Quincy math team outlines interventions and teacher supports; committee signs off on plan

Ms. Quinn presented the mathematics Program Improvement Plan, describing a district math team of 11 specialists who support elementary schools and two middle schools, identify students by ILT assessment, and deliver targeted interventions to strengthen foundational numeracy and number sense.

Quincy’s math specialists use small‑group instruction and co‑teaching to support teachers in real time and ran parent academies on illustrative mathematics (with consultant Maureen O’Connell) and other family events. The math team also held a Title I‑sponsored family game night and reported more than 30 families in attendance at a recent event.

The plan credited the new core resource Illustrative Mathematics for prompting a revision of pacing guides; a team revised grade‑level pacing so lessons better reflect unit progressions. Ms. Quinn described goals for the coming year: aligning MAP and MCAS targets, piloting a foundations‑of‑math course for QPS teachers (course ready by June 2025) and curating at least 10 digital math resources families can use over the summer, to be posted on the QPS math resource page.

Committee members asked whether grade‑5 expectations ask students to work at an abstract level before they are developmentally ready. Ms. Quinn, a former fifth‑grade math teacher, said the district believes students are capable and noted Illustrative Mathematics provides coherent progressions that—combined with targeted interventions—should improve scores as teachers deepen content knowledge. Several members stressed the need to connect the foundations course to what sixth‑grade teachers expect.

A motion to accept the math Program Improvement Plan was moved and seconded and approved by the committee.