Teaching Math
"The training I received from the Fellows program prepared me to be successful in facing the challenge of teaching students who were years behind where they should be in ninth grade math. The Training Institute gave me hands-on experience teaching math to my summer school classes, and the training curriculum prepared me to plan lessons that meet the needs of a huge range of levels in each period I teach. It is because I am a Fellow that I can be a successful math teacher in my first year at a high-need school."
- 2005 Oakland Teaching Fellow
The Facts
- The teacher's depth of knowledge in math is the single greatest predictor of tenth-grade student achievement in these subjects.*
- Just 5% of Oakland ninth graders perform at or above proficiency on the state-wide General Mathematics exam. **
Research shows that having a higher standard of education for students is critical to students' personal and academic development, as well as competitiveness in an increasingly global and technology-based economy. Fellows who teach math have the ability to impact the lives of the students that they teach and to support their students' opportunities to attend college. In order to attend a public university in California, students need at least three years of high-school math; this past year just 35% of Oakland graduates met these requirements for admission to a University of California or California State University school*. Furthermore, only 9% of 9th grade students achieved Algebra I proficiency on the CST. In June 2009, the OUSD Board of Education voted to align OUSD's high school graduation requirements with state public college entrance requirements, called the A-G standards, to go into effect in the fall of 2011. Fellows who teach math will be part of the District-wide effort to ensure that Oakland's students graduate from high school prepared for success in college and life.
What areas do math Fellows teach?
Oakland Teaching Fellows teach math at the secondary level in classes ranging from sixth through twelfth grade. In high school, most Fellows teach algebra I or II or geometry. In middle school, most Fellows teach lessons grounded in number sense, pre-algebra and algebra, basic geometry, and statistics and probability. Fellows are charged with ensuring their students master the content knowledge for their particular grade level according to the California State Standards. For more information on and to view a complete list of the California State Standards, visit the State Department of Education website.
Benefits of Teaching Math
Math Fellows can make an immediate difference in ensuring that their students acquire the skills necessary to succeed in school and in life. Fellows who teach math bring experience that allows them to become successful teachers in their first year and for years to come, increasing their impact each year. Fellows deliver exciting, hands-on lessons that tie mathematical theories and concepts to real-world applications and professions.
Oakland Teaching Fellows receive specialized training which focuses on leveraging prior experiences to translate previous successes into future classroom success. Training courses cover teaching pedagogy, and include topics such as lesson planning and delivery, long-term backward planning (strategic design), and research-based High Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS). In addition, Fellows may attend specific workshops on Oakland curricula they will likely use in their fall teaching assignments and on using math games and other resources to successfully communicate concepts while holding student attention.
During the first two years of teaching, Fellows build their knowledge base through credentialing courses grounded in best teaching practices for the math classroom. Fellows also attend professional development events coordinated by the Oakland Teaching Fellows program- and have the chance to network with other math teachers in the Fellows program to share challenges and best practices. Focus areas include appropriately assessing student achievement levels, tracking student achievement data, designing lessons to meet students' varying needs, preparing students to pass the California High School Exit Exam (CaHSEE), investing families in math instruction and assignments, and designing lessons driven by student discovery. At their school sites, Fellows often report a high level of collaboration between department members. Fellows attend weekly and monthly professional development sessions led or coordinated by the math department chair at their school or the district-wide Instructional Services Department.
See below for one Fellows' story of how and why he became a math Fellow.
Alykhan Boolani
2006 Fellow
Degree: B.A., AfricanStudies, Brown University
Teaching Position: Math, East Oakland School of the Arts
A native of Oakland, Alykhan worked at the National Lawyers Guild in San Francisco prior to becoming a Teaching Fellow. In 2006, Alykhan decided he was ready to change his career path. "I was tired of working for social justice in the non-profit industrial complex. I got tired of trying to change things about my community by sitting behind a computer screen and organizing databases. Teaching is the opposite of that. It is exciting, it is different every day, and I never have time to look at the clock."
Alykhan decided his talents and experiences would be most effective in a classroom setting. "I came to teaching because of my own experiences as a person and student of color in a nation that has repeatedly shown its limits for people of color. The school is at the intersection of it all; it is one of the only places in our segmented society where race, power, and class consistently and honestly interact, and where the fight against the domestication of our youth and the maintenance of white supremacy are wars that a teacher can wage. I teach because I am trying to work against the inequalities in education." Alykhan wants to give his students the tools they will need to succeed in school and in life. He believes that education is the great equalizer. Alykhan's passion for change led him to the Oakland Teaching Fellows because it offered him the opportunity to make an immediate impact on students.
Now in his third year in the classroom, Alykhan admits that the first year is the most difficult. "All the rumors are true. Some days I felt like I was barely getting by, but that has changed dramatically in a year's time. This is the only truly challenging thing I have ever done. By comparison to other 'hard' things I've done, teaching seems to exist in a plane all on its own. But that's just one half of the equation: teaching a young person something they did not know before is a unique moment. You can actually see, hear, and feel a young one get better at something." Alykhan's advice for future Fellows, "Stick with it, and see where teaching in Oakland takes you."
For more information on teaching math visit the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics website.
For more information about OUSD's math program click here.
To connect with a math teacher or Fellow in the Oakland Unified School District, send an email with your name, phone number, and question or request to observe to Connect@OaklandTeachingFellows. Current Teaching Fellows can answer specific questions about teaching math in Oakland and/or schedule an observation in an Oakland classroom.
The need for dedicated math teachers is real. Apply to Oakland Teaching Fellows to teach math and start a career that will truly make an impact.
*Dan D. Goldhaber and Dominic J. Brewer, "Evaluating the Effect of Teacher Degree Level on Educational Performance," 1996
** California Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR), 2008
Questions? Email us at