Walch partners with TERC to offer program bridging gap between math in the classroom and math in the real world.
When 46 states adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for K-12 students in 2010, a new across-the-board expectation emerged for college and career readiness. In turn, CCSS also helped shape curricula for adult learners by offering teachers a clear guide on essential content and skills for adult students, while leaving it open-ended on how to instruct those students.
It’s that “how” that is so critical. If the depth of the math instruction is insufficient and without context, students are often left to rely on memorized procedures without any real understanding of how and when to apply them, or why they work. Numeracy, the ability to manage the quantitative demands of a situation and solve problems in real-world contexts, is a life skill that benefits adults not only in reaching their higher education goals, but also in their roles as workers, parents, and consumers.
TERC’s EMPower series is designed to help students develop their understanding of math concepts and to practice problem-solving skills that are applicable in daily life. EMPower is unique because it was developed and field-tested by adult educators, and its lesson themes and math activities are presented in scenarios and contexts to which adult learners can relate. Simply put, EMPower answers the age-old question, “When will I ever use this math in real life?”
EMPower is meant to be foundational, targeted to adults and young adults who test in the 4th-7th grade range who often have both areas of strength and gaps in their understanding. EMPower lessons introduce important mathematical ideas and invite learners to identify patterns and to make connections. The lessons offer opportunities for students to explain their thinking and to justify their reasoning. Rather than focusing on extensive rote practice, EMPower’s main focus is to build learners’ conceptual understanding. This deep understanding is a springboard to advanced concepts needed for future educational and career success.
How Is EMPower Structured?
There are seven titles in the EMPower series, with a teacher book and a student book for each title. There is no set sequence for how to teach with the EMPower books. This is because throughout the lessons, algebraic, statistical, geometrical, and other ideas are developed alongside foundational number. Any one of the EMPower books can be used on its own, but there are clear connections between each of the titles.
For example, some teachers alternate between the EMPower books that focus on numbers with the books on geometry, data, and algebra. Particularly in mixed classes with some students at a beginning basic math level or with older learners with minimal formal education, Over, Around, and Within: Geometry and Measurement works well as a starting point. The activities are concrete. Lessons introduce concepts like perimeter, area, and volume of two-dimensional shapes while keeping the computation focused on small whole numbers. Ratio and proportion unfold with scaffolding to ensure that students can reason about rates and proportional relationships.
EMPower consistently challenges students and teachers to extend their ideas of what it means to do math. The goal of EMPower is to help learners manage the mathematical demands of life by connecting situations and problems to mathematical principles. Situations include not only managing finance and commerce, but also interpreting news stories, applying health information, and facilitating family learning.
What Makes EMPower Different?
Students, no matter what stage of life they are in, are seeking to advance their lives in some way. For many, the first step is to earn a high school credential. From there, they may wish to pursue a college degree, advance in their career or obtain job training, or better assist their children with their homework. In order to help students take the first step in advancing their careers and lives, EMPower has built its curriculum around core concepts that include:
- Exploring ideas through open-ended investigations
- Engaging in activities that relate to students’ lives
- Applying mathematics to everyday situations
- Investigating concepts
- Developing connections within math topics
- Collaborating and sharing ideas verbally and in writing
- Discovering multiple problem-solving methods
- Seeing relationships between situations, graphs, tables, and equations
These features make EMPower a resource for preparing students for tests of high school equivalency and community college coursework, as well as for real-world problem-solving at home and work.
Teaching conceptually with EMPower can be a big change for some instructors. That’s why each EMPower teacher book includes sections on instructional support, math background, ways to make lessons easier and harder, and a sample lesson in action so instructors can create engaging mathematics learning experiences based on the development work of fellow adult education instructors. The Adult Numeracy Center at TERC also offers professional development offerings by request for programs interested in training their staff on using EMPower.
Conclusion
Educators understand that the classroom is always evolving. A traditional math classroom is isolating and repetitive: students spend their time working alone through decontextualized problems by applying whatever rules and formulas they have memorized. We now understand that communication, collaboration, and contextualization can help students understand what math concepts to apply in which situations, and why.
EMPower is built by educators around a modernized model that truly puts the students’ needs first. If EMPower sounds like the right fit for your classroom, learn more and download sample lessons at store.bwwalch.com/terc-empower/.
