Shifts of the Wisconsin Standards

A critical component of moving toward more equitable outcomes in mathematics for all students is successful implementation of the standards resulting in students as flexible users of mathematics with strong math identities. The shifts serve as points of leverage that can advance student achievement through equitably designed coherent educational systems. Systems and structures must create an environment that facilitates equitable student outcomes that align with the expectations of both the content and practice standards as seen through the lenses of the shifts.

Centering students in the systems within learning and teaching requires attending to each shift both individually and collectively. Students will have gained a deep understanding of mathematics with which to see, interact, and appreciate the world around them. Students develop a deep understanding of the content by experiencing a balanced and connected approach among conceptual understanding, procedural flexibility and efficiency, and application to authentic contexts.

These five shifts serve to move the conversation from “teaching mathematics to students” to “teaching students mathematics” at state, regional, district, school, and classroom levels.

Click Wisconsin Standards for Mathematics: 5 Shifts for a one-pager that briefly describes the five shifts and how they provides lenses with which to understand the standards.

More information about the shifts can be found in Appendix 3 (p.211) of the 2021 Wisconsin Standards for Mathematics.

Math Identity Project 2026 

The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has partnered with Dr. Fawnda Norman from the University of WI - Oshkosh to create practical resources for the classroom that highlight what the Shift of Identity looks like as we center students and their learning in mathematics. Dr. Norman facilitated a four-part virtual learning series. The slides and resources from this series can be found in the Shifts of the WI Standards for Math WISELearn group.

Leveraging the Shift of Focus

This Wisconsin document was informed by the national focus documents from Student Achievement Partners and gives more attention to student agency, why focus is important, and sample systems descriptions with connections to focus.

This Leveraging Focus resource can be found in the Shifts of the WI Standards for Math WISELearn group.