BW Walch Education

06/30/2026

Math achievement is not just lagging—it is becoming the next major barrier to student success.

06/11/2026

Her teachers could see when students got the wrong answer.
What they couldn't always see was why — or how to fix it.

That's where this Utah principal started. Two small rural schools. Just over 100 students. Every instructional decision counts.

So instead of searching for a new curriculum, she started asking a different question:

Why?

Why does math work the way it does?
Why do students make the mistakes they make?
Why do some students struggle where they do?

When her teachers started asking why — everything shifted.

Teachers who had learned math as a set of procedures began teaching it with clarity and confidence.

Students stopped memorizing steps and started explaining their thinking.

"When teachers understand math differently, students learn math differently."

Five ways her teachers transformed their classrooms — published in EdTech Chronicle.

https://edtechchronicle.com/five-ways-understanding-the-why-behind-math-changed-everything/

Here are five ways understanding the “why” behind math concepts has changed everything in our district:

05/30/2026

"When teachers understand math differently, students learn math differently."

For Leander ISD, a district of 40,000+ students north of Austin, that's exactly what happened — and their Elementary Math Coordinator shared the full story in The Learning Counsel.

Their teachers were dedicated.
Their curriculum was strong.
But something was still missing.

Teachers could perform math instruction confidently.
What many couldn't do was break ideas down conceptually — explain the why behind the math they were teaching.

So instruction defaulted to shortcuts and rule sets.
Students arrived at correct answers but couldn't explain their thinking.
And over time, those gaps became walls — in middle school, in Algebra 1, and beyond.

Something had to change.

So instead of searching for a new program, they invested in their teachers.

What happened next was remarkable.

Word spread so fast through PLCs and planning meetings that principals formed their own group and began expanding the program themselves — without being asked.

"When professional learning empowers teachers and gives them confidence and clarity, the momentum that follows is contagious."

https://thelearningcounsel.com/articles/when-teachers-understand-math-differently-students-learn-math-differently/

05/22/2026

Want kids to do better in math? Throw out the curriculum … right? 🤔

Not so fast.

Two Pennsylvania principals asked that same question. Their district's math scores weren't where they needed to be. Teachers were frustrated. The instinct was to find a better program.

But the more they looked, the clearer it became — the curriculum wasn't the problem.

So they stopped searching for a better program — and started investing in their teachers.

The result? Math proficiency climbed from ~70% to over 85%.
And now? Students are asking for more math time.

Their full story — and what they'd tell every district leader facing the same challenge — is featured in The 74.

Read it here 👇
https://www.the74million.org/article/how-a-pennsylvania-district-improve-math-proficiency-without-changing-curriculum/

05/20/2026

Most teacher prep programs teach you how to follow math procedures.

Not how to understand them.

That gap shows up in classrooms every single day — in the student who gets the right answer but can't explain why. In the teacher who reteaches the same concept and gets the same results.

What changes things isn't a new program. It's when teachers move beyond demonstrating steps — and start facilitating real mathematical thinking.

And the best part?

Teachers leave with strategies they can use the very next day.

A professional learning advisor serving 20 Pennsylvania districts describes what that shift actually looks like — published in eSchool News. 🧮❤️

Read the full story in eSchool News 👇
https://www.eschoolnews.com/educational-leadership/2026/05/04/what-it-takes-to-build-teacher-confidence-in-math-4-lessons-for-district-leaders/

05/01/2026

Teachers in Abington Heights were asking the same question year after year:

Why isn't it sticking?

Students would learn it.
Then forget it.
Then show up the next year with the same gaps.

Sound familiar?

The district thought maybe they needed a new math program.
But when they dug deeper, they realized: maybe the materials weren't the problem.

So instead, they decided to invest in teachers.

Through OGAP, every elementary teacher engaged in deep, sustained professional learning — not a one-time workshop, but the kind that actually sticks and changes practice.

Solving problems.
Analyzing student work.
Confronting their own misconceptions.
All with support embedded in their schools.

Within a few years: ~85% proficiency. Kids so engaged they didn't want to stop for recess.

That's what happens when teachers get the support they actually deserve.

DM us for the full case study 📩

04/14/2026

What if every teacher had the tools to truly understand how their students think about math?

Because right now, in many classrooms across the country, even the most dedicated teachers are doing everything they can…
and still wondering why some students aren't getting it.

That's the challenge. And it's one that too many teachers are facing alone.

OGAP exists for that teacher. That moment. That gap.

In a randomized controlled trial across 61 schools in the School District of Philadelphia — schools navigating high poverty and high mobility — teachers using OGAP saw measurable shifts in student outcomes:

→ +11 points on state assessments in year one
→ +21 points by year two

Not because of a new program.
But because instruction changed.

When teachers can truly interpret student thinking, they respond differently.
And students rise to meet it.

This research was published in the American Journal of Education and reviewed by Evidence for ESSA, earning a Tier I: Strong Evidence rating — the highest federal standard.

When we invest in teacher understanding, we change student outcomes.

Every time.

04/02/2026

There's a lot of talk about what it takes to move the needle in math education.

Alabama is showing us what's possible when a state truly commits to its teachers.

Since the pandemic, Alabama is one of the few states to actually improve 4th grade math scores on NAEP. And it didn't happen by accident.

Through the 2022 Alabama Numeracy Act, the state made a bold commitment — over $500 million across five years to mathematics and reading improvement.

Every K–5 school got a math coach.
Teachers and principals were trained together.
Struggling students got intensive intervention.
And progress was tracked and measured.

But here's what made the difference: Alabama didn't just invest in better materials. They invested in teachers.

Through a multi-year partnership with AMSTI — the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative — thousands of Alabama teachers have been trained in OGAP’s research-based frameworks. Teachers who can now identify misconceptions early, understand what’s actually happening in their students’ mathematical thinking, and respond with targeted instruction.

The result? Alabama’s math scores, which declined sharply during the pandemic, are now recovering faster than nearly every other state in the country.

This is what it looks like when leadership commits to building teacher capacity — not just handing them better curriculum and hoping for the best.