Math Progressions

Understanding the impact of how basic math skills will progress into higher-level skills is crucial for Elementary Math Teachers and Math Intervention Teachers. Graham Fletcher has done a great job mapping out the progression of math skills from the lower to upper grade level standards.

Graham Fletcher's Math Progression Videos

As an Elementary Math Teacher, there are times when the question of why a particular math skill or method is really important or how it will be used in the future. Using these progression maps will help you better see the big picture. It also can give you an opportunity to help your students when they complain about the math being silly or unimportant.

As a Math Intervention Teacher, these maps can help you walk back the underlying struggle that a student may have with a particular standard. Knowing that they are struggling with a higher level skill does not always easily translate into an effective way to help. I have found that using these maps, I can step backward with a student to see which earlier standards the student is not able to apply, and then help fill in this gap.