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“To be successful with algebra, students must be able to shift their focus from the numbers themselves to reasoning about the operations on those numbers… students need targeted supports if they are to successfully cross the bridge from arithmetic to algebra.” — June Mark, E. Paul Goldenberg, Mary Fries, Jane M. Kang, and Tracy Cordner, authors of the Transition to Algebra series

How Transition to Algebra cultivates meaningful mathematical talk

Support your struggling algebra students with EDC's research-based Transition to Algebra

Many students struggle with algebra. Many students need to retake Algebra 1 multiple times just to pass. Even if they pass, many students are unable to think algebraically, lack mathematical strategies, and lack confidence as mathematicians.

Think about your algebra students. How many are highly successful? How many...
  • struggle to pass and will require intervention and remediation?
  • pass but won't move on to more advanced math?
  • pass but will continue to struggle with advanced math?

Developed by Education Development Center (EDC), Transition to Algebra is a classroom resource that approaches algebra instruction differently. Instead of reteaching the same algebra curriculum in the same way to struggling students, Transition to Algebra uses logic puzzles, problems, and explorations to help teachers uniquely build students' mathematical ways of thinking. It invites students to experience the coherence and meaning of mathematics-perhaps for the first time.

Transition to Algebra Units

  • Unit 1: Language of Algebra
  • Unit 2: Geography of the Number Line
  • Unit 3: Micro-Geography of the Number Line
  • Unit 4: Area and Multiplication
  • Unit 5: Logic of Algebra
  • Unit 6: Geography of the Coordinate Plane
  • Unit 7: Thinking Things Through Thoroughly
  • Unit 8: Logic of Fractions
  • Unit 9: Points, Slopes, and Lines
  • Unit 10: Area Model Factoring
  • Unit 11: Exponents
  • Unit 12: Algebraic Habits of Mind