Report Overview
Summary of Alignment & Usability: Go Math | Math
Product Notes
For Go Math, materials reviewed included student editions for each grade and teacher editions for each grade. No digital materials were reviewed.
Please note: The copyright for Go Math K-5 is 2015. The copyright for Go Math 6-8 is 2014.
Math K-2
The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten through Grade 2 partially meet the expectations for alignment to CCSSM. The instructional materials for Grades 1 and 2 meet the expectations for gateway 1 as they appropriately focus on the major work of the grade and demonstrate coherence within the grade and across other grades, but the materials for Kindergarten only partially the expectations from gateway 1. The instructional materials for all grades partially meet the expectations for gateway 2 as they appropriately address rigor within the grade-level standards, but there are missed opportunities in the materials when it comes to attending to the full meaning of the Standards for Mathematical Practice. Overall, the instructional materials address the content standards very well and do a nice job of identifying and partially integrating the practice standards.
Kindergarten
View Full ReportEdReports reviews determine if a program meets, partially meets, or does not meet expectations for alignment to college and career-ready standards. This rating reflects the overall series average.
Alignment (Gateway 1 & 2)
Materials must meet expectations for standards alignment in order to be reviewed for usability. This rating reflects the overall series average.
Usability (Gateway 3)
1st Grade
View Full ReportEdReports reviews determine if a program meets, partially meets, or does not meet expectations for alignment to college and career-ready standards. This rating reflects the overall series average.
Alignment (Gateway 1 & 2)
Materials must meet expectations for standards alignment in order to be reviewed for usability. This rating reflects the overall series average.
Usability (Gateway 3)
2nd Grade
View Full ReportEdReports reviews determine if a program meets, partially meets, or does not meet expectations for alignment to college and career-ready standards. This rating reflects the overall series average.
Alignment (Gateway 1 & 2)
Materials must meet expectations for standards alignment in order to be reviewed for usability. This rating reflects the overall series average.
Usability (Gateway 3)
Math 3-5
The instructional materials reviewed for Grades 3-5 partially meet the expectations for alignment to the CCSSM. The instructional materials for Grades 3, 4, and 5 meet the expectations for gateway 1 as they appropriately focus on the major work of the grade and demonstrate coherence within the grade and across other grades. The instructional materials in Grades 3, 4, and 5 partially meet the expectations for gateway 2 as they appropriately address rigor within the grade-level standards, but there are missed opportunities in the materials when it comes to attending to the full meaning of the Standards for Mathematical Practice. Overall, the instructional materials address the content standards very well and do a nice job of identifying and partially integrating the practice standards.
3rd Grade
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Alignment (Gateway 1 & 2)
Materials must meet expectations for standards alignment in order to be reviewed for usability. This rating reflects the overall series average.
Usability (Gateway 3)
4th Grade
View Full ReportEdReports reviews determine if a program meets, partially meets, or does not meet expectations for alignment to college and career-ready standards. This rating reflects the overall series average.
Alignment (Gateway 1 & 2)
Materials must meet expectations for standards alignment in order to be reviewed for usability. This rating reflects the overall series average.
Usability (Gateway 3)
5th Grade
View Full ReportEdReports reviews determine if a program meets, partially meets, or does not meet expectations for alignment to college and career-ready standards. This rating reflects the overall series average.
Alignment (Gateway 1 & 2)
Materials must meet expectations for standards alignment in order to be reviewed for usability. This rating reflects the overall series average.
Usability (Gateway 3)
Math 6-8
The instructional materials reviewed partially meet expectations for alignment to the Common Core State Standards. For focus, the instructional materials for Grades 6 and 8 meet the criteria for the time devoted to the major work of the grade, but the Grade 7 material does not. For coherence, supporting work is clearly connected to the focus of the grade and is done so in a meaningful way. Coherence is also evident in the instructional materials, including problems and activities that serve to connect two or more clusters in a domain and that connect two or more domains in a grade.
6th Grade
View Full ReportEdReports reviews determine if a program meets, partially meets, or does not meet expectations for alignment to college and career-ready standards. This rating reflects the overall series average.
