Lakeridge partnership transforming math instruction

Just three years ago, Lakeridge Elementary in Renton was identified as one of the most persistently low-achieving schools in Washington, with only one in five students in fifth grade passing the state mathematics assessment test. That's when the school partnered with University of Washington's College of Education to build a professional learning community dedicated to rigorous, job-embedded professional development based on the latest research in mathematics education.

Today, a front page story in the Seattle Times features the College of Education's work at Lakeridge.

Led by College of Education researcher Elham Kazemi, a community of Lakeridge educators is testing new instructional activities and strategies in real time, with students engaged and present. The results are dramatic. In just two years, the percentage of Lakeridge students passing Washington's math assessment has nearly tripled and UW researchers are using what they discover to create professional learning models for other school districts. Professor Jessica Thompson writes about the College's ongoing efforts to build systems that will accelerate and improve teaching and learning in a guest column that accompanies today's Lakeridge story.

Lakeridge is a leading example of the College of Education's commitment to partnering with schools to improve student learning and academic outcomes by transforming professional learning for teachers and school leaders. In building communities of educators who put the latest research into practice in classrooms, we see what students are capable of achieving.