Program Overview

With the dissemination of the materials on this website, Kalamazoo Public Schools teachers will have exemplary mathematics guidance that will help them work with Kalamazoo students to become mathematically literate.

This online mathematics curriculum guide highlights the 5 content standards, 5 process standards and 5 instructional standards that are expected to be standard practice in all of our mathematics classrooms, kindergarten through grade 12.

Mathematics literacy is important for future success in many occupations and careers. The goal of our mathematics program is to ensure that all students become mathematically literate. Our dedicated teachers use a variety of teaching strategies such as effective questioning techniques, experiments/inquiry learning and technology enhanced lessons with small and large group activities to ensure success in mathematics for all students. Teachers will have various opportunities to refine and learn additional strategies to help students succeed in mathematics, as well as to share their own successful classroom activities with other teachers.

Knowing mathematics means being able to use it in purposeful ways. It is the responsibility of the classroom teacher to help children view mathematics as a practical and useful tool to be used in a wide variety of real world situations. Children must engage in exploring, conjecturing, and reasoning, instead of simply engaging in rote learning of rules and procedures, so that this attitude about mathematics can be realized.

Children are active individuals who construct, modify, and integrate ideas by interacting with the physical world, materials, and other children; therefore, emphasis should be placed on the development of mathematical understandings that capitalize on these natural inclinations. When children construct their own knowledge from meaningful experiences, they are much more likely to connect these ideas to understandings they bring with them and to retain and use what they have learned. Thoughtful and creative use of instructional resources such as manipulatives, calculators, and computers allow children to explore number ideas and patterns. These valuable concept-development experiences will allow students to focus on problem solving processes while learning mathematical content.

Classroom environments that encourage every child to explore, develop, test, discuss, and apply mathematical ideas will insure that all students possess adequate mathematical understandings to be productive citizens in the next century.

The district's core curriculum is based on guidance from the Michigan Department of Education as well as the district's needs. Each building also has the opportunity to make local decisions based on the needs of the students within their building.

This online compilation of documents has been designed and assembled with the help of many district teachers who have served on the mathematics leadership team.  We hope to continually refine this document as our professional practice as educators evolves.