Dr. Matthew Beyranevand-Chelmsford Public Schools

Dr. Matthew Beyranevand Co-Authors Partnering With Parents in Elementary School Math

New release helps educators strengthen partnership with familiesPartnering with Parents in Elementary School Math

CHELMSFORD, MA (Sept. 7, 2021) – In 2019, Dr. Matthew Beyranevand, the K-12 Mathematics Coordinator at Chelmsford Public Schools, and Dr. Hilary Kreisberg, a Chelmsford, Mass., resident and Director of the Center for Mathematics Achievement at Lesley University, collaborated to write a book titled Adding Parents to the Equation: Understanding Your Child’s Elementary School Math (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers), which drew rave reviews.

Just months after its release, the two would unexpectedly collaborate again.

When Covid-19 began to run rampant through the country and forced students to learn remotely for the remainder of the academic year, Drs. Beyranevand and Kreisberg both identified a need. The pandemic would not only change teaching forever, but it would also alter the parent-teacher relationship by each relying on the other more than ever.

Thus, they collaborated to publish Partnering With Parents in Elementary School Math: A Guide for Teachers and Leaders (Corwin Publishing), 186 pages of strategy which educators can use to engage and educate parents and families of elementary school-aged students in learning mathematics, post pandemic. The book comes with editable reproducibles for teachers and leaders to structure their language and alter for their specific needs. It also includes accessibility support, a key factor in communicating with families.

Dr. Beyranevand wants educators to take away three things from his and Dr. Kreisberg’s book: “First, all families want their students to succeed, but because the way we teach math now is different than how they learned it, they don’t know how to support at home,” he explained. “Second, promoting a growth mindset for all stakeholders including parents. Third, communication means more than just alerting when assessments are coming up. It should be about what roles or responsibilities parents can have to help their child have success.”

Adding Parents to the Equation was an effort to ease families’ worries about the shift in today’s mathematics instruction by arming them with skills, strategies, and the research backing behind the transition. It drew glowing reviews from educators.

Shortly after its release, it found its way to Corwin Publishing (which specializes in educational publications) which contacted Dr. Kreisberg about another collaboration. Drs. Beyranevand and Kreisberg had the perfect premise for their new book.

Supporting families is only part of the solution to repairing the home-to-school connection which, according to Drs. Beyranevand and Kreisberg, has been broken for some time. Addressing educators and how they also play a vital role in ensuring that families are set up for success is another important component.

They state in their newest book, “… many students have been positioned (inadvertently) as chiefly responsible for parents’ education about math instruction when it must be the school’s job to do this (p. 1, 2021).” Dr. Beyranevand said the Covid-19 pandemic only exacerbated this issue and now requires an even heavier lift to fix.

Partnering With Parents turned into their pandemic project, swiftly completed in nine months.

“This book includes our latest research, where we interviewed hundreds of parents across the U.S. and Canada, and also features classroom and school exemplars from esteemed educators who have showcased success in partnering with families in math,” Beyranevand said. “Although Hilary and I wrote the book, we collaborated and used best practices from educators from all around the country.”

Along with co-writing Partnering with Parents in Elementary School Math and Adding Parents to the Equation with Dr. Kreisberg, Dr. Beyranevand is the author of Teach Math Like This, Not Like That, released in 2017 by Rowman & Littlefield.

Dr. Beyranevand lives in Bolton, Mass., with his wife, Valerie, and three children.

 

About Chelmsford Public Schools

The Chelmsford Public School District provides all students with multiple pathways to optimize their own potential for academic excellence, leadership, and social and emotional wellness. The mission of the Chelmsford Public Schools is to educate, engage, prepare, and empower well-rounded and knowledgeable learners to PERSEVERE through challenges, demonstrate RESPECT and INTEGRITY in their words and actions, are DEDICATED to their community, and display EMPATHY as global citizens while discovering and pursuing their full potential.  This PRIDE-driven culture enables all members of the school community to support the growth and development of students.  For more information, please visit www.chelmsfordschools.org.