Alignment (Gateway 1 & 2)
Materials must meet expectations for standards alignment in order to be reviewed for usability. This rating reflects the overall series average.
Usability (Gateway 3)
7th Grade
View Full ReportEdReports reviews determine if a program meets, partially meets, or does not meet expectations for alignment to college and career-ready standards. This rating reflects the overall series average.
Alignment (Gateway 1 & 2)
Materials must meet expectations for standards alignment in order to be reviewed for usability. This rating reflects the overall series average.
Usability (Gateway 3)
8th Grade
View Full ReportEdReports reviews determine if a program meets, partially meets, or does not meet expectations for alignment to college and career-ready standards. This rating reflects the overall series average.
Alignment (Gateway 1 & 2)
Materials must meet expectations for standards alignment in order to be reviewed for usability. This rating reflects the overall series average.
Usability (Gateway 3)
Report for 6th Grade
Alignment Summary
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 partially meet the expectation for alignment to the Common Core State Standards. For focus, the instructional materials meet the criteria for the time devoted to the major work of the grade. Also, the majority of the chapters and the respective days allocated in the timeline align to the major work of this grade. For coherence, supporting work is clearly connected to the focus of the grade and is done so in a meaningful way. Coherence is also evident in the instructional materials including problems and activities that serve to connect two or more clusters in a domain and that connect two or more domains in a grade.
The instructional material for the Grade 6 partially meets the quality expectation for alignment to the Common Core State Standards in the areas of rigor and mathematical practices. The instructional material meets the expectations for the criterion of rigor and balance by reflecting the balances of all three aspects of rigor throughout the lessons and helping students meet the standards rigorous expectations. Within the concept development sections of each lesson, the mathematical topic is developed through understanding as indicated by the standards and cluster headings. Procedural skill and fluency is a focus throughout the material. It is most evident in modules 2 and 5, which cover 6.NS. Application of the mathematical concepts is evident in real-world problems in the beginnings of lessons and in guided and independent practice. MPs are identified and often used to enrich mathematical content. Materials sometimes attend to the full meaning of each practice standard. There are many places where students are prompted to construct viable arguments and analyze the work of others. However, there are many places where the label does not match the problem or the problem covers more than one MP, but only one is listed. Materials are very limited in assisting teachers in engaging students in constructing viable arguments and analyzing the arguments of others. Also, only some materials actually attend to the specialized language of mathematics.
6th Grade
Alignment (Gateway 1 & 2)
Usability (Gateway 3)
Overview of Gateway 1
Focus & Coherence
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectation for alignment to the CCSSM. For focus, the instructional materials meet the criteria for the time devoted to the major work of the grade. Also, the majority of the chapters and the respective days allocated in the timeline align to the major work of this grade. For coherence, supporting work is clearly connected to the focus of the grade and is done so in a meaningful way. Coherence is also evident in the instructional materials including problems and activities that serve to connect two or more clusters in a domain and that connect two or more domains in a grade.
Gateway 1
v1.0
Criterion 1.1: Focus
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations for assessing grade-level content. Prerequisite skills from previous grades are assessed in the "are you ready" assessments. Content from future grades is not assessed.
Indicator 1A
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations for assessing grade-level content. The materials also include assessment material for previously learned material to determine if students have the needed prerequisite skills. Overall the instructional materials only assess the grade-level content for Grade 6 and prerequisite skills and do not assess content from future grades.
- Module quizzes, assessment-readiness review, end-of-unit review and a performance task are included in each unit. In all of these assessment materials, only Grade 6 material was assessed.
- Each module has an "are you ready" assessment. This covers skills from previous grades that will be needed in order to complete the module successfully.
Criterion 1.2: Coherence
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 are developed so that students and teachers using the materials as designed devote the large majority of class time to the major work of the grade. Seventy-three percent (73%) of the lessons address the major work of the grade.
Indicator 1B
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations for spending the large majority of class time on the major work of each grade. Forty of 55 lessons (73%) are spent on the major work. Based on the pacing guides in the teacher edition, about 94 of the 150 teaching days (63%) are spent on the major work of the grade. The required fluencies account for another 20 days (76% total).
