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Choosing a mathematics curriculum can feel overwhelming. With so many programs claiming alignment with standards and best practices, how do you cut through the noise and find what truly works for your students?
We’ve created this guide to help curriculum review committees focus on what matters most. Here are the essential questions with quick answers—for detailed evidence and examples, download our complete reviewer rubric.
Table of Contents
Framework & Standards Alignment: Building on Solid Foundations
How does it align with California Standards?
Complete alignment. Thinking Math! is designed with the California Common Core State Standards for Mathematics at its core, ensuring full coverage of all grade-level standards.
Key features:
- Standards taught through rich, meaningful tasks
- Deliberate spiraling design—standards revisited throughout the year and across grades
- Multiple opportunities for students to access, apply, and deepen understanding over time
- Vertical coherence—intentional bridges to prior-grade and upcoming content
- Full coverage ensures conceptual foundations and procedural fluency
How does it align with the new California Mathematics Framework?
Intentionally designed to embrace the Framework. Not just to meet adoption expectations, but because we deeply believe this Framework represents the most powerful and equitable vision for high-quality mathematics instruction.
How we align:
- Addresses the why, how, and what of mathematics
- Teaches through big ideas rather than isolated skills
- Embeds Mathematical Practices throughout every lesson
- Incorporates low-floor/high-ceiling tasks and the Framework’s five components of instructional design
- Provides culturally responsive instruction ensuring all students can access, participate in, and succeed with rigorous mathematics
Has Thinking Math! been reviewed by EdReports?
Many committees ask about EdReports reviews. Thinking Math! has been ready for review for two years and is currently in EdReports’ queue. EdReports has full control over the timing and scheduling of curriculum reviews, and an official EdReports letter is available confirming Thinking Math!’s queue status.
Equity & Access: Mathematics for Every Learner
Is Thinking Math! available in Spanish?
Yes, fully. Thinking Math! was crafted in both native English and Spanish, benefiting from its origins in Spain. This ensures content is culturally relevant and linguistically accurate for Spanish-speaking students and educators.
What this means:
- All resources available in both languages—digital and paper materials for students and teachers
- Switch languages with one click in the digital platform
- Professional learning offered in both languages
- Family engagement resources in Spanish and English
- Ideal for Dual Language Immersion (DLI) Spanish immersion programs
How does it support multilingual learners?
Through intentional design that provides linguistic access and multiple pathways. Our goal is to ensure students participate fully in mathematics while developing both conceptual understanding and language proficiency.
Beyond bilingual resources:
- Embedded Math Language Routines in most lessons
- Sentence frames, structured partner talk, and predictable routines that amplify—not simplify—mathematical language
- Manipulatives, visual models, and videos providing nonlinguistic entry points
- Equitable access to rigorous mathematics regardless of language proficiency
How does it support differentiation across grade levels?
Through Universal Design for Learning. Every lesson includes low-floor, high-ceiling, wide-walls tasks where all students access grade-level content while being appropriately challenged.
Built-in supports:
- Support and extension guidance in every lesson (without lowering expectations or accelerating unnecessarily)
- Atlas Math adaptive practice that adjusts to each student’s needs
- Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention programs for intensive, targeted support
- Broad access without compromising depth or rigor
Are there strategies that support language development?
Yes, intentionally and consistently embedded. Language development isn’t an add-on—it’s woven throughout the curriculum so students learn to communicate, reason, and make sense of mathematics using precise and meaningful language.
How it works:
- Key vocabulary embedded in every lesson (used in context, not memorized in isolation)
- Number talks creating structured opportunities for mathematical dialogue
- Instructional tips in Teacher Guide for fostering productive math talk
- Language scaffolds built into lessons for all learners, especially multilingual students
How does it support all learners, including diverse learning needs?
Through intentional instructional design, multiple access points, and targeted supports. All learners—regardless of background, readiness, or language proficiency—can participate, make sense of mathematics, and grow as confident mathematical thinkers.
What’s included:
- UDL approach with multiple entry points through manipulatives, visual models, digital representations
- Differentiation without lowering expectations—built-in scaffolds, extensions, and adaptive practice
- Support for multilingual learners with bilingual resources and structured discourse
- Equitable, culturally responsive, and identity-affirming instruction where every learner can see themselves as capable, successful mathematicians
- Intervention programs for additional targeted support
Rigor & Mathematical Practices: Beyond Procedures
How does it ensure rigor throughout the curriculum?
By intentionally integrating conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and Mathematical Practices throughout every grade level. Instead of treating these as separate goals, the curriculum weaves them together so students build deep understanding, strengthen skills, and learn to think mathematically every day.
The approach:
- Conceptual Understanding: Students begin with manipulatives following Concrete–Pictorial–Abstract progression, ensuring understanding—not memorization—drives learning
- Procedural Fluency: Structured practice and adaptive digital practice develop efficiency, accuracy, and confidence
- Mathematical Practices: Embedded across all instructional moments—students reason, communicate, model, and make sense of problems
Through these practices, students move beyond procedures: they become thinkers, problem-solvers, and confident mathematicians.
Are the Mathematical Practices embedded in meaningful ways throughout the program?
They’re the foundation, not add-ons. In Thinking Math!, the Mathematical Practices aren’t abstract goals—they’re the foundation of how we design learning experiences and help students become powerful mathematical thinkers.
