Teaching Powerful Problem-Solving in Math: A Collaborative Approach Through Lesson Study

— —

Catherine C. Lewis Akihiko Takahashi

Teaching Powerful Problem-Solving in Math

A Collaborative Approach Through Lesson Study

Catherine C. Lewis, Akihiko Takahashi, Shelley Friedkin , Nora Houseman

$326

Hardback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

QTY:

English

Teachers' College Press
31 July 2025

Primary & middle schools; Teacher training; Teaching of a specific subject; Educational: Mathematics & numeracy

Series: Technology, Education—Connections (the TEC Series)

In Teaching Powerful Problem-Solving in Math, readers will visit urban elementary and K–8 schools where teachers have dramatically transformed learning for teachers and for students.

Students learn mathematics by confronting a novel problem and building the new mathematics needed to solve it, just as mathematicians would. Learning in this way, students discover the power of their own thinking and gain confidence that extends well beyond mathematics.

See how teachers transform instruction using schoolwide lesson study, building powerful new ways to learn from each other, practice, and research. In-depth classroom portraits, at the outset of schoolwide lesson study and three years later, illuminate the changes in mathematics instruction at a school that grew its proficiency on Smarter Balanced Assessment from 15% to 56% over three years.

Extensive resources and links allow readers to understand and build on the work of these schools, which is grounded in established principles of collective efficacy, intrinsic motivation, and learner agency for both students and teachers.

Book Features:

Profiles teachers leading the transformation of instruction to achieve the ambitious vision of learning embodied in recent standards. Shows how teaching through problem-solving can erase the achievement gap in mathematics learning. Provides the first in-depth portrait of schoolwide lesson study, showing how U.S. teachers at several schools build it and use it to transform teaching. Uses photographs, student work, and detailed classroom descriptions to bring to life mathematics lessons in year 1 and year 4 of the school's work to build problem-solving. Provides examples and links to the strategies teachers use to make student thinking visible (and actionable) during mathematics lessons. Includes lesson plans, photographs of board work, student journals, school newsletters, self-assessment rubrics and dozens of links to the resources needed to begin using teaching through problem-solving and school-wide lesson study. Provides long-term, teacher-led solutions for professional learning and for mathematics instruction that have been shown to improve teacher retention and student proficiency.

By: Catherine C. Lewis, Akihiko Takahashi, Shelley Friedkin, Nora Houseman, Sara Liebert
Imprint: Teachers' College Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 162mm, Spine: 18mm
ISBN: 9780807787595
ISBN 10: 0807787590
Series: Technology, Education—Connections (the TEC Series)
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 31 July 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Catherine Lewis is a researcher at Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California who has conducted research in Japanese schools for four decades. Akihiko Takahashi is a professor emeritus of mathematics education at DePaul University and an internationally renowned elementary teacher. Shelley Friedkin is an instructional coach at John Muir Elementary School in San Francisco, California. Nora Houseman is program director for professional learning in the Alameda County Office of Education, California. Sara Liebert served as teacher, instructional coach and principal at John Muir Elementary School and currently works at Apple.