Criterion 1.3: Coherence
The instructional material reviewed for Grade 6 partially meets the expectations for coherence and consistency with the CCSSM. The majority of the chapters and the respective days allocated in the timeline align to the major work of this grade. Supporting work is clearly connected to the focus of the grade and is done so in a meaningful way. Coherence is also evident in the instructional materials including problems and activities that serve to connect two or more clusters in a domain and that connect two or more domains in a grade. The weak point is that it only partially meets the expectations for the materials being consistent with the progressions in the standards.
Indicator 1C
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations for the supporting content enhancing focus and coherence simultaneously by engaging students in the major work of the grade.
There are many examples in the modules of unit 6 (Relationships in Geometry) where the supporting content links to and enhances the major clusters. Modules 13, 14 and 15 teach the supporting cluster 6.G.A by building coherence with major clusters 6.EE.B and 6.NS.A. Unit 7 (Measurement and Data) uses fractions and decimals in the data sets and involves addition, subtraction and division, supporting the major work of extending the number system to the rational numbers.
Indicator 1D
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 partially meet the expectations for viability for one school year in order to foster coherence between grades. With only 150 days of lessons accounted for, teachers would need to find supplemental materials beyond the assessments to meet a full year of instructional time. Overall, the amount of content designated for this grade level is short of the amount of material needed to make it truly viable for one school year.
- According to the pacing guide, there is a suggested 150 days of lessons for 45-minute classes. There is guided practice and independent practice for each lesson. There is also a quiz and a formative assessment check for each module. All of this is included in the pacing guide.
- A summative end of the unit test is not included in the pacing guide. Adding one day per unit would bring the total to 157 days.
- There are many references in the teacher guide to online resources that provide more practice opportunities, however these are not available in the basic program.
Indicator 1E
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 partially meet the expectations for the material to be consistent with the progressions in the standards. The strongest point is that at the beginning of each module there is an "unpacking the standards" component. Although there is a page with the progressions listed, there are no references to other grades' standards within the lessons. Overall, the materials in Go Math - Grade 6 to some extent identify the progressions from prior grades in the standards.
- In the beginning of each module there is a section called "Unpacking the Standards." This puts the standards into students' language and provides examples of what they will be learning.
- This aligns with the standards and then demonstrates that students will be working only within the grade-level expectations.
- In an example on pages 1E-1F in unit 1 in the teacher edition there is a mathematics background that lets the teacher know what students should know before each lesson.
- There were no references to other grades within the lessons.
- There is a page that shows progressions in Grades 6, 7, and 8, but there is no reference to Grade 5.
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 partially meet the expectation of giving all students extensive work with grade-level problems. Overall, the materials give students of varying abilities some, but not extensive, work with grade-level problems.
- The lessons are broken down into five sections: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate and Evaluate. There are also tips and ideas for differentiating and extending the material.
- The teacher edition includes references to online additional resources, including "Math on the Spot," a video available by scanning the QR code in the student edition. However the teacher edition does not contain all of these resources.
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 partially meet the expectation of relating grade-level concepts explicitly to prior knowledge from earlier grades. Overall, materials only generally relate grade-level concepts explicitly to prior knowledge from earlier grades.
- There is a chart at the beginning of each unit and module that relates new content to previously taught content, either earlier in the grade or from previous grades.
- The only place the Grade 5 level is explicitly mentioned is in the beginning of the Grade 5 review. The standards are unpacked, but do not mention the connection or how it relates to Grade 5, even when the cluster says "apply and extend previous understanding."
- At the front of each unit there is a "before, in this unit, and after" section at the bottom of the page. This is a good reference within the Grade 6, but it does not refer to previous grade work nor does it extend to future work beyond Grade 6.
- Students are assessed on prior knowledge at the beginning of each module. For example, unit 2, page 72-73F gives the math background resources.
- The publisher does print the progressions of the CCSSM in the teacher edition. However the document only has the progressions for Grades 6, 7 and 8. It does not show how the Grade 6 work is connected to Grade 5.
Indicator 1F
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations for fostering coherence through connections at a single grade, where appropriate and when the standards require. The standards are referred to throughout the materials. Overall, materials include learning objectives that are visibly shaped by CCSSM cluster headings.
