 a satisfying answer at the moment doesn't mean there would never be one.

&gt;Science just goes for the observable solvable questions does not mean that those are the questions that are more important. 

No one said currently observable solvable questions were more important, but often times they are solved first because they are more easily understood.Achievement First Mathematics

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Report for 3rd Grade

Overall Summary

The instructional materials reviewed for Achievement First Mathematics Grade 3 partially meet expectations for alignment to the CCSSM. ​The instructional materials meet expectations for Gateway 1, focus and coherence, by assessing grade-level content, focusing on the major work of the grade, and being coherent and consistent with the Standards. The instructional materials partially meet expectations for Gateway 2, rigor and balance and practice-content connections. The materials meet the expectations for rigor and balance and partially meet the expectations for practice-content connections.

3rd Grade
Alignment
Partially Meets Expectations
Not Rated

Focus & Coherence

The instructional materials reviewed for Achievement First Mathematics Grade 3 meet expectations for Gateway 1, focus and coherence. The instructional materials meet the expectations for focus by assessing grade-level content and spending at least 65% of instructional time on the major work of the grade, and they also meet expectations for being coherent and consistent with the standards.

Gateway 1
Meets Expectations

Criterion 1.1: Focus

Materials do not assess topics before the grade level in which the topic should be introduced.

The instructional materials reviewed for Achievement First Mathematics Grade 3 meet expectations for not assessing topics before the grade level in which the topic should be introduced.

Indicator {{'1a' | indicatorName}}
The instructional material assesses the grade-level content and, if applicable, content from earlier grades. Content from future grades may be introduced but students should not be held accountable on assessments for future expectations.

The instructional materials reviewed for Achievement First Mathematics Grade 3 meet expectations for assessing grade-level content. Each unit of instruction contains a Post-Assessment which is a summative assessment based on the standards designated in that unit. Examples of assessment items aligned to grade-level standards include:

• In Unit 3, Post-Assessment, Item 1 states, “Round 452 to the nearest ten.” (3.NBT.1)
• In Unit 5, Post-Assessment, Item 10 states, “Mark and his family were eating pizza for dinner. The pizza was split into 8 parts. Mark, his mom and his dad each ate one slice. What fraction of the pizza was NOT eaten?” (3.NF.1)
• In Unit 7, Post-Assessment, Item 1 states, “Tyshio spent $48 on gifts for her friends. She bought gifts for 6 friends. How much did each gift cost?” (3.OA.3) • In Unit 8, Post-Assessment, Item 3 states, “Mike runs 2 miles a day. His goal is to run 25 miles. After 5 days how many miles does Mike have left to run in order to reach his goal?” (3.OA.8) There is one above grade level assessment item that can be omitted or modified without impacting the underlying structure of the materials. For example: • In Unit 4 Post- Assessment, Item 2 states, “Ophelia had 64 ounces of milk. She wants to pour an equal amount of milk into 8 glasses for her children. How many ounces will Ophelia pour into each glass?” (4.MD.1) Achievement First Mathematics Grade 3 has assessments linked to external resources in some Unit Overviews; however there is no clear delineation as to whether the assessment is used for formative, interim, cumulative, or summative purposes. Criterion 1.2: Coherence Students and teachers using the materials as designed devote the large majority of class time in each grade K-8 to the major work of the grade. The instructional materials reviewed for Achievement First Mathematics Grade 3, when used as designed, spend approximately 91% of instructional time on the major work of the grade, or supporting work connected to major work of the grade. Indicator {{'1b' | indicatorName}} Instructional material spends the majority of class time on the major cluster of each grade. The instructional materials reviewed for Achievement First Mathematics Grade 3 meet expectations for spending a majority of instructional time on major work of the grade. • The number of lessons devoted to major work of the grade (including assessments and supporting work connected to the major work) is 109 out of 127, which is approximately 86%. • The number of days devoted to major work (including assessments and supporting work connected to the major work) is 117 out of 132, which is approximately 89%. • The instructional minutes were calculated by taking the number of minutes devoted to the major work of the grade (10,380) and dividing it by the total number of instructional minutes (11,390), which is approximately 91%. A minute-level analysis is most representative of the instructional materials because the units and lessons do not include all of the components included in the math instructional time. The instructional block includes a math lesson, math stories, and math practice components. As a result, approximately 91% of the instructional materials focus on major work of the grade. Criterion 1.3: Coherence Coherence: Each grade's instructional materials are coherent and consistent with the Standards. The instructional materials reviewed for Achievement First Mathematics Grade 3 meet expectations for being coherent and consistent with the standards. The instructional materials have supporting content that engages students in the major work of the grade and content designated for one grade level that is viable for one school year. The materials also foster coherence through connections at a single grade. Indicator {{'1c' | indicatorName}} Supporting content enhances focus and coherence simultaneously by engaging students in the major work of the grade. The instructional materials reviewed for Achievement First Mathematics Grade 3 meet expectations that supporting work enhances focus and coherence simultaneously by engaging students in the major work of the grade. There are opportunities in which supporting standards/clusters are used to support major work of the grade and are connected to the major standards/clusters of the grade. Examples include: • In Unit 2, Lesson 5, Workshop, Problem 2, students analyze a pictograph where one picture represents 4 cars. The pictograph shows the following, Honda = 3 car pictures, Ford = 4 car pictures, Toyota = 6 car pictures, and Chevrolet = 4 car pictures. Students are asked, “a. Were there more Honda and Toyota cars or Ford and Chevrolet cars in the neighborhood? b. Eight of the Fords moved away, and 2 more families with Toyotas moved in. How many Ford and Toyotas are in the neighborhood now? c. Jiang is interpreting the pictograph and says there are 6 more Toyotas than Hondas in the neighborhood. Is he correct?” This problem connects the major work of 3.OA.1, interpret products of whole numbers, and 3.OA.5, apply properties of operations as strategies to multiple and divide, to the supporting work of 3.MD.3, solve “how many more” and “how many less” problems using information presented in the pictograph. • In Unit 5, Lesson 2, Independent Practice, Problem 2 states, “Build a model of the unit fraction below with your fraction strips. Then, record the shape you made on the rectangle and label one unit fraction $$\frac{1}{6}$$.” This problem connects the major work of 3.NF.1, understanding a fraction $$\frac{1}{b}$$ as the quantity formed by one part when a whole is partitioned into b parts, to the supporting work of 3.G.2, partition shapes into parts with equal areas. • In Unit 6, Lesson 6, Exit Ticket states, “Heather is measuring the length of glue sticks to the nearest $$\frac{1}{4}$$ inch. The lengths she’s measured so far are in the table below. Measure the remaining glue sticks and add their lengths to the table. Use the data to draw a line plot below.” This problem connects the major work cluster of 3.NF.A to the supporting work standard of 3.MD.4, as students develop understanding of fractions as numbers by generating data and representing it on a line plot. Indicator {{'1d' | indicatorName}} The amount of content designated for one grade level is viable for one school year in order to foster coherence between grades. The instructional materials reviewed for Achievement First Mathematics Grade 3 meet expectations that the amount of content designated for one grade-level is viable for one school year. The Guide to Implementing Achievement First Mathematics Grade 3 includes a scope and sequence and states, “Not every lesson is entirely focused on grade level standards, and, therefore some lessons can be used for remediation or enrichment.” As designed, the instructional materials can be completed in 134 days. • There are nine units with 127 lessons in total. • The Guide to Implementing Achievement First Mathematics Grade 3 identifies lessons as either R (remediation), E (enrichment), or O (on grade level). There are zero lessons identified as R (remediation), one lesson identified as E (enrichment), and 126 lessons identified as O (on grade level). • There are seven days for Post-Assessments. According to The Guide to Implementing Achievement First Mathematics Grade 3, each lesson is designed to be completed in 90 minutes. Each lesson consists of three parts: • Math Lesson (60 min) •