What this means:
- Students use mathematics, not just learn about it
- Problem-solving centered so students make sense of problems, persevere, and build strategic thinking daily
- Reasoning, proof, and modeling emphasized—students justify ideas, critique reasoning, and connect math to the real world
- Precision, structure, and appropriate tools—students communicate clearly and recognize patterns
- Productive collaboration—spaces where students listen, share ideas, and develop collective understanding
How are manipulatives integrated across the Thinking Math! curriculum?
Manipulatives are a core component of how we help students access, explore, and deeply understand mathematics.
Grounded in CPA approach (Concrete–Pictorial–Abstract):
- Ensure equitable access with tangible entry points for all students
- Support conceptual exploration—students model, test, and refine thinking before transitioning to symbolic representations
- Boost engagement through hands-on exploration
- Promote deep conceptual understanding along a coherent pathway from concrete to pictorial to abstract
- Build confidence and ownership—students articulate, justify, and make sense of their reasoning
Assessment & Digital Tools: Monitoring Growth
What assessment resources does Thinking Math! provide?
A comprehensive assessment system that blends formative and summative opportunities, digital reporting, and ongoing progress monitoring. Teachers receive clear, actionable information that supports instructional decisions throughout the year.
Assessment within the core curriculum:
- Check-In Tests and Formative Review Guides per unit
- CAASPP-style mock exams for summative data
- PreK–TK one-on-one assessments through conversations and observations
- Weekly checklists capturing progress during instruction
Assessment through digital tools and benchmarks:
- Atlas Math Reports with real-time insights into student performance
- Conmat Benchmarks (beginning- and end-of-year) for growth data and schoolwide decision-making
What is the digital component of Thinking Math!? What value does it add, and how does it work?
Atlas Math, our digital practice app, enhances Tier 1 instruction while supporting assessment, differentiation, and intervention. It is designed to strengthen learning without increasing screen time, offering meaningful practice in short, focused sessions.
How Atlas Math supports teaching and learning:
- Aligned to Tier 1 instruction—students practice concepts from class that same week
- Auto-adaptive practice: Provides scaffolds, hints, and extensions within activities (short-term) and adjusts activities over time based on progression (long-term)
- Meaningful reporting for teachers with actionable insights for monitoring, planning, and instructional decisions
- Works in tandem with intervention—coordinates Tier 1 instruction with intervention programs for coherence across supports
Does the curriculum include dedicated resources for intervention and enrichment?
Yes, both within the core curriculum and through dedicated intervention programs. Every student—those who need additional support and those ready for deeper challenge—can access meaningful, rigorous mathematics.
Within the core curriculum:
- Low-floor, high-ceiling tasks in every lesson
- Differentiation embedded with support versions and enrichment extensions
- Atlas Math adapting practice to each student’s level
Dedicated intervention programs:
- Math Journeys (Tier 2): Structured intervention building understanding and fluency across Early Years, Elementary, and Middle School through learning trajectories—addressing skills and concepts at the root of students’ struggles
- Math aRTIst (Tier 3): Intensive program for early learners to preventively address numeracy difficulties, grounded in RTI framework
Implementation & Support
Does Innovamat offer a Transitional Kindergarten curriculum?
Yes—a full TK curriculum designed specifically for California and aligned with the California Preschool Learning Foundations. Our TK program has existed for 4 years and has been implemented in 1,000 sites across Europe, Latin America, and the US.
Core principles:
- Rich Math Learning: Developing mathematical thinking, building foundations for deep conceptual understanding, igniting a love for math
- Developmentally Appropriate Learning: Learning math through play, finding math in daily lives, integrating math across early learning domains
- Balances exploration and early academic rigor while honoring the social, emotional, and experiential nature of Transitional Kindergarten
What does implementation look like with Innovamat?
Comprehensive support to ensure teachers feel supported, confident, and ready. Our model combines onboarding, ongoing professional learning, hands-on coaching, and reliable technical support to guarantee a smooth and successful rollout.
Professional Learning and Instructional Support:
- Onboarding sessions with clear guidance on components, design principles, and instructional routines
- Program-agnostic PD to strengthen content knowledge, pedagogy, and instructional decision-making
- On-site coaching—each district paired with an Innovamat Math Coach who models lessons, observes classrooms, co-plans, and facilitates coaching conversations
Operational and Technical Support:
- Dedicated Tech Support Team to resolve technical, rostering, or logistical issues quickly
How does Innovamat engage families and the broader community?
Community engagement is essential for meaningful learning. When families, educators, and students share a common vision for mathematics, the impact becomes deeper, stronger, and more sustainable.
What we provide:
- Clear, accessible communication tools ensuring everyone understands the math vision, goals, and instructional approach
- Highly engaging, hands-on community events where families experience mathematics together
- High-quality home resources supporting classroom learning and inviting families to explore mathematics in playful ways
- Challenge Books with non-curricular, grade-relevant tasks encouraging curiosity, problem-solving, and joyful exploration beyond the classroom
By creating bridges between school and home, we help districts build a community that champions mathematics, supports students’ growth, and celebrates learning together.
See the Evidence for Yourself
We’ve compiled a comprehensive Thinking Math! Reviewer Rubric with everything your committee needs:
✓ Detailed answers for each evaluation criterion
✓ Direct links to evidence examples in our digital Teacher Edition
✓ Specific page references in printed materials
✓ Complete transparency to evaluate our curriculum thoroughly
