Photo belongs to ADM Schools

A middle school teacher in Dallas County is utilizing math in an effective way to assist students.

DeSoto Intermediate Sixth Grade Teacher Courtney Stephenson tells Raccoon Valley Radio that she was searching for a math curriculum that would suit the needs of her students, as they found a program initially prior to Covid, but had to alter things. In 2023, DeSoto Intermediate partnered with Carnegie Learning to acquire a new style for math. Before adopting the program, Stephenson was analyzing to gather more information, and quickly realized the potential it had.

“It screamed so much of what we were looking for and identified as a district of what that exemplary math instruction and learning from students looked like, and what we wanted.”

Stephenson describes that she witnessed the transition in the classroom with students working together in random groups and admits that they were enjoying the new approach. Stephenson is in her 15th year of teaching, and shares the change math has gone through.

“We came from trying some different curriculums to utilizing research space pieces to creating our own as a team, and that was heavy lifting. It kind of took away the equity piece because we’re all different people.”

Stephenson points out that all levels are seeing results from Carnegie Learning, as she shares that other teachers are noticing students who are usually more shy in the classroom are starting to engage in the lessons, thanks to the program.