Mathematics at Seattle Public Schools
Our goal is to equip each of our students with the ability and preparation to meet the mathematical demands presented by college and careers. We strive to support students as they carry their mathematical thinking and problem-solving into multiple learning situations.
Resources
The Seattle Public Schools Mathematics Scope and Sequence, designed by our math educators in 2015 and based on Common Core math standards, provides an overall learning map for teachers. Your child’s classroom teacher can provide more information on these grade-level learning goals.
Elementary School
Math in Focus Opens a New Window. is our text, based on the Singapore method.
To log in to the online textbook Opens a New Window. :
UN: studentsps
PW: access
Middle School
We use enVisionmath2.0Opens a New Window. materials, adopted in 2018. Students can access digital content for enVision through the Seattle Public Schools student portal.
Families interested in accelerated math placement in middle school should refer to these documents:
High School
Most of our high school math textbooks are published by Kendall Hunt as part of the Discovering series Opens a New Window. . An exception is AP Statistics Opens a New Window. , published by Pearson.
Conceptual Understanding: Making sense of mathematics
Students who understand a concept can:
- identify examples and non-examples
- describe concepts with words, symbols, drawings, tables or models
- provide a definition of a concept
- use the concept in different ways
Expectations for conceptual understanding ask students to demonstrate, describe, represent, connect, and justify.
Procedural Proficiency: Skills, facts, and procedures
Students who demonstrate procedural proficiency can:
- quickly recall basic facts (addition, multiplication, subtraction, and division)
- use standard algorithms – step-by-step mathematical procedures – to produce a correct solution or answer (might also include multiple algorithms)
- use generalized procedures (such as the steps involved in solving an algebraic equation)
- demonstrate fluency with procedures:
- perform the procedure immediately and accurately
- know when to use a particular procedure in a problem or situation
- use the procedure as a tool that can be applied reflexively, and doesn’t distract from the task at hand (procedure is stored in long-term memory)
Problem-solving and Processes: reasoning and thinking to apply mathematical content
Students must be able to:
- reason
- solve problems
- communicate their understanding in effective ways
- solve increasingly complex problems from grade to grade
- use increasingly sophisticated language and symbols to communicate their understanding, from grade to grade