- Each lesson has an essential question that aligns with the cluster headings.
- Unit 3 aligns with 6.RP, and units 4 and 5 align with 6.EE, which are major work clusters of Grade 6.
- There are also specific "Cluster Connection" identifiers in the teacher edition, such as those on pages 149, 253, and 423
- Unit 4, module 9, teacher edition, pages 237-39 clearly explain mathematical practices along with the domains and strands of the focus work,
The instructional materials include problems and activities that serve to connect two or more clusters in a domain and two or more domains in a grade in cases where the connections are natural and important.
- The materials connect two or more clusters within the grade:
- Unit 4 connects 6.EE.1, 6.NS.3 and 6.RP.3.C.
- Unit 5 connects 6.EE and 6.NS.
- Unit 6 connects 6.G.1 and 6.EE.7 as well as 6.G and 6.NS.
- The beginning of each unit and module clearly defines where these connections take place-critical area is defined, along with Common Core domains. For example, unit 3, module 8 (percents) gives the CCSSM, the mathematical practice(s), the essential question and questioning strategies, along with an activity that connects fractions and percents, which are major work of the grade level.
Overview of Gateway 2
Rigor & Mathematical Practices
The instructional material for the Grade 6 partially meets the quality expectations for rigor and mathematical practices. The instructional material meets the expectations for the criterion of rigor and balance by reflecting the balances of all three aspects of rigor throughout the lessons and helping students meet the standards rigorous expectations. Within the concept development sections of each lesson, the mathematical topic is developed through understanding as indicated by the standards and cluster headings. Procedural skill and fluency is a focus throughout the material. It is most evident in modules 2 and 5, which cover 6.NS. Application of the mathematical concepts is evident in real-world problems in the beginnings of lessons and in guided and independent practice.
The instructional materials for Grade 6 partially meet the expectations for the practice-content connections criteria. The Standards for Mathematical Practice (MPs) are identified and often used to enrich mathematical content. Materials sometimes attend to the full meaning of each practice standard. There are many places where students are prompted to construct viable arguments and analyze the work of others. However, there are many places where the label does not match the problem or the problem covers more than one practice, but only one is listed. Materials are very limited in assisting teachers in engaging students in constructing viable arguments and analyzing the arguments of others. Also, only some materials actually attend to the specialized language of mathematics. Overall, the instructional materials partially meet the quality expectations for gateway 2 in rigor and mathematical practices.
Gateway 2
v1.0
Criterion 2.1: Rigor
The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the quality expectation for this criterion by reflecting the balances of all three aspects of rigor throughout the lessons and helping students meet the standards' rigorous expectations.
Within the concept development sections of each lesson, the mathematical topic is developed through understanding as indicated by the standards and cluster headings. In Grade 6, procedural skill and fluency is most evident in modules 2 and 5, which cover 6.NS. Module 5, especially, provides extensive practice in computation of multidigit numbers. There are places that practice fluency throughout the material. Application of the mathematical concepts is evident in real-world problems at the start of lessons and in guided and independent practice. In the instructional materials, the three aspects are balanced within the lessons and modules. Overall, the Grade 6 materials meet the criterion for rigor and balance.
Indicator 2A
The materials reviewed in Grade 6 for this indicator meet the expectations by attending to conceptual understanding within the lesson.
- In module 1, students develop conceptual understanding of integers (6.NS.A) by using vertical and horizontal representations of number lines and by having students become a number line and play jumping games. In order to enhance understanding, there are also references to real-world situations that use integers.
- Modules 3, 4, and 5 use physical models that students will manipulate and diagrams that teach concepts of operations of rational numbers. Rational numbers are looked at in fraction, decimal and percent form to help build understanding.
- In modules 6-8 (6.RP.A) and 10.3 (6.EE.A.3), there were ample opportunities for students to develop these concepts.
- Module 9 uses a bar model to represent expressions and how to take words and turn them into an expression.
- Each module also has an "Evaluate" page (teacher edition, module 1, page 11) stating the concept and skill, development of knowledge, along with the MP. Throughout the unit and modules, teachers are directed to key ideas for which students should develop a deep understanding.
