Last year, Uncommon Schools launched Illustrative Mathematics (IM) across all 5th- and 6th-grade classrooms. One year in, we’ve seen stronger student discourse and deeper conceptual thinking — along with real challenges around clarity, pacing, and practice. In this post, we share what we learned from year one and the key updates we’re making for 2025–26, including a clearer daily lesson structure, more intentional direct instruction, and a strengthened Intervention Block. Our goal is to blend IM’s rich problem-based approach with the explicit teaching and practice students need to build true mastery.