Mathematics Teacher

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Diagnose Each Student's Mathematical Ability

Within the first two weeks of each term, the teacher must establish the mathematical starting point of every assigned student.

Responsibilities include

• Administering a baseline assessment covering relevant prerequisite skills and current curriculum expectations.
• Identifying specific weaknesses, including gaps from previous classes.
• Distinguishing between students who lack conceptual understanding, students who make procedural errors and students who struggle to interpret questions.
• Identifying students who are already proficient and require more challenging work.
• Creating an individual mathematics progress record for each student.
• Grouping students temporarily according to the skills they need to develop, rather than relying exclusively on their class or general academic reputation.

Required output: A baseline assessment report showing each student's strengths, weaknesses, current level and priority learning targets.

Expected standard: Every assigned student has a documented starting point and an actionable plan for improvement.

Deliver Mastery-Based Mathematics Instruction

• The teacher must organise learning around specific, measurable competencies.
• For every topic, the teacher must define what students should be able to do independently by the end of the learning sequence.

Implement Focused Learning Sessions

• BTIS intends to draw on the focused, data-driven learning principles associated with the 2 Hour Learning model.
• The Mathematics Teacher must be capable of organising learning into purposeful, distraction-free sessions that maximise the amount students understand and retain.

A typical 30-minute focused mathematics session may follow this structure:

TimeActivityExpected outcome0 - 3 minutesRetrieval practiceStudents recall relevant prerequisite knowledge.3 - 8 minutesExplicit instruction or targeted explanationStudents understand the new concept or correct a misconception.8 - 18 minutesGuided and independent practiceStudents develop accuracy and fluency.18 - 25 minutesIndependent mastery challengeStudents demonstrate their understanding without excessive assistance.25 - 30 minutesQuick assessment and feedbackThe teacher identifies mastery, errors and next steps.

Personalise Instruction According to Student Needs

• Students in the same class may have different mathematical strengths and weaknesses.
• The teacher must be able to respond to those differences.

Responsibilities include

• Preparing differentiated tasks for students who need additional support, students working at the expected level and students ready for greater challenge.
• Providing targeted remediation for foundational gaps.
• Using flexible learning groups that change as students improve.
• Monitoring individual progress instead of relying only on class averages.
• Providing extension tasks for advanced students.
• Avoiding public comparisons that embarrass students who are struggling.
• Maintaining high expectations for every student, regardless of their starting point.

For example, in a class studying algebra, one student may need help with multiplication and negative numbers, another may be learning to solve equations, while an advanced student may be ready for multi-step problems.

The teacher must have a practical plan for addressing these different needs.

Required output: Differentiated practice materials and evidence that identified students receive appropriate instruction.

Develop Mathematical Reasoning and Problem-Solving

• BTIS does not want students who can solve only questions that closely resemble examples they have memorised.
• The teacher must develop students' ability to reason, investigate, explain and apply mathematics.

Students should regularly be required to

• Explain how they arrived at an answer.
• Identify and correct errors in worked solutions.
• Compare different methods of solving the same problem.
• Interpret mathematical information presented in words, tables, graphs and diagrams.
• Solve unfamiliar problems.
• Justify why a method works.
• Estimate answers and determine whether results are reasonable.
• Apply mathematical concepts to practical situations.

Where appropriate, lessons should incorporate problems involving budgeting, business profits, discounts, interest, measurements, construction, agriculture, data analysis, probability and technology.

For example, students could calculate the cost, expected revenue and profit of a small school-based enterprise, then explain the assumptions behind their calculations.

Expected standard: Students can explain their reasoning and apply their knowledge to problems beyond routine textbook exercises.

Deliver the Nigerian Curriculum and Examination Preparation

• The teacher must deliver the approved Nigerian curriculum for the classes assigned.

Responsibilities include

• Working with the applicable NERDC curriculum and approved school schemes of work.
• Ensuring coverage of required topics and learning objectives.
• Preparing students for relevant examinations, including BECE, WAEC, NECO and UTME/JAMB, according to their class and examination pathway.
• Using past questions to diagnose weaknesses and improve examination technique.
• Teaching students how to interpret examination questions, manage time and avoid common mathematical errors.
• Monitoring performance against examination requirements.
• Ensuring that examination preparation does not replace conceptual understanding.
• Providing targeted revision based on assessment evidence.

Where Cambridge or IGCSE mathematics is offered, the teacher must understand the relevant syllabus and assessment requirements.

Expected standard: Students develop both sound mathematical understanding and the ability to demonstrate that understanding under examination conditions.

Use Technology and AI to Improve Learning

• The Mathematics Teacher must be willing and able to use technology as a practical instructional tool.

Responsibilities include

• Using approved digital resources to provide additional explanations, exercises and feedback.
• Exploring suitable adaptive learning or mathematics practice platforms.
• Using spreadsheets or digital assessment tools to track student performance.
• Using AI tools, where approved, to generate differentiated practice questions, alternative explanations and diagnostic exercises.
• Checking AI-generated content for mathematical accuracy and suitability before using it.
• Teaching students to use digital tools responsibly without allowing technology to replace independent thinking.
• Identifying students who may benefit from digital practice and those who require direct teacher intervention.

The teacher must not assume that buying technology automatically improves learning. Its value must be demonstrated through better understanding, more effective feedback or measurable student progress.

Required output: Evidence of appropriate technology use and its contribution to learning.

Build Students' Confidence and Independence

• Mathematics anxiety, fear of failure and the belief that some students are naturally incapable of mathematics can obstruct learning.
• The teacher must create an environment in which students can ask questions, make mistakes, receive feedback and improve without embarrassment.

The teacher must

• Encourage students to attempt challenging questions.
• Teach students how to approach problems they cannot solve immediately.
• Help students recognise the relationship between practice, feedback and improvement.
• Teach students to identify their own errors.
• Encourage students to request help when necessary.
• Gradually reduce assistance as students become more competent.
• Celebrate demonstrable progress without lowering academic expectations.

Expected standard: Students increasingly take responsibility for their learning and become more willing to tackle difficult mathematical problems independently.

Track, Analyse and Report Student Progress

The teacher must maintain reliable evidence of learning.

Responsibilities include

• Recording assessment results promptly.
• Maintaining a topic-by-topic mastery tracker.
• Identifying students whose performance is improving, declining or remaining stagnant.
• Analysing common errors across classes.
• Identifying the likely causes of poor performance.
• Preparing intervention plans with specific actions and review dates.
• Providing the Vice Principal (Academics) with regular progress reports.
• Communicating significant learning concerns to the appropriate school personnel.
• Providing evidence of improvement following intervention.
• A report stating that a student is weak in mathematics is insufficient.
• A useful report identifies the specific weakness, the evidence supporting that conclusion, the action taken and the result.

Required output: Accurate assessment records, intervention plans, mastery trackers and termly progress reports.

Contribute to BTIS's Wider Educational Mission

• The Mathematics Teacher is expected to contribute to the development of students beyond routine classroom instruction.
• Where assigned, the teacher should support projects and activities that connect mathematical thinking to the wider world.

These may include

• Mathematics competitions and problem-solving challenges.
• Chess-related mathematical reasoning.
• Robotics and technology projects.
• Financial literacy and entrepreneurship.
• Statistical investigations using real data.
• Practical measurement and design projects.
• Student-led investigations and presentations.