Other Items in the teacher edition will aid in conceptual understanding in every lesson or module:
- Unpacking the standards
- Reading start-up, visualizing vocabulary, active Reading
- Questioning strategies
- Engaging with whiteboards or other manipulatives
- Avoiding common errors
- Focusing on critical thinking
- Blue heading boxes providing different tips
Many questions on guided practice and independent practice have students explain their answers.
Indicator 2B
The materials reviewed in Grade 6 meet the expectations by attending to fluency and procedural work within the lessons. Unit 2 is devoted to 6.NS (Operations with Rational Numbers), which includes the required grade-level fluencies. Although additional examples may be required for some students to attain fluency, rational numbers are used elsewhere in the book, thus addressing these throughout the year.
Module 5 practices the skills of computation with multidigit numbers (6.NS.B).
There are places that practice fluency throughout the textbook:
- At the beginning of each module, there is an activity called "Are You Ready?" This is mainly skill prerequisites for the lessons to come.
- Most "guided practice" pages have a few practice problems that stress skills.
- Module quizzes called "Ready to Go On?"
Indicator 2C
The materials reviewed in Grade 6 partially meet the expectations for being designed so that teachers and students spend sufficient time working with engaging applications of the mathematics.
Several problems ask the student to apply their knowledge to real-world situations. In module 8 of the student edition on page 208, which deals with percents, students are asked to apply what they know about percents to a story problem involving a real-world situation.
Places where application is evident:
- Each lesson begins with a section called "Motivate the Lesson," which includes a question that puts the mathematics concept into a real-world situation and is meant to engage the student in the learning.
- The examples at the beginning of the lesson are often real-world problems and tie the learning to context.
- In a section titled "Guided and Independent Practice" there are numerous problems that have students apply their knowledge.
Areas in need of improvement:
- Very few problems are multiple-step problems, and when one is, the materials break the work down for the students.
- The performance tasks are lengthy questions, but do not require students to do more than answer a question similar to those on the independent practice and often solvable in one step.
- Many problems are simply word problems that require an algorithm to solve.
Indicator 2D
The materials reviewed in Grade 6 meet the expectations for providing a balance of rigor. The three aspects are not always combined nor are they always separate. The balance is displayed in unit 2, in which students conceptually apply and extend previous understanding of multiplication and division to divide fractions, are expected to compute fluently with multidigit numbers and find common factors and multiples, and work on applications in real-world problems.
Balance is further evidenced in unit 12, in which students conceptually understand signs of numbers in ordered pairs as indicating locations in the quadrants of the coordinate plane, procedurally find and position integers and other rational numbers in a horizontal- or vertical-number line diagram, and solve real-world problem applications by graphing points in all four quadrants.
Criterion 2.2: Math Practices
The materials reviewed for Grade 6 partially meet the criterion of meaningfully connecting the Standards for Mathematical Content and the Standards for Mathematical Practice. In the instructional material, the MPs are identified and often used to enrich mathematical content. Materials sometimes attend to the full meaning of each practice standard. There are many places where students are prompted to construct viable arguments and analyze the work of others. However, when looking beyond the labels of the practices there are many places where the label does not match the problem or the problem covers more than one practice, but only one is listed. Materials are very limited in assisting teachers in engaging students in constructing viable arguments and analyzing the arguments of others. Also, only some materials actually attend to the specialized language of mathematics. Overall, the materials partially meet the expectations for the practice-content connections criterion.
Indicator 2E
The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectation for identifying the Standards for Mathematical Practice (MPs) and using the MPs to enrich mathematics content.
- The front of the teacher edition - pages CC6-CC9 - have the practices listed and offer pages where to find them being utilized.
- Pages CC12 -CC14 describe what students should be able to do for each practice and gives examples from the book where they are to demonstrate the skill.
- In each module there is a section called "Professional Development," which shares how the mathematical practice is integrated. For an example, see module 3, teacher edition, page 47.
- The "evaluate page" of the teacher edition again lists the mathematical practices along with the Depth of Knowledge and to which exercise it is connected. See module 3, page 51.
- The teacher editions have charts at the end of each lesson showing the MPs the questions from independent practice are using.
