The Palmetto Education Summit 2026

Too often, mathematics instruction relies on isolated skills and assumptions about what students know, leading to gaps in understanding and inconsistent progress. This session will explore how learning progressions provide a clear, research-based roadmap for developing numeracy by making student thinking visible and connecting concepts across grade levels. Participants will deepen their understanding of the purpose and benefits of learning progressions, including how they support conceptual understanding, guide instructional decision-making, and ensure all students have access to grade-level mathematics through intentional scaffolding and extension.Beyond simply developing learning progressions, this session focuses on making them an actionable tool for everyday instruction. Attendees will learn how to unpack standards, identify prerequisite skills, and use progressions to design aligned lessons, targeted small group instruction, and meaningful formative assessment opportunities. Through practical examples and collaborative discussion, educators will leave with strategies to actively use learning progressions to drive numeracy success, respond to student needs in real time, and move from guessing about student understanding to making informed, impactful instructional decisions.

Many students approach word problems through “number plucking,” extracting numerals without understanding context. This session highlights a progression that moves students toward deep comprehension and authentic problem solving, with a focus on how intentional teacher questioning supports meaning-making and shifts instruction from answer-getting to sense-making. Participants will explore a progression from number plucking to true problem solving, beginning with identifying common misconceptions and moving to the use of numberless word problems to build understanding. Emphasis will be placed on how purposeful teacher questioning supports students in analyzing, discussing, and making sense of problem situations. Practical strategies and sample tasks will be shared to support immediate classroom application.