Illustrative Mathematics® Partners With Leading Educators to Strengthen Implementation of IM® Math

School systems invest significant time and resources in selecting high-quality instructional materials as the foundation for excellent, future-ready learning. But adopting HQIM is only the beginning. Ensuring those materials lead to meaningful, consistent classroom experiences requires ongoing professional learning, strong instructional leadership, and systems that support educators to practice over time.

Illustrative Mathematics (IM) today announced a partnership with Leading Educators, a national nonprofit organization that helps school districts strengthen instructional leadership and improve teaching and learning at scale. As an IM Certified professional learning service partner, Leading Educators will provide curriculum-based professional learning, coaching, and leadership development designed to help districts implement IM Math v.360 while building the internal capacity and instructional systems needed to sustain improvement over time.

Leading Educators has a strong record of impact from systemic professional learning, with 21 past programs demonstrating student impact equivalent to nine months of additional learning against ESSA Tier 3 or higher evidence standards. In Los Angeles, their professional learning for IM Math has demonstrated 3–5x faster math growth for Black students, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities than students in the same groups in similar high-poverty schools.

Districts working with Leading Educators will build the knowledge, leadership capacity, and instructional systems needed to bring the design of IM Math to life in classrooms. Through curriculum-based professional learning and coaching, the organization will support educators in facilitating meaningful mathematical discourse, internalizing lessons while preserving the intent of the curriculum, anticipating and responding to student thinking, and making instructional decisions grounded in the design of IM Math. Leading Educators also partners with districts to strengthen professional learning communities, instructional observation and feedback, and data routines that support continuous improvement.

“Strong mathematics programs are built through more than curriculum alone,” said Dr. Kristin Umland, CEO and cofounder of Illustrative Mathematics. “When professional learning, instructional leadership, and classroom practice are grounded in the same instructional vision, districts are better positioned to support lasting improvement. We’re excited to partner with Leading Educators to help more districts build that kind of coherence.”

Leading Educators joins a growing network of organizations whose products and services have been reviewed and approved by Illustrative Mathematics for alignment with IM’s instructional model. Together, IM Certified partners give schools and districts the flexibility to choose the professional learning, instructional supports, and implementation services that best meet their needs while working from a shared vision of mathematics teaching and learning.

To learn more about the IM Certified ecosystem, visit IM Certified partners.

 

About Illustrative Mathematics

Illustrative Mathematics® (IM) is the nonprofit organization behind IM® Math, a problem-based TK–12 curriculum built on the belief that all students can succeed in mathematics. IM supports schools and districts through high-quality instructional materials, curriculum-based professional learning, and a carefully vetted IM Certified® partner ecosystem. Today, more than 3.6 million students across all 50 states have access to IM Certified® curricula. Learn more at IllustrativeMathematics.org. 

 

About Leading Educators

Leading Educators partners with school systems to strengthen learning today and design the innovations they will need tomorrow so every student thrives now and in a future we cannot yet imagine. Grounded in one of the strongest records of proven impact in the field, LE helps leaders align strategy, instruction, and professional support to build the conditions where what works spreads and lasts at scale. The result is not more initiatives, but coherent, human-centered systems that learn and evolve by design—delivering high-quality instruction consistently while continuously adapting for what comes next.