As her 7th graders wrapped up the school year this past spring, Louisiana math teacher Lerinda Baham was finishing a class of her own鈥攁 50-hour teacher training in middle school math.
With the time-intensive course, required for all 4th-8th grade teachers in the state, Louisiana has joined a growing group of states that are banking that big investments in professional learning and intervention for struggling students can raise math achievement.
Over the 2024-25 school year, Baham worked through the training鈥檚 modules, designed to deepen teacher knowledge and make explicit the way math skills taught in elementary years build a foundation for higher-level concepts in middle school.
Learning more about these connections through grades was 鈥渞eally valuable,鈥� Baham said, helping her better understand what prior knowledge she could draw on when introducing new information to her students.
Still, she didn鈥檛 feel that the training was as useful as it could have been. The lessons were online and asynchronous; teachers in her district worked through them solo and didn鈥檛 have dedicated time to discuss in person.
As more states launch initiatives in math teacher training, Louisiana鈥檚 effort offers some lessons鈥攁nd highlights the implementation challenges inherent to any large-scale attempt to deepen teachers鈥� knowledge and shift their practice.
Even with intensive study of the theory behind math instruction, some teachers said they still wanted more practical strategies to support students who were multiple grade levels behind, with clear connections to the materials they鈥檙e already using in the classroom.
The content, Baham said, focused on developing students鈥� conceptual understanding, without as much emphasis on strategies to build fluency.
鈥淵ou can say that all you want,鈥� said Baham, referencing the importance of drawing out students鈥� thinking. 鈥淏ut at the end of the day with limited time in the classroom, it鈥檚 like, what actually works?鈥�
Louisiana wants teachers 鈥榰nderstanding the why鈥� behind math
Over the past few years, several states have passed legislation targeting this foundational instruction in math.
Often cited is Alabama, which in 2022 mandated early screening and intervention for math difficulties and assigned 1-2 math coaches to every public K-5 school. It鈥檚 now the only state where 4th grade math scores are higher than they were pre-pandemic on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
鈥淵ou have to have professional development for teachers; they have to have the knowledge, best practices for instructional delivery, just as for math as they do for reading,鈥� said Kristen Wynn, the head of the AIM Institute for Learning and Research, an education consulting organization that provides reading professional development.
Wynn, a former literacy director at the Mississippi education department, worked with Mississippi鈥檚 math team, when it launched coaching for teachers in the subject. They used the same framework that Mississippi created to overhaul its approach to literacy instruction, focusing on sustained support for teachers. For instance, Wynn said, the state created an instructional observation protocol that math coaches could use, similar to the one reading coaches worked with.
In Louisiana, Act 260, passed in 2023, requires all 4th-8th grade math teachers to complete a state-created training in numeracy by August 2025. These grade levels represent a pivotal time, said Jamie Hebert, the executive director of numeracy at the Louisiana Department of Education.
鈥淢athematics takes a big jump from 5th grade going into middle school,鈥� Hebert said. 鈥淲hat they鈥檝e been learning in a concrete way, really translates to some more abstract prealgebra concepts.鈥�
Between the pandemic and other more regular interruptions to schooling, like weather events and natural disasters, many students have gaps in their prior knowledge, said Hebert. The training鈥檚 focus on math鈥檚 vertical progression through the grades is designed to help teachers identify and shore up that missing knowledge, she said. It鈥檚 also meant to serve as a primer for 糖心动漫vlog coming in through alternative-certification programs, she added, who haven鈥檛 been through a traditional math teacher-preparation course.
The material is curriculum-agnostic, so it doesn鈥檛 map to any one textbook series or resource. That鈥檚 a 鈥渟hift鈥� for a state that has long prioritized the adoption of high-quality instructional materials, and designed professional learning around them, Hebert said. Instead, she said, 糖心动漫vlog are meant to learn teaching moves and instructional principles that can apply regardless of what materials they鈥檙e using.
For example, in a portion of the training for 7th grade math focused on strategies for multiplying and dividing rational numbers, teachers analyze word problems that offer multiple entry points for students at different skill levels, evaluating them against a series of criteria: Do they require students to justify their thinking? Show multiple representations of math ideas? Allow students to look for patterns and make generalizations? Teachers practice writing their own problems that meet these goals.
