Core Connections 3rd Edition: Updates & Upgrades to a Great Middle School Math Program

Core Connections has helped classrooms around the country bring More Math for More People for over a decade. Why make updates to this middle school series? Taking what we learned from the launch of CPM’s entirely new middle school program, Inspiring Connections, we realized it was time to revisit CPM’s other student-centered program.

Since the initial release of Core Connections 2nd Edition in 2012, there have been several advancements in mathematics education and in what is known about learning in general. Carol Dweck’s book Mindset was not as well-known as it, along with the idea of a “growth mindset,” is today. And Building Thinking Classrooms was still years away. 

It was time to take a well-loved, time-tested program and make it even better. Here are some of the updates and upgrades in Core Connections 3rd Edition.

New look. New format.

CPM has always been concerned about classroom materials being supportive and not distracting. A simple, clean look helps students stay focused. 

Core Connections 3rd Edition. © CPM Educational Program 2025. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Every lesson now includes a Lesson Focus box. This box highlights the Standards for Mathematical Practices and Major Conceptual Ideas within the lesson, and it provides a Language Objective to support all students in accessing the academic language of the math classroom.

Launch, Explore, Closure.

Every lesson begins with a dedicated Launch, moves into the Explore, and ends with the Closure. The Launch is a quick activity to spark students’ thinking and prime their brains for learning. Launches include Math Chats, Which One is Unique?, Data Chats, and others. The Explore section is filled with the team-worthy tasks you love from CPM. The names of team roles have been updated, as have some of the Study Team and Teaching Strategies. New routines, like math language routines and teaching routines, have been added, and some lessons now have students working with their teams at Vertical, Non-Permanent Surfaces (VNPSs). Closures include Reflection Journal prompts and Goal Journal prompts. Students also write about how they are learning and the role mistakes play in their learning, and they contemplate what a growth mindset means to them. 

Print textbook. Optional consumable.

The student text is a hardbound book, but there is an optional consumable piece for the student called the Toolkit. The Toolkit contains the Methods & Meanings boxes with math notes, the Review & Preview problems with space to work, and the glossary. It does not contain the core problems written to be done with teams during class time.

Powerful Professional Learning.

CPM’s Core Connections 3rd Edition middle school series still comes with CPM’s powerful professional learning. Teachers are supported from the beginning, learning about the best practices to support student learning. 

If you are eager to take a look, contact the CPM team today!