Major school districts across the country, including New York City and Philadelphia, are replacing traditional, rote math lessons with a curriculum that prioritizes open-ended problem-solving and group discussion. This transition to the Illustrative Mathematics program has sparked debate. While supporters argue it prepares students for long-term mathematical thinking, critics worry that the lack of traditional drills leaves struggling students behind.
What Happened
New York City now mandates Illustrative Mathematics for high school Algebra 1 and requires it in many elementary schools. The School District of Philadelphia has also adopted the K–12 curriculum and partnered with the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education to train teachers to lead classroom discussions. The school districts want to move classrooms away from rote memorization toward conceptual understanding, where students learn math by doing it. However, the change has faced pushback. Many teachers argue that the open-ended style is exceptionally difficult to teach and can confuse students who lack basic computational skills.
Gabe Rosenberg, a math teacher at Bard High School Early College Manhattan who helped design parts of the high school curriculum, defends the new model. Rosenberg recently won Math for America’s Muller Award for professional influence. He argues that long-term retention is far more valuable than short-term memorization. In his view, students need to solve problems themselves to build confidence in their math skills.
The Bigger Picture
Is this open-ended approach effective for students who struggle with the basics? Educational research suggests it is, as long as teachers get proper training.
Research shows that students with math difficulties benefit when abstract concepts are tied to concrete, real-world scenarios. A quasi-experimental study on seventh graders who struggled with multiplication and division found that contextualized tasks and concrete lessons led to higher, more consistent test scores than traditional remediation. Similarly, a study of fifth graders with learning difficulties showed that Contextual Teaching and Learning models, which combine real-world simulations with hands-on tools, helped student performance jump from roughly 30% mastery to over 80%.
However, success depends on how well teachers execute the program. A study in Frontiers in Psychology evaluated a cognitively grounded math curriculum and found that "implementation fidelity," or how closely teachers followed the designed model, was directly linked to student achievement. Simply buying the materials is not enough. Teachers must receive ongoing training to use them correctly. A study of New York City schools using Amplify Desmos Math lessons as a digital supplement found that improvements in student engagement and confidence occurred only in schools with high, sustained usage.
What This Means for Families
For parents, this shift means math homework will look different from the worksheets of their childhood. Instead of solving dozens of repetitive equations, students may bring home a single, complex word problem. Teachers will grade them on both finding the correct answer and explaining their reasoning in writing.
This struggle can be frustrating for parents trying to help at home, but research indicates it is part of the learning process. The goal is to build a conceptual understanding that lasts, rather than formulas students quickly forget.
What You Can Do
To help your child, focus on the "why" of the math rather than just the "how." When assisting with homework, ask them to explain how they reached an answer instead of showing them a shortcut. If they struggle with abstract concepts, use household items like coins, blocks, or measuring cups to make the math concrete. Finally, encourage a growth mindset. Avoid saying "I was never good at math either," and remind your child that math is a skill developed through practice and discussion.