Creating and Sustaining a Culture of Numeracy in Our High Schools
To develop numeracy in all students requires not just changing the mathematics classroom but reshaping the culture of the entire school. The culture of numeracy we envision involves every adult and student in a school and therefore has tremendous power to create equity. This culture is highly personalized, inquiry-based, student-centered, and meaningful. This culture focuses on effective problem solving and values communication. It is a culture of relevant mathematics content, effective and participatory instruction, and high-quality and aligned assessments. Establishing such a vibrant learning culture requires a commitment by the members of the AHSI to capture our collective voice, to influence our school communities to work diligently towards this culture, and to reach consensus on a set of meaningful numeracy principles that will help our students lead powerful and productive lives. To these ends, this paper articulates a culture of numeracy and how AHSI school communities can establish and sustain one.