Data-Driven 5th Grade Math Instruction & Pacing Guide

Why We Are Here

Purpose of today’s session:

Why this matters: Strong grade-level alignment ensures consistency and equity for students during curriculum transitions.

<div><p style='font-size:28px;font-weight:600;margin-bottom:8px;'>Purpose of today’s session:</p><ul style='margin:0;padding-left:32px;font-size:30px;line-height:1.8;'><li>Align math data, ELL data, accommodations, and progress monitoring.</li><li>Strengthen systems we already use.</li><li>Ensure consistency across 5th grade.</li></ul><p style='font-size:28px;font-weight:600;margin:24px 0 8px;'>Context:</p><ul style='margin:0;padding-left:32px;font-size:30px;line-height:1.8;'><li>Final year of Go Math.</li><li>Piloted Savvas enVision+ and i-Ready.</li><li>Curriculum adoption still pending.</li></ul></div>

Strong grade-level alignment matters most during transition years.

Example: Using our existing weekly planning time to align math and ELL strategies keeps decisions grounded while adoption is pending.

What Holds Our Work Together

5th Grade Math Pacing Guide built around core priority standards.

Designed to support conceptual understanding and coherence across the year.

SchoolCity Math Benchmarks intentionally aligned to our pacing guide.

Multiple aligned data sources used together: SchoolCity Benchmarks; CAASPP practice assessments (FIABs and IABs); i-Ready Math Diagnostic and growth data.

Why this matters: Using aligned systems allows us to make decisions based on patterns, not isolated scores.

<p style='font-size:32px;font-weight:600;margin-bottom:12px;'>Our grade-level structures:</p><ul style='margin:0;padding-left:36px;font-size:30px;line-height:1.8;'><li>5th Grade Math Pacing Guide built on priority standards.</li><li>Designed to support conceptual understanding and coherence across the year.</li><li>SchoolCity benchmarks aligned to our pacing guide.</li><li>Multiple data sources used together.</li></ul><p style='font-size:32px;font-weight:600;margin:24px 0 12px;'>Data we rely on:</p><ul style='margin:0;padding-left:36px;font-size:30px;line-height:1.8;'><li>SchoolCity.</li><li>CAASPP practice (FIABs / IABs).</li><li>i-Ready diagnostics.</li></ul>

Takeaway: We make decisions based on patterns, not single data points.

Our grade-level structures support consistency across classrooms.

What Holds Our Work Together

When SchoolCity and CAASPP FIAB data aligned, we trusted the pacing guide instead of chasing new tools.

We make decisions based on patterns, not single data points.

How We Use Data

We intentionally use multiple aligned data sources to triangulate our instructional decisions.

<ul style='list-style:disc;padding-left:36px;margin:0;font-size:32px;line-height:1.8;'><li>Look for trends across classrooms.</li><li>Identify shared areas of need across multiple data sources.</li><li>Agree on 1–2 instructional shifts to implement consistently.</li><li>Monitor student response week by week.</li><li>Adjust instruction before the next assessment cycle.</li><li>All decisions are made within the pacing guide.</li></ul><p style='font-size:32px;line-height:1.7;margin-top:30px;'>Example: When explanation was a common weakness, we embedded sentence frames instead of reteaching entire units.</p>

Guiding Question: How do we use data to make intentional instructional adjustments?

<ul style='margin:0;padding-left:36px;font-size:30px;line-height:1.9;'><li>Look for trends across classrooms.</li><li>Identify shared needs.</li><li>Agree on 1–2 instructional shifts.</li><li>Monitor weekly.</li><li>Adjust before the next assessment.</li><li>All decisions are made within the pacing guide.</li></ul>

When explanations were weak across classes, we added sentence frames instead of reteaching content.

Data leads to specific instructional actions.

<li>Look for trends across classrooms.</li><li>Identify shared needs across data sources.</li><li>Agree on 1–2 instructional shifts.</li><li>Monitor student response weekly.</li><li>Adjust before the next assessment.</li><li>Anchor decisions in the pacing guide.</li>

Our Instructional Foundation

Fractions taught before decimals to build conceptual understanding of parts of a whole.

Strengthen understanding of equivalence and scaling.

Build the foundation for understanding why decimal operations work, not just how.

Student Work: Exit Tickets & Journals

Analyze trends across classrooms.

Identify shared areas of need.

Agree on 1–2 instructional shifts.

Monitor student response weekly.

Adjust instruction before the next assessment cycle.

<ul style='margin:0;padding-left:24px;font-size:30px;line-height:1.7;'><li>Equivalence</li><li>Scaling</li><li>Place value relationships</li></ul>

<ul style='margin:0;padding-left:24px;font-size:30px;line-height:1.7;'><li>Stronger decimal reasoning</li><li>Improved written explanations</li><li>Increased performance on decimal assessments</li></ul>

This sequencing decision was intentional and data-driven.

<ul style='margin:0;padding-left:32px;font-size:32px;line-height:1.8;'><li>All decisions are made within our pacing guide.</li><li>Key design choice: Teach fractions before decimals.</li><li>Build equivalence, scaling, and number sense before moving to decimals.</li><li>Prioritize conceptual understanding rather than procedures.</li></ul>

Example: The pacing guide signals when decimals are ready by checking fraction proficiency, keeping instruction purposeful.

