Following a series of meetings in January intended to help families better understand changes in the math curriculum, Howard County educators set forth with a plan to create an online resource that could answer questions and concerns from the community.
Using input from parents, students, staff and community members, the Howard County Public School System launched the Family Math Support Center in August.
The site, hcpssfamilymath.weebly.com, includes links, videos, practice tests and more on the math curriculum, the Common Core State Standards and class lessons in kindergarten through 12th grade.
The background on each lesson is broken down by grade level and unit.
"We really wanted to shine a light on the inside of the math classroom," said Bill Barnes, coordinator of secondary mathematics.
While some of the content was developed by Howard educators, the links to other education organizations were "highly vetted," according to Jon Wray, an instructional facilitator in the Office of Secondary Mathematics.
The site was originally intended for use by families and parents, but Wray said it's also being utilized by students as staff has asked teachers to inform families of the site.
But the site's reach has been felt far outside of Howard County.
According to Wray, the site has been viewed 67,000 times by 41,400 unique visitors from 1,839 cities in 65 countries across 20 subcontinents and six continents.
Wray added that the site has three main goals: to help families gain a better understanding of their child's math program; to refresh or build understanding of new or unfamiliar math concepts, skills and practices; and to provide additional support and practice opportunities for students, as needed throughout the school year.
The site builds on the math department's existing Wiki math page at smart.wikispaces.hcpss.org.
In addition to support for daily lessons in class, the site also offers insight into standardized assessments, such as the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers assessments that students will take toward the end of the school year.
After piloting the assessments last year, the PARCC assessments will replace the MSA this year.
On the site, parents can find background on PARCC, the test's structure, schedule and even take a practice test.
"In addition to providing parents with up-to-date information about PARCC and mathematics, we also thought it would be really helpful if they could try some of the practices tests that are available," Wray said.
While the site has only been online for six months, Wray said the site has received positive feedback through a survey option.
Howard educators say they plan to continue adding to the site with information from all math classes offered in the county, specifically adding a gifted and talented math and calculus programs in the near future.