鈥淭he state really expressed the importance of teachers understanding the why behind the math, and not just the how,鈥� said Shelly LeDoux, the director of professional learning and implementation at the University of Texas at Austin鈥檚 Charles A. Dana Center, which worked with the department to create the mandated training and accompanying optional offerings for other grade levels.
Should PD emphasize conceptual understanding or procedural fluency?
The goal is that, by the end of the training, teachers have 鈥渄eepened their own understanding of math,鈥� having built a strong base of conceptual knowledge, one that they can then help construct for their students, said LeDoux.
But some teachers felt that the training put too much emphasis on a theoretical understanding of math principles鈥攁 choice, they said, that could end up confusing students who are already struggling.
The critique gets to the heart of a persistent ideological divide in math instruction. Do students get better at math when teachers attempt to develop children鈥檚 conceptual understanding of math ideas, often through inquiry and problem-solving? Or is it more effective to ensure they have a solid grasp on math procedures and improve their fluency?
Research shows that both skills are necessary, and build upon each other. But those in the math education field, from college professors to curriculum publishers, differ on how to balance these priorities, and in what order.
鈥淪ometimes I feel like we pick it apart too much,鈥� said one veteran 8th grade teacher who went through the training, referring to math concepts, who asked that she not be named because she was not authorized by her district to comment publicly. She recalled one portion of the training on fractions that encouraged teachers to solve a problem four or five different ways.
Asking teachers to think through those different solutions is important, but breaking down every problem to that extent with students would be overwhelming for most elementary schoolers, she said.
It鈥檚 important for professional development to address the role of fluency and practice, including explicit instruction in some areas, said Nancy Jordan, a professor of learning sciences at the University of Delaware who studies how children learn math. (Jordan was not involved in creating the Louisiana training.)
Research suggests how practice should be structured to be most effective, Jordan said. For instance, she said, when students are first learning a skill, they should practice problems that just target that skill, and then move on to problem sets that include the skill alongside others鈥攁n approach called interleaved practice.
Hebert of the Louisiana Department of Education said that the state鈥檚 standards balance conceptual understanding with fluency and practical application. The department has created resources for evaluating students鈥� fluency and intervening when students struggle, she said, but they鈥檙e not integrated into this training.
The state is also developing guidance documents that demonstrate how to apply the principles from the professional learning in state-approved curricula, she added.
Why one district made time for teacher collaboration
Some teachers said the training felt like just one more thing on top of an already full plate鈥攁 concern teachers nationwide often have about professional development.
DeAnna Bond, a 6th and 7th grade math teacher in Dodson, La., said the 30 hours she spent on the course all came out of her personal time, after hours. A veteran teacher, she felt she already knew most of the content, and she said her district hasn鈥檛 scheduled any time for follow up.
This left some practical questions unanswered, she said. It might be helpful for newer teachers to learn, for instance, what math skills 6th graders should have when they enter the classroom. But that doesn鈥檛 explain what teachers should do if their 6th graders turn up without those skills, she said. 鈥淲here am I going to get the time from to make sure that they know what they should already know?鈥�
Other districts have tried to address some of these concerns, building time within the school year for teachers to complete the training and talk to each other about how to integrate new ideas into their practice.
鈥淲e decided to bring our people all together to do this collaboratively,鈥� said Wendy Marchand, the supervisor of curriculum and instruction in the Avoyelles Parish schools.
Avoyelles paid teachers a stipend to come in for six days throughout the 2024-25 school year to complete the training together. Teachers had a chance to talk about where the principles they were learning might fit into the curriculum they used, Marchand said.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 where those teaching strategies came to light,鈥� said Anna Brister, a district instructional coach.
Marchand strongly agrees that teachers need the training, but also that sustained, face-to-face assistance is key to making it stick.
鈥淲e have people who don鈥檛 have the content knowledge, especially in rural areas like ours,鈥� she said.鈥淭he only way I think you鈥檙e going to get better at what you do is if you have someone doing it with you.鈥�
