
Ron Larson, Ph.D.
Ron Larson, Ph.D., is well known as lead author of a comprehensive and widely used mathematics program that ranges from elementary school through college. He holds the distinction of Professor Emeritus from Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, where he taught for nearly 40 years. He received his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Colorado. Dr. Larson engages in the latest research and advancements in mathematics education and consistently incorporates key pedagogical elements to ensure focus, coherence, rigor, and student self-reflection.

Laurie Boswell, Ed.D.
Laurie Boswell, Ed.D., is the former Head of School at Riverside School in Lyndonville, Vermont. In addition to authoring textbooks, she provides mathematics consulting and embedded coaching sessions. Dr. Boswell received her Ed.D. from the University of Vermont in 2010. She is a recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching and later served as president of CPAM. Laurie has taught math to students at all levels, elementary through college. In addition, Laurie has served on the NCTM Board of Directors and as a Regional Director for NCSM. Along with Ron, Laurie has co-authored numerous math programs and has become a popular national speaker.
"Differentiation is huge because in my class I have one kid who is here, and I have one who is at like a 3rd grade level. So having that differentiation option and the resources that are attached online or in the book is huge."
Differentiation
K-5 MRL
"I always look at her notes before we start any lesson, because, that's what they're there for. She's the expert on it, and sometimes she'll think of something I didn't, and so let me try it to see how it works."
Laurie's Notes
K-5 MRL
"Since we started using it we have noticed our math scores have really gone up. So it seems it's really working. Obviously you have to be able to teach it, so it's not just the program, but giving us the right tools to use has definitely helped opposed to what we were using before."
Student Success
K-5 MRL
"Not going to lie, Math has not always been my favorite, but since we started using Big Ideas Math I'm looking forward more every day to teaching math because I know I have a good resource that's going to get my kids excited."
Teacher Empowerment
K-5 MRL
"I absolutely love the Dig In portion because it's always like a fun activity that gets the kids interested in what we're going to do. As a teacher it's nice that that is there to get them involved and excited no matter what type of learner you have, so we really like to dig in."
Dig-In
K-5 MRL
"It's not scripted in a way that says 'this is what you have to say' or it's not going to work. It's really nice to have that flexibility because for one kid it might work this way but for another kid that way or language isn't going to work. I love how there are multiple different strategies but by the end the kid can pick which works best for them."
Instructional Design
K-5 MRL
"And with all of the different levels of practice that it lets them do starting with Laurie's Notes and that dig in, then follows that 'I do, you do, we do model,' their confidence has grown because they know we're going to start our whole group, if I can do that then they ask "can I do it myself?" So by the time we're done they literally want to go 'look what I can do, I can't wait to go home and show somebody what I can do!'"
Student Confidence
Dewey L. Carter Elementary School
"It gives each lesson or chapter a structure. So for first grade, structure is really important, they thrive on consistency. Laurie puts it in a certain order because she knows it works. So that consistency throughout the lesson has helped a lot with students staying engaged because they know what's coming next."
Rigor
K-5 MRL
"They love how they are kind of woven throughout the chapters. They go and look for them, they go "what are Newt and Desi going to tell us this time?" They absolutely love it, so we've seen a lot of improvements in their interest in math, because they really like the characters. They like that it doesn't use names in the problems, it says you or your friend, or your teacher, so it helps them see themselves more in the problem as opposed to when it uses a name that they're not familiar with. Because then it helps that they can read it more, because in first grade they can't read names really well but they can read 'you' and 'the teacher.' So our students have absolutely loved it."
Instructional Design
K-5 MRL
"Last year was such a good experience, I've been teaching, this is my 26th year. And I can honestly say it's more closely aligned than any textbook I've ever used in my 26 years of teaching, as far as standards are concerned."
Standards
K-5 MRL