District educator establishing math curriculum for
Macedonia
As a long-time teacher and current math consultant, Judy Rohde has impacted the education of
thousands of students in District 622. Now an entire country of students will be able to say the
same.
Rohde is in the process of establishing a national math curriculum for the country of
Macedonia and she is also part of a team that is training the country’s teachers to implement the
new program.
A past winner of the Presidential Award in Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching,
Rohde was contacted last spring by Shirley Miske from International Development Education
to work on the Macedonia project. Miske, who has coordinated a number of programs for
UNICEF in the past, was contacted by the organization to lead up a major re-design of the
literacy and math curriculum for Macedonia, a small country in the central Balkan Peninsula in
southeastern Europe.
The major goal of the project is to lead systematic change to improve math instruction for
students in grades fi rst through third. The mentor training is supported by UNICEF, the
Ministry of Education and Science and Bureau for the Development of Education.
To accomplish that goal Rohde is bringing “Thinking Mathematics” to Macedonia, which is
the same program that is used in District 622. The decision to implement Thinking
Mathematics was made following a detailed analysis of grade 1-3 curricular to identify why
students have underperformed on international tests.
Thinking Mathematics is a professional development program to improve mathematics
instruction. The idea is to move away from just getting students to memorize basic knowledge
The major goal of the project is to lead systematic change to improve math instruction for
students in grades fi rst through third. The mentor training is supported by UNICEF, the
Ministry of Education and Science and Bureau for the Development of Education.
To accomplish that goal Rohde is bringing “Thinking Mathematics” to Macedonia, which is
the same program that is used in District 622. The decision to implement Thinking
Mathematics was made following a detailed analysis of grade 1-3 curricular to identify why
students have underperformed on international tests.
Thinking Mathematics is a professional development program to improve mathematics
instruction. The idea is to move away from just getting students to memorize basic knowledge
and instead teach them how to be better critical thinkers.
To do that Rohde is leading a staff development team comprised of two additional educators,
Mary Ellen KnappMiller and Marium Touré. The group of three made a trip to Macedonia in
March to begin their fi rst round of teacher training. They then returned in May and June and
to continue their work.
Using a “train the trainer” model, Rohde and her team are teaching a small group of about 70
educators from all over Macedonia how to train their peers to use the Thinking Mathematics
curriculum. Those teachers will then be responsible for training the 5,000 other educators in
Macedonia. Rohde said they are very fortunate that the American Federation of Teachers
(AFT) is allowing Macedonia and UNICEF to use the Thinking Mathematics program and
materials free of charge.
“The teachers in Macedonia are very committed and many of their instructional practices are
very good,” Rohde said. “We are building on that.” The teachers in Macedonia will begin
implementing the new program during the 2009-2010 school year.
“We are very fortunate to have a resource like Judy Rohde working to support mathematics for
District 622 students and staff,” said Curriculum and Staff Development Coordinator Sharon
Burrell. “We hope Judy will continue to impact mathematics instruction in District 622 for
many years to come.”
Pictures are of Judy Rohde working with teachers in Macedonia to implement the
Thinking Mathematics program.