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Published: February 14, 2025
This summer our facilitator team had an interesting discussion around this question, “Do the stars we put on our Math Menu problem solver sets promote tracking?” Some of us believe that no matter the way the stars are offered, students who are regularly choosing lesser star levels will feel bad about their math abilities. Some of us believe that the stars offer students a helpful guide when thinking about what kind of problem solving experience they are in the mood for. Ultimately, the answer to this question is nuanced. It depends how they are being introduced and used during Math Menu and it depends on the larger culture of the classroom and school system.
At All Learners Network, we promote a balanced math block where all students are regularly challenged to engage and struggle with grade level concepts, while also being offered opportunities to struggle on a just-right challenge based on the progressions. During Main Lesson, we invite all students to struggle with grade level concepts. During Math Menu, we engage all students in thinking about personal growth goals and just-right practice to achieve those goals. The All Learners Lesson Structure helps to create a space for all students to learn math in the same community, without being separated by perceived math ability.
However, like all structures and systems, Math Menu can accidentally become a way in which students are sorted and separated by perceived math abilities. Even when we have the best intentions, we can make choices that turn an inclusive structure into one that feels exclusive and promotes unhelpful peer to peer comparisons. Here are three examples of how a slight shift in practice can change the feeling of Math Menu:
| Inclusive Math Menu | Math Menu that Leads to Tracking |
| Explaining the stars on problem solvers to students like a spiciness guide on a menu. It is the students’ choice each week which spiciness level they take on in their problem solvers. The expectation of all students is that they find ways to challenge themselves as problem solvers. | Some students receive the one star problem, some students receive the two star problem and some students receive the three star problem. Adults are communicating a student’s perceived capacity by which star level they’ve been assigned. |
| Having multiple levels of windowpanes available each week to choose from and conferencing with students about their windowpane choices to help gauge a just-right challenge for computation practice. | Assigning certain students windowpanes from lower grade levels while the rest of the students are given grade level windowpanes. |
| Offers challenge opportunities on every menu. All students are encouraged to explore the challenges independently or collaboratively. | Meets with a group of “high-fliers” and offers just these students some additional challenge opportunities on their menu. |
Collecting genuine feedback from students on how Math Menu feels for them is an important way to check on the impact of our decisions. Are we structuring this time in a way that communicates to all our students that they are strong, capable mathematicians and problem solvers? Is Math Menu a time for all students to grow their math mindset? If not, what shifts can we make to better support all students to embrace struggle, challenge, and purposeful practice during Math Menu?
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What Now?
1. Learn more about Math Menu and register for ALO Free today to start getting access to our platform right away.
2. Read our blog post “Disrupt Tracking in Math Classrooms”.
3. Bring All Learners Network (ALN) into your school or district for a Math Game Night or embedded professional development.
All Learners Network is committed to a new type of math instruction. We focus on supporting pedagogy so that all students can access quality math instruction. We do this through our online platform, free resources, events, and embedded professional development. Learn more about how we work with schools and districts here.
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