We serve the teachers of Utah by:

  • promoting equitable, comprehensive, and collaborative teaching practices that ensure the learning of mathematics at all levels

  • advocating for mathematics teachers and learners

  • providing high-quality professional learning opportunities and resources

About UCTM

Utah Council of Teachers of Mathematics

Equity Statement

The UCTM Board sees the following as imperatives to promote equity, access and empowerment in mathematics education in the state of Utah:

  • All students should be engaged, challenged and supported in mathematics and should see themselves mathematically capable.

  • All students should have a choice in their educational pathway.

  • All students should feel a sense of purpose and fulfillment in mathematics curriculum and that their contributions are valued.

In order to accomplish this transformational change, we must address the following three areas:

School and Sociocultural Systems

We believe that school and sociocultural systems should:

  • Address the impact of mathematics on how students see themselves;
  • Recognize and challenge elitism in mathematics and remove its status as a gate-keeper Humanize mathematics
    • mathematics needs people as much as people need mathematics (Gutiérrez, 2012, p. 30);
  • [Eliminate the] practice of isolating low-achieving students in low-level or slower-paced mathematics groups” (NCTM, 2014, p. 64).

Teacher Beliefs

Equitable outcomes for students occur when teachers:

  • Empower each student with choice in the type of work, how to approach problems and opportunities to be heard;
  • Believe that each student can learn at high levels (Boaler, 2014); and
  • Believe that each student deserves engaging, rigorous and challenging curriculum.

Classroom Structure and Design

​Equitable outcomes for students occur when classrooms incorporate:

  • Intentional use of curriculum, instruction and assessment to design meaningful learning experiences for each student;
  • Intentional use of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) to provide multiple, varied opportunities for each student to learn with ongoing, embedded formative assessment;
  • Student-centered learning opportunities, in which students are active participants in the learning process, are engaged in deep thinking about mathematics and are driving the conversation;
  • Effective use of the NCTM’s Teaching Practices that allows students to see themselves as mathematicians, critical thinkers and able to contribute in mathematical settings; and
  • Continual teacher reflection on practice with attention to unconscious bias and its impact on student self-efficacy.