Input Needed: Changes in Math Next Year

[Elaine Liao Avin]

KP Community,

Many families have heard about upcoming changes to math curriculum and accelerated learning pathways. To explain what is planned for the 2026–27 school year, here is a brief summary:

• The State of Maryland is implementing new mathematics standards and policy guidance for Pre-K–12, beginning in the 2026–27 school year.

• MCPS is also adopting a new math curriculum for elementary and middle school, as the district’s contracts with Eureka Math (elementary) and Illustrative Math (middle school) are ending. MCPS has selected Amplify Desmos as the new curriculum provider for both levels. This is our current vendor for our literacy (ELA) curriculum. 

• Lastly, MCPS plans to discontinue the current elementary Compacted Math model beginning in 2026–27 and will replace it with a different accelerated learning approach. Currently, compacted Math provides accelerated instruction for qualifying students in Grades 4 and 5 which can skip content as part of the acceleration and delivered through cohort-based classes (i.e. put into one classroom together).  There are three changes occurring next year as a result of Compacted Math’s discontinuance:

• Per new math standards defined by the state, there will be no skipping of content, hence “compacted” is eliminated and replaced with “accelerated” learning where each foundation for the grade (and next grade up) will be explored

• Criteria for who will get accelerated learning will change. While there is broad information available on how current identification is made, the criteria will change to include more data (e.g., instead of just MAP it will also include MCAP and other data points). There are six cluster groups defined and criteria for these groups were recently published.

• Starting with next year’s Grade 4, students will learn in more heterogeneous classrooms where they will be grouped in clusters by their skill level, similar to the current approach used in teaching the literacy (ELA) curriculum.  

• For next year’s Grade 5 who are currently in compacted math, they will complete their current pathway which is completing the rest of Grade 5 math standards and then starting Grade 6 material in the Amplify curriculum.  Given that they are in “mid-flight” in this pathway, it is presumed they will remain in a cohorted classroom considering the starting point will be different from students just starting Grade 5 math.

Because these are significant changes that are happening all at once, many families have questions and concerns on how all these changes will be implemented at our school.

As incoming VP of Academic Enrichment for next school year, I, along with Denise Oluwo (our incoming PTA President), will meet with Principal Ross in early June to discuss the upcoming changes and how KP will prepare and implement. 

To ensure this meeting reflects the priorities and questions of the KP community, I would appreciate your input.  Please go to this survey link to review and upvote existing questions and add any additional questions you would like addressed by COB Friday, June 5th.

Thank you for your feedback and participation.

Additional Resources:

• Fuller description of Math Changes in SY26-27 (deeper explanation of the above message)

• Recap of May 7th BOE meeting explaining the rationale for the elimination of compacted math

• MCCPTA GEC Toolkit on Actions to take re: Compacted Math (includes further links and resources on the topics if you want to take a deeper dive)

• Current MCPS website’s Overview of Math Changes and FAQs

[Elaine Liao Avin]

KP Community,

Thank you for providing your feedback on the questions related to changes in Math for the next school year. Denise and I met with Principal Ross earlier this week and I’m sharing the outcomes from that meeting which helped clarify how these changes impact our school. There are still some things we don’t know, but should lay the groundwork for follow-up questions when we return for the next school year.

As a reminder, here is a quick recap of Math Changes in SY26-27

• The State of Maryland is implementing new mathematics standards and policy guidance for Pre-K–12, beginning in the 2026–27 school year.

• MCPS is also adopting a new math curriculum for elementary and middle school, as the district’s contracts with Eureka Math (elementary) and Illustrative Math (middle school) are ending. MCPS has selected Amplify Desmos as the new curriculum provider for both levels. This is our current vendor for our literacy (ELA) curriculum. 

• MCPS plans to discontinue the current elementary Compacted Math model beginning in 2026–27 and will replace it with a different accelerated learning approach. Currently, compacted Math provides accelerated instruction for qualifying students in Grades 4 and 5 which can skip content as part of the acceleration and delivered through cohort-based classes (i.e. put into one classroom together).  There are three changes occurring next year as a result of Compacted Math’s discontinuance:

• Per new math standards defined by the state, there will be no skipping of content, hence “compacted” is eliminated and replaced with “accelerated” learning where each foundation for the grade (and next grade up) will be explored

• Criteria for who will get accelerated learning will change. While there is broad information available on how current identification is made, the criteria will change to include more data (e.g., instead of just MAP it will also include MCAP and other data points). There are six cluster groups defined and criteria for these groups were recently published.

• Starting with next year’s Grade 4, students will learn in more heterogeneous classrooms where they will be grouped in clusters by their skill level, similar to the current approach used in teaching the literacy (ELA) curriculum.  

Meeting Key Take-Aways

Teachers will have two-day training over the summer to learn the new curriculum plus regular pre-service time.

Overall, the cluster grouping concept and change from the current compacted math model will only apply to the rising 4th graders. Rising 5th graders will be grandfathered into the current model for their last year of elementary school.

FIT time is an ELA construct. There may be schools that currently use FIT to also address math but KP uses FIT time only for ELA and scheduling is staggered to align to our specialist resource(s) availability.

See below for a summary of changes by grade level.

Grade Level	Summary of Change
All Grades	No impact to FIT time. FIT is designated time for ELA and will continue to focus on ELA. We asked for a better explanation of FIT time at the beginning of next school year and how to stay connected/gain a better understanding of the type of work our kids are working on during FIT time (support, enrichment, etc.) Additionally, school will address/level-set on tech usage as part of learning so parents can get a better sense of what to expect when we start the new school year
K - 3	Teachers will be teaching using new curriculum (Amplify vs Eureka) that will reflect the new standards There is no formal cluster grouping designation in these grade levels
4th Grade	Cluster groups and heterogeneous classrooms will replace cohorting accelerated math students into one class room together New/different criteria than what was used in the past will have been defined and will be used to determine cluster groups.  Cluster groups will be communicated this week (week of June 15th). There will be one teacher dedicated to teaching math in 4th grade (one dedicated to ELA and one that will do some ELA and Science/Social Studies) – kids will change classrooms for these subjects. Any enrichment or acceleration of content will happen in their assigned Math block time (i.e., not during FIT time) There will be on and off ramps, students will be evaluated more regularly (e.g., quarterly) to confirm cluster group assignment or if it should change What acceleration will look like under Amplify is still being determined, they are adjusting/customizing this component for MCPS About 3 cluster groups can be expected within a given math class. They will put similar cluster groups together so that there is not a large ability gap to try to address in the same class time.
5th Grade	Students in current accelerated (compacted math) will be grandfathered and finish elementary under the existing model and continue to be cohorted together in their own class for acceleration Only change is that these students will finish Grade 5 Math and learn Grade 6 Math in the Amplify curriculum versus Eureka

Thank you again for your input into this meeting, we will aim to do education and discussion around curriculum in SY 26-27!