The Confidence Gap in Secondary Math

In this episode, Kristen Smith, author of Cultivating Math Confidence and a secondary math teacher in Washington State, digs into the distance between a student's math skills and their belief that they can do math at all. She and Larissa examine what district leaders miss when they hand a teacher a curriculum and ask for fidelity, why a popular approach to personalized math practice may be undercutting the very thinking it was meant to build, and how something as small as saying a term out loud shapes what a student can do with it. Essential listening for curriculum and MTSS leaders planning secondary math PD. Resources: Cultivating Math Confidence: Teaching Strategies to Boost Proficiency in Grades 6–12 (https://www.amazon.com/Cultivating-Ma...) by Kristen Smith — publisher or Amazon page Kristen Smith's Substack (https://kristensmith.substack.com/) , mentioned in the close (https://illustrativemathematics.org) Illustrative Mathematics (https://illustrativemathematics.org) — the curriculum she uses and critiques (https://www.branchingminds.com/hubfs/...) Implementing MTSS in Secondary Schools (https://www.branchingminds.com/hubfs/...) Addressing the Top Four Challenges in Secondary Math Intervention (https://www.branchingminds.com/blog/a...) Math Intervention Strategies for MTSS (https://www.branchingminds.com/blog/m...) Request a consultation (https://schoolin-around.captivate.fm/...) Takeaways: • Math confidence is built through repeated experiences of earned success. • Students who cannot say a math term out loud struggle to use it. • Curriculum fidelity assumes prior-grade mastery that most students do not have. • Probe for prerequisite skills in the lesson launch, before the curriculum task. • Reteach a missing sixth-grade skill on the spot, then continue the lesson. • Write your own spiraled review questions when the curriculum omits them. • Call on every student to use math vocabulary rather than letting them opt in. • Empower teachers to add access points instead of demanding strict fidelity. Learn more about MTSS and Branching Minds by visiting our Branching Minds Website (https://schoolin-around.captivate.fm/...) , or sign up for our weekly Newsletter (https://schoolin-around.captivate.fm/...) on all things MTSS. Don’t forget to follow and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn @BranchingMinds.  Send feedback or inquiries to podcast@branchingminds.com!