Takeaway: Pacing is intentional, not arbitrary.

Impact: Fraction sequencing results

Significant growth observed in Fractions and Base Ten operations, validating the decision to prioritize fraction concepts early in the pacing guide.

Why Fractions First Worked

Strong fraction equivalence and decomposition.

Improved scaling and proportional reasoning.

Clearer place value relationships across representations.

Students reasoned more accurately about decimal placement when decimals were introduced.

Written explanations improved as students referenced fraction understanding.

Decimal assessment performance increased compared to prior pacing sequences.

<ul style='margin:0;padding-left:36px;font-size:30px;line-height:1.8;'><li>Stronger fraction equivalence and decomposition.</li><li>Improved proportional reasoning.</li><li>Clearer decimal placement reasoning after fractions.</li><li>Better written explanations referencing fraction understanding.</li><li>Higher decimal assessment performance.</li></ul>

Example: Once fraction models were secure, students explained decimal operations by connecting back to those same models.

Takeaway: Instructional sequencing directly impacts student understanding.

How CAASPP Data Shaped Geometry

Geometry – Chapter 11

CAASPP data shows lower performance in volume, applying formulas, and connecting geometry to real-world contexts.

Instructional adjustments

Hands-on modeling with unit cubes; earlier connections to multiplication/addition; more discussion and reasoning before assessment.

Go Math chapter assessments tied to priority standards.

FIAB data aligned to our pacing guide.

SchoolCity Math Benchmarks sequenced with instruction.

CAASPP practice assessments (FIABs and IABs).

i-Ready diagnostic and growth data.

Exit tickets, math journals, and small-group notes tracked daily.

Triangulating these sources helps identify both short-term instructional needs and long-term trends.

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<p style='margin:0;font-size:30px;line-height:1.8;'><strong>What CAASPP data showed:</strong></p><ul style='margin:12px 0 0;padding-left:36px;font-size:30px;line-height:1.8;'><li>Lower performance in geometry, especially volume.</li></ul><p style='margin:24px 0 8px;font-size:30px;font-weight:600;'>Instructional response (Chapter 11):</p><ul style='margin:0;padding-left:36px;font-size:30px;line-height:1.8;'><li>Hands-on modeling with unit cubes.</li><li>Earlier connections to multiplication and addition.</li><li>More discussion before assessment.</li></ul>

Example: For Chapter 11, students built volume models with unit cubes and discussed how multiplication supports the formulas.

Takeaway: State data informed how we adjusted instruction.

How CAASPP Data Shaped Geometry

1. What is going well?

Fractions, Place Value, Real-world engagement.

2. Where are struggles?

Decimal multiplication, Multi-step word problems, Written explanations.

3. Who is on the cusp?

Students who understand verbally but need sentence frames for writing.

4. What instructional moves?

Daily real-world problems, Explicit visual models, Misconception-based small groups.

Recognizing and extending patterns.

Graphing and interpreting data.

Patterns<br>Graphing<br>Unit conversion

Algebraic patterns, graphing, unit conversion (Ch. 9–10).

Converting units of measurement.

Instructional adjustments: Integrated patterns and graphing across multiple units; used real-world data sets for graphing practice; provided repeated exposure to unit conversion throughout the year.

Summary: These findings informed both current instruction and future pacing decisions.

<p style='margin:0;font-size:30px;line-height:1.8;'><strong>What CAASPP data showed:</strong></p><ul style='margin:12px 0 0;padding-left:36px;font-size:30px;line-height:1.8;'><li>Lower performance in geometry, especially volume.</li></ul><p style='margin:24px 0 8px;font-size:30px;font-weight:600;'>Instructional response (Chapter 11):</p><ul style='margin:0;padding-left:36px;font-size:30px;line-height:1.8;'><li>Hands-on modeling with unit cubes.</li><li>Earlier connections to multiplication and addition.</li><li>More discussion and reasoning before assessment.</li></ul>

Example: Students built unit-cube models before solving volume tasks, then explained the connection to multiplication.

Takeaway: State data shaped our Chapter 11 pacing and hands-on emphasis.

Student performance & instructional shifts

Strong understanding of fractions and place value.

Improved accuracy with decimal addition and subtraction.

High engagement during real-world problem solving.

Strong performance when visual models precede procedures.

Challenges: decimal multiplication/division, multi-step word problems, written explanations.

Grade-level shifts: daily real-world math problems, visual models before computation, sentence frames for explanations, misconception-based small groups.

What still needs support?

Challenges

• Decimal multiplication/division<br>• Multi-step word problems<br>• Written explanations<br>• Transfer to unfamiliar contexts

Instructional shifts

• Daily real-world problems<br>• Visual models before computation<br>• Sentence frames for explanations<br>• Small groups based on misconceptions, not scores

What are our commitments moving forward?

• Continue using and refining the pacing guide.<br>• Use SchoolCity, CAASPP practice, CAASPP state data, and i-Ready diagnostics.<br>• Embed ELL supports and accommodations daily (sentence frames, partner talk, visual models, small groups).<br>• Maintain strong instruction regardless of curriculum adoption.<br><br>Bottom line: Clarity. Alignment. Impact for students.