- Throughout the teacher edition, there is reference to MPs, but the edition does not specifically designate the practice number.
- The "assessment readiness" questions have also been analyzed based on the MPs. An example is found in unit 2 of module 5 in the teacher edition.
- Unit performance tasks include the use of the MPs and identify the standards.
Indicator 2F
The materials reviewed for Grade 6 partially meet expectations for attending to the full meaning of each MP.
In module 4, lesson 4.4, students are guided in MP1 (Make Sense of Problems and Persevere in Solving Them) to solve multistep problems using the following steps: analyze the information, formulate a plan, solve, then justify and evaluate.
In module 1, lesson 1.3 on page 24, students are given a question and directed to give an example if they respond yes or to explain why not if they respond no. (MP3 [Constructing Viable Arguments])
In the student edition, in module 5, lesson 5.1 on page 112, students are given a mathematical estimation (#31) and a real-world scenario for making a prediction (#33.) For each, they are directed to explain their reasoning (MP3) but not to analyze the arguments of others.
Indicator 2G
Indicator 2G.i
The materials reviewed for Grade 6 partially meet the expectation for appropriately prompting students to construct viable arguments concerning grade-level mathematics detailed in the content standards. There are places where students are prompted to construct viable arguments and analyze the work of others. When looking beyond the labels of the practices there are many places where the label does not match the problem or the problem covers more than one practice, but only one is listed.
Places where evidence for MP3 is found:
- Student edition, question 12 asks the student if two different numbers could have the same absolute value, why or why not and to explain.
- Student edition questions 21, 29 and 31 all ask the students to explain how they would do something.
- Page CC13 describes MP3 and then shows examples of where it is evident in the book. It can be found in each lesson as an "essential question check-in" and in the "independent practice" section with question headings such as "Critique Reasoning," "Error Analysis," "Justify Reasoning," and "Communicate Mathematical Ideas."
- At the end of each lesson the question analysis lists to which MP the question connects.
Problems with the mathematical practices were also found in the text.
- Some MPs are mislabeled (e.g., page 209, question 20).
- The citations on page CC6-CC9 do not always identify the practice on the correct page (e.g., pages 24 and 468). The practice is not evident any unit in the "assessment readiness" section or in any performance task.
Indicator 2G.ii
The materials reviewed for Grade 6 partially meet the expectation for assisting teachers in engaging students in constructing viable arguments and analyzing the arguments of others.
- Exercises 12, 13 and 14 ask students to make a conjecture, communicate mathematical ideas and critique reasoning, respectively.
- The teacher edition also states on page CC7 that MP3 is evident on page 248 in the student book. Exercises 19, 20 and 21 ask students to explain the error, communicate mathematical ideas and critique reasoning, respectively.
- Page CC7 also states MP3 is on page 406. On page 405, the teacher edition lists the specific exercises and the corresponding MP. Exercises 20 and 22 in the student book on page 406 do match MP3 and have the student construct arguments.
- There is a section called "Extend the Math." This only describes part of the activity as the rest of it is online. Only one of 22 activities reviewed had students engaged in looking at and discussing each other's work.
- Each lesson has a whiteboard activity. This is electronic and does not come with the teacher edition. Of the several that were reviewed, only one had language that could engage students in discussion.
Indicator 2G.iii
The materials reviewed for Grade 6 partially meet the expectation for explicit attention to the specialized language of mathematics.
- Vocabulary is a category in independent practice that attends to MP6. However, there is no counter example category in independent practice in Grade 6.
- Vocabulary is taught with pages entitled "Reading Start-Up" and "Unpacking the Standards." The former is review of previous content and the latter includes current vocabulary and a real-world example. Vocabulary is highlighted when it is introduced.
- A study guide includes a recapitulation of the vocabulary.
- The "H.O.T." questions expect students to respond and explain, using precise language.
- In the teacher edition on page CC9, it states that MP6 is evident on page 13. However, on page 13, question 1, the one requiring "reflection," just asks the student to look at the accompanying data and number line to solve the problem; there is no specific language or vocabulary.
- Vocabulary is not evident in the "assessment readiness" section of any unit.
- Vocabulary is evident in only two of the six performance tasks, units 1 and 3.