State Launches Listening Tour on Math Plan

Illinois education officials are seeking feedback on a new statewide effort to improve student math performance, five years after Governor JB Pritzker's COVID-19 shutdown closed schools and disrupted learning.

The Illinois State Board of Education will begin an eight-stop listening tour in October to gather input on its first draft of a "Comprehensive Numeracy Plan," designed to provide educators with evidence-based strategies for teaching math.

The first session is scheduled for Oct. 16 at the board's Springfield office, with additional stops set for Naperville on Oct. 22, Rockford on Oct. 23, a virtual session on Nov. 4, Champaign on Nov. 5, Edwardsville on Nov. 12, Carbondale on Nov. 13, and Chicago on Nov. 18. All meetings begin at 4 p.m. and participants can register online. The final version of the plan is expected to be presented to the state board by June 2026.

Student testing data show that reading scores for grades three through eight have recovered to pre-pandemic levels, gains that state officials attribute to the Comprehensive Literacy Plan adopted in recent years. Math scores, however, remain below 2019 levels, prompting the state to rethink the way math is currently being taught.