EdReports reviewers are classroom educators, district coaches, and state content leaders who are rigorously selected for their deep understanding of college and career ready standards and the importance of high-quality instructional materials. This Q&A with math curriculum expert Leah Dix, Ph.D., is one of a series of reviewer profiles in which we’re excited to celebrate some of the 900+ educators who have reviewed for EdReports to date, shining a light on their extensive expertise and dedication to serving students and fellow teachers.
Name: Leah Dix, Ph.D.
Specialty area: High school math
Years in the classroom: 15
EdReports reviewer since: 2019
Q: Can you tell me about your journey in education so far?
A: I got my bachelor’s in math followed by a master’s, started working as a high school math teacher in 2002, and I’ve been at the same school in Jefferson County, Kentucky ever since. I was a classroom teacher for 15 years before moving into my current role as a math resource teacher, supporting individual teachers and facilitating teacher professional learning communities.
Alongside my full-time work as an educator, I’ve earned a second master’s and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, worked as a consultant with the Kentucky Center for Mathematics, and presented at National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) regional conferences. I also served as a board member of the Greater Louisville Council of Teachers of Mathematics, collaborating with other district teachers to organize and facilitate professional development workshops.
Q: Why do you think instructional materials matter?
A: Teachers need robust, vetted curriculum that’s aligned to content standards and that contains a lot of resources and options to help educators effectively plan and implement instruction. Materials need to provide teachers with a variety of ways to present content so they can adapt to different teaching contexts and meet different student needs.
Teachers need robust, vetted curriculum that’s aligned to content standards and that contains a lot of resources and options to help educators effectively plan and implement instruction.
When quality materials are not in place, the rigor of instruction can decrease because teachers have to seek out other supplemental resources, such as from Teacher Pay Teachers, that may not be well-aligned or high quality. That risks students not getting access to the kind of math education they need to thrive.
Q: How have you experienced the process of adopting and implementing curriculum?
A: While I haven’t served on an adoption committee, I have had the opportunity to give detailed feedback as part of the selection process. We just adopted new math and ELA materials this year, and our district has done a good job of hearing the voices of a wide range of constituents—surveying teachers on their needs and their views of different materials, and listening to what department chairs have to say about what works best for them in their building and in their context.
When a district prioritizes teacher voices and perspectives, it helps to create the conditions for curriculum to be implemented with integrity.
When a district prioritizes teacher voices and perspectives, it helps to create the conditions for curriculum to be implemented with integrity. Conducting a comprehensive adoption process in which teachers and community stakeholders are engaged authentically means that when you’re working with those materials as a teacher, you can trust that they’ve been vetted, you can feel confident in what you’re putting in front of your students, and you can know that the curriculum has what’s needed to help you accomplish your goals as a teaching team, school, or district.
Q: What changes have you seen in math curriculum across your career?
A: When I began teaching, we were mainly using hardback textbooks that had a pretty standard format: table of contents, introduction page, examples, practice exercises, homework, et cetera. Today, we have much higher quality materials that look totally different: from the emphasis on math talks and dialoguing to having a range of digital resources to support learning and instruction.
What we’re expecting from kids has changed too, thanks to the introduction of college and career ready standards and the Standards for Mathematical Practice. There are lots of different approaches that research has shown to be effective and having materials that utilize those approaches has made a big difference. As teachers, we’ve certainly learned and grown a lot in order to get the most out of a high-quality, standards-aligned math curriculum.
High-quality materials help teachers break down the standards into learning targets and really understand what students need to be able to know and do.
Previously we’d be teaching to topics: explaining a little about the concept and procedure, then getting the students to work through practice exercises. Now, high-quality materials help teachers break down the standards into learning targets and really understand what students need to be able to know and do. We go into greater depth, emphasizing process and asking students how they got to their answers to ensure they have the opportunities to demonstrate mastery of the actions of the Math Practices and the content of the standards.
Q: What are your reflections on being a math curriculum reviewer with EdReports?
A: I was drawn to apply to become a reviewer because I’m naturally curious about curriculum. I like to read about it, I like to know about it—that’s what my Ph.D is in! So, I’m always looking for opportunities to dig deep into materials, to stay abreast of what new programs are out there and what’s coming up. With so many programs available, I think it’s really vital to have an organization like EdReports doing this work to give educators and districts valuable information about materials.
As an EdReports reviewer, I really enjoy being able to say that these reports are a reliable source that districts and teachers can use—that they’re by educators like me and for educators like me.
As an EdReports reviewer, I really enjoy being able to say that these reports are a reliable source that districts and teachers can use—that they’re by educators like me and for educators like me. And so I feel good that I’m contributing toward that process of helping ensure that our kids are getting grade-level, high-quality curriculum in front of them.
Leah Dix, Ph.D., is a Mathematics Resource Teacher for Jefferson County Public Schools. She has over two decades of experience as a high school math educator, and has been an EdReports reviewer since 2019. Leah has presented at National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) regional conferences and served on NCTM regional conference program committees in Kentucky and Virginia and as board president of the Greater Louisville Council of Teachers of Mathematics. She holds two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction.
