Illustrative Mathematics

Illustrative Mathematics, founded by creators of the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSSM), supports a “faithful implementation” of the standards “by illustrating the range and types of mathematical work that students will experience.”  Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the web site provides examples of tasks for each standard by grade level, ranging from Kindergarten through High School. 

Although the web site has been up for a number of months, the end of March marked a turning point for the project.  Through a design overhaul, the site is now aesthetically pleasing, well-organized, and easy to navigate.  Bill McCallum, one of the project chairs, blogged that in addition to the new design, “we have reached a milestone of 400 illustrative tasks.”  The web site’s user-friendly design and impressive content database leaves me hopeful that the project will indeed support successful implementations of the math standards.

In addition, the site has added a Community feature where registered users can revise, discuss, and evaluate the tasks.  According to the web site, the project hopes to enhance the impact of the Community by allowing registered users to share classroom videos related to the standards and lesson plans constructed around the tasks.

Explore Illustrative Mathematics and let us know what you think!