We align to the math , not the manual.
Standards are shared expectations. Curricula are different paths to them. Whatever path your district chooses, or changes to, the foundations of high-quality math instruction don't move. Neither does Derivita.
First, a precise definition.
The word alignment gets tossed around in supplemental math. We mean two specific things by it — and we do both.
Alignment to standards.
What students must know and be able to do at each grade level. Common Core, state standards, NCTM principles, NCSM frameworks. The shared expectations of the field — regardless of which curriculum your district chose to reach them.
Alignment to curricula.
The sequence and approach of a specific HQIM — Illustrative Mathematics, Eureka Math, CPM, Big Ideas, Open Up Resources, or a scope and sequence your district built. The path a teacher walks through the year.
Derivita does both. We start from the standards — because the math underneath is what every curriculum is reaching for.
A standard is a floor.
Not a ceiling.
The word borrowed itself from track and field. In high jump, the standards are the two posts that hold up the bar. They define a height every athlete is expected to clear.
Educational standards work the same way. They name what every student should be able to do at the end of a year. A floor everyone reaches, not a ceiling that sorts students into who got over and who didn't.
That changes the design question. We're not building a system to sort students. We're building one to help every student clear the bar, and then reach further.
Curricula are paths.
The destination is shared.
Illustrative Mathematics builds conceptual understanding through inquiry. Eureka Math develops procedural fluency through a structured sequence. CPM emphasizes collaborative problem-solving. Big Ideas connects visual and algebraic reasoning. Open Up Resources builds coherence across grades through spiral review.
Different paths. Different pedagogical emphasis. Different lesson structures. But the same destination: students who can reason mathematically, communicate their thinking, and apply what they know to problems they haven't seen before.
Derivita supplements the path without redirecting it. We extend practice, deepen feedback, and surface data — without asking teachers to leave their curriculum behind.
The same philosophy that built Canvas.
Devlin Daley co-founded Canvas/Instructure on a simple premise: technology works best when it embeds into daily workflows rather than creating new ones. Canvas became the dominant K-12 LMS because it met teachers where they already were.
After building Canvas, Devlin heard the same thing from educators everywhere: the LMS was working, but math specifically still needed better support. The question wasn't whether to build another platform, it was how to scale what great math teachers already do, inside the system they already used.
Derivita is built on that same philosophy, not a replacement for good teaching, but a force multiplier for it. And the research backs it up.
"The quiz engine in Canvas was not designed to do math. I thought someone else would come in and plug into Canvas. They didn't — so we built it ourselves."
Regardless of which curriculum you've chosen.
These capabilities come with Derivita — independent of whether your district is on IM, Eureka, CPM, or anything else.
Open-ended questions auto-graded by a proprietary Computer Algebra System that understands mathematically equivalent answers — not just matching strings.
Error-specific feedback on every student response, dynamic worked solutions, and a productive struggle loop that mirrors what a great tutor does — at scale.
Lives inside Canvas, Schoology, or your LMS of choice. 85%+ license utilization because teachers don't have to leave their existing workflow to use it.
Automated aggregation across teachers, schools, and curricula. PLC teams work from shared data instead of comparing gut feelings across different classrooms.
Whole-class discourse tool that works with any curriculum's lesson structure. Supports Building Thinking Classrooms, Five Practices, and teacher-led models alike.
District-level readiness and impact scores that roll up from classroom to school to district — regardless of which curriculum each building uses.
Why curriculum and model questions don't matter the way they do with other tools.
If you're evaluating Derivita, here's why curriculum and model questions don't limit you the way they do with other platforms.
Switching curricula next year? We come with you.
The questions, the data, the teacher workflows — all curriculum-independent. A district adoption decision doesn't restart the clock on Derivita.
Some schools on IM, others on Eureka? One platform serves both.
Different buildings can run different curricula. One set of evidence rolls up to the district. PLCs share data across the boundary.
Veterans + first-year teachers, both supported.
Veterans get out of the platform's way. New and out-of-field teachers lean on the worked solutions for the why. The platform amplifies both without flattening the difference.
Same content. Different teacher decisions.
The platform doesn't sort. Teachers diagnose what each student needs — intervention, extension, reteach, peer support. Derivita delivers; the teacher chooses.
We amplify teachers. We don't replace them.
Most adaptive platforms have a model. They sort students into individualized streams, route the struggling ones to remediation, and quietly hold them there. The model decides. The platform decides.
We made a different choice. Teachers do the diagnosis — they always have. Derivita reports the evidence; the teacher decides what to do with it.
That's the only design that respects what good teachers actually do: stay flexible, fill gaps without sending students backward, keep grade-level work in front of them, and use group dynamics rather than isolating struggle.
"A good teacher is flexible — they can diagnose. Curricula are linear. The platform's success comes from supporting that flexibility, and the need for both procedural fluency and conceptual understanding."
The evidence behind the approach.
The theoretical foundation behind Derivita's design, with an interactive district impact calculator.
Read more →Third-party research across 17 classrooms with different teachers, different approaches, and one result.
Read more →The full evidence index for district leaders making adoption decisions.
Read more →∴ Better outcomes,
regardless of the path.
Bring Derivita to your district committee. We'll bring the evidence — and we'll meet whatever curriculum you've already chosen.