In September, the Bank Street Education Center began the second year of a partnership with New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) through NYC Solves, a citywide initiative focused on strengthening mathematics instruction and expanding access to grade-level learning for all students, particularly Black and Latinx students. The work reflects a shared commitment to improving classroom practice while building lasting instructional capacity across schools and districts.
NYC Solves is guided by a clear instructional vision: grade-level content for every child, every day. In classrooms across the city, this vision comes to life through daily opportunities for students to engage deeply in mathematics, make sense of challenging problems, and share their thinking. Instruction emphasizes student reasoning and sense-making right from the start, supported by shifts-aligned practices and culturally responsive scaffolds that help diverse learners meaningfully engage with their learnings.
“As we’ve worked alongside NYCPS teachers and school leaders, we’ve seen how powerful it can be when students are consistently invited to grapple with important mathematical ideas,” said Sinead Chalmers, Project Director, K–12 Math Education Team, Bank Street Education Center. “NYC Solves allows us to stay close to practice, supporting educators in real time as they refine instruction, strengthen coherence across classrooms, and keep student thinking at the center of their work.”
Through NYC Solves, Bank Street is partnering with 31 middle schools across three NYCPS districts and working directly alongside educators in their day-to-day practice to support the implementation of Illustrative Mathematics, a research-based mathematics curriculum designed to engage students in making sense of mathematical ideas through problem-solving, discussion, and reasoning. This partnership spans teachers, school leaders, and district teams and focuses on strengthening the systems and conditions that support rigorous and engaging mathematics instruction over time. The work is grounded in Bank Street’s throughline approach, which centers teacher and student thinking and situates professional learning in authentic classroom contexts.
Across partner districts, Bank Street’s support is tailored to local goals while remaining anchored in a shared vision for strong mathematics teaching and learning. Teachers engage in team-based coaching and collaborative planning to anticipate student thinking, unpack instructional units, and analyze student work. School leaders participate in individualized and cohort-based learning focused on observation, feedback, and instructional coherence. At the district level, Bank Street collaborates with leadership teams through ongoing strategic planning to align district priorities with school-based implementation.
While each district’s plan reflects its unique context, all partnerships share a commitment to sustained and thoughtful implementation of Illustrative Mathematics. In District 7, schools are making extensive use of NYC Solves supports, combining onsite coaching, teacher team learning, and leadership development. District 15 has concentrated much of its work on onsite teacher coaching, complemented by structured intervisitations and strategic planning with school leaders. District 32 concentrated their work toward onsite teacher support, and principal cohorts focused on observation-based feedback. Across districts, Bank Street coaches continue to work alongside educators to connect classroom practice, leadership decisions, and system-level conditions that support long-term instructional improvement.
So far during the 2025-26 school year, Bank Street’s NYC Solves partnership has resulted in 155 coaching visits at 31 schools. This work has engaged educators at multiple levels, accounting for 638 teacher participation hours and 52 school leader participation hours. These figures will be updated as the work continues and additional data become available.
“What’s been most meaningful to see this year is how the work is showing up in classrooms,” said Tracy Fray-Oliver, Vice President, Bank Street Education Center. “We’re hearing from teachers who are noticing students explain their thinking more clearly, take risks with challenging problems, and stay engaged in mathematical conversations longer than before. Those moments are powerful indicators of the kind of learning NYC Solves is helping to support.”
As the school year continues, Bank Street remains committed to advancing mathematics instruction that is equitable, rigorous, and responsive to students. Through the alignment of strong instructional materials and meaningful, job-embedded professional learning, NYC Solves is helping schools strengthen daily mathematics instruction and ensure that students across New York City experience powerful opportunities to learn and do mathematics every day.