After years of planning, the State Board of Education adopted the California Math Framework in July 2023. The Framework isn’t a mandate but does provide evidence-backed guidance on how to teach math to California’s students in grades TK-12. Why are we at EdTrust-West celebrating this milestone? Because we know – and the data show – that math instruction in California has been ineffective for the vast majority of the state’s students, especially Black, Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native American students and multilingual learners (also known as “English Learners”).  

We know that when teachers have the right tools and training, multilingual learners excel. In fact, a few years back we highlighted how some schools and districts are boosting student achievement in math for English Learners in our Unlocking Learning II report. Now, the Math Framework provides a way to shift from a handful of pockets of success for English Learners to broad access to math through engaging, culturally and linguistically relevant content and instruction in every school in the state. So, what can advocates and districts do to maximize the benefits of the new Math Framework for the over a million multilingual students in California? Here are 3 things to focus on: 

The Math Framework includes core shifts designed to better support English Learners 

California already has an excellent resource to guide integrated language development in the English Language Development (ELD) Standards. This new math framework leverages the ELD Standards to improve math learning and language development simultaneously. Additionally, the Framework acknowledges the important role that the broader community and families play in a students’ learning journeys, suggesting events like family math nights or lessons that encourage students to explore their communities and engage with community members. An increased emphasis on culturally responsive teaching, professional development, and curriculum materials that are of high quality and research-backed round out the new Math Framework, with explicit guidance on how to leverage these components to improve teaching for multilingual students.  

Districts will have a state-approved list of instructional materials 

Research shows that instructional materials can be a powerful lever for advancing equity, but the materials that California teachers currently have access to are largely insufficient to support teachers in meeting the learning needs of multilingual students. The California Department of Education has already kicked off its instructional materials adoption process – typically a two-year process that culminates in the state’s approval of a list of curriculum products for K-8. It’ll be crucial that the materials adopted are clearly and tangibly developed with multilingual learners in mind.  

The California High-Quality Instructional Materials Learning Community offers resources to support schools and districts 

To support curriculum developers to design high-quality math materials and to help advise the state’s and local school districts’ adoption processes, Ed Trust-West, in collaboration with six expert organizations known as the California High-Quality Instructional Materials Learning Community  – Californians Together, UnboundEd, Center for Equity for English Learners at Loyola Marymount University, English Learners Success Forum, Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, and the San Joaquin County Office of Education STEM Division  – has supported the development of resources and learning opportunities, including: 

• Defining High-Quality Instructional Materials for Mathematics: Centering the Assets and Needs of Multilingual Learner and English Learner Students  
• Resources for educators and content developers from the  English Learner Success Forum
• Successful CA Instructional Materials Adoption Webinar Series (videos): Go Slow to Go Fast,  from UnboundEd and the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools
• For additional resources produced by the California High Quality Instructional Materials Learning Community, visit  www.edtrustwest.org/HQIM 

To get updates on the Math Framework implementation process, including resources for schools, districts, and advocates on supporting multilingual learners in math, join our email list here.