Responsive Math Teaching (RMT) is an NSF-funded research project focused on improving mathematics instruction in a network of elementary schools through a research-practice partnership between Penn GSE and the School District of Philadelphia. The RMT project is built around five core components:
Responsive math teaching (RMT) is instruction where the teacher continuously elicits information about what students currently know and understand and responds in ways that move them forward in relation to developmental and grade-level mathematical goals. This occurs throughout the instructional cycle, which includes:
Recognizing what students know and are able to do and leveraging that to move towards higher level reasoning and problem solving ensures equity and access to mathematics for all students. When the teacher responds simultaneously to student thinking and a mathematical goal, each and every student is recognized as a capable learner who can develop deep, meaningful, and flexible understandings.
RMT supports ongoing professional development model through three phases.
In the first phase, teachers EXPERIENCE responsive math instruction as learners and reflect on that experience in relation to facilitation practices.
In the next phase, teachers learn about, try out, and TEACH with new instructional practices while engaging in grade-level, cross-school COLLABORATIVE LESSON DESIGN groups.
A select group of teachers and teacher leaders move on to the LEAD phase, where they learn to plan and facilitate Experience, Teach, and/or Collaborative Lesson Design professional development sessions.
Teachers with one or more years of RMT experience participate in Collaborative Lesson Design cycles with teachers from across the network working at the same grade level. In these cross-school planning teams, teachers and leaders engage in planning, enacting, and debriefing RMT lessons. The goal of Collaborative Lesson Design is for teachers to improve their ability to plan and enact responsive math lessons.
Between 2018 and 2022, RMT has worked with five cohorts of teachers and leaders, reaching more than 200 educators, and developing 13 math instructional leaders who support teachers in their schools and across the network. Eleven leaders are currently leading professional development, reducing the need for university-based support, and ensuring sustainability of the work. RMT provides a much needed on-ramp for professional growth and leadership development: over time many of our participants have moved from classroom teacher roles into school-based leadership roles or district-level leadership positions.
RMT Model
Planning and Coaching Protocol
RMT Poster
RMT Task Bank available to educators with 1+ years of experience with RMT PD
We are partnering with elementary schools in Learning Network 2 of the School District of Philadelphia to provide school-based support for mathematics instructional leadership, strategic planning, and professional development.
For inquiries and general information:
RMTproject@gse.upenn.edu
Principal Investigator
Caroline B. Ebby
cbe@upenn.edu
Co-Principal Investigator
Caroline Watts
wattsca@upenn.edu
Brittany Hess
brhess@gse.upenn.edu
Jennifer Valerio
valerioj@upenn.edu
Joy Anderson Davis
joyous@upenn.edu
Lindsay Goldsmith-Markey
litho@gse.upenn.edu
Lizzy Pecora
lpecora@upenn.edu
This project is funded by the National Science Foundation (DRK12 1813048)