to participating teachers.
For summer 2023, staff said they collected pretest/posttest data for students who took both assessments and removed single-test cases from the analysis. The office reported growth on benchmark measures for participating students in multiple grades and said they will compare outcomes to ACAP results when statewide scores are released.
OMI highlighted a new problem-solving unit called Fun Zone that staff wrote with regional coordinators. Staff described Fun Zone as an arts-centered, project-based unit for grades 4–5 that embeds standards-focused tasks and student discourse activities. The presentation included examples of student tasks (e.g., planning a community space with area and measurement challenges) and noted teachers used the unit during the school year as well as in summer camp.
Staff showed outreach and engagement work including a Padlet with curriculum resources, video guidance and an email pilot (avery.funzone@gmail.com) that invited student submissions; staff said regional coordinators conducted professional learning to support teacher use of the unit. OMI said they also organized a preconference session on the numeracy act and offered 12 breakout strands for teachers, coaches and administrators.
OMI urged districts to continue collecting and submitting summer-program data and said the office will refresh guidance for summer 2024. Board members praised staff for the rapid scale-up; one member noted that the state has local talent writing curriculum and urged districts to use it rather than buying out-of-state materials.
Ending: OMI staff said they will continue to document outcomes and align summer supports with research on the recommended number of instructional hours; they will also release updated guidance and data ahead of the 2024 summer campaign.
