The Professional Development team at the California Science Center had been brainstorming for a few months, trying to determine if they should incorporate math into their NGSS trainings. Then they read 100Kin10’s “Doing the Math” report and decided to participate in the Foundational Math Catalyst Workshop. Catalyst Workshops are spaces for partners to deepen their understanding about a high-leverage catalyst and explore opportunities to collaboratively tackle it. Through the conversations and activities that day, they found the reasons they were looking for that math was an important part of the broader challenges they’re working to address, and connected with new partners who could help them take the next steps.

Soon after, they were able to connect with UCLA’s Mathematics Project about Cognitive Guided Instruction (CGI) Math and developed plans to incorporate CGI Math into their existing trainings. Elena Lopez, the Science Center’s Professional Learning Manager, explained that the most valuable part of their participation in 100Kin10 has been the opportunity to connect with organizations that had knowledge and experience in exactly what they were looking for: