A Lake Oswego educator has received national recognition for making a significant impact in the classroom through innovation and student achievement in math.

Kari Seashore is one of 29 educators across the country who make up Curriculum Associates’ 2025 class of Extraordinary Educators. Curriculum Associates is an educational publishing and technology company based in Massachusetts.

Selected from hundreds of nominees, these teachers are meant to represent the best of what’s happening in local schools, all at a time when reading and math achievement remains a top priority.

Seashore has been an educator for 18 years. She worked in East Portland’s David Douglas School District before going to Lake Oswego, a district just south of Portland that enrolls about 6,870 students.

Seashore used to teach second and third grade, but when she joined the staff in Lake Oswego, she started as a student support specialist and worked for years as an instructional coach. Over the last two years, she’s worked at the central office level as the math development specialist teacher on special assignment.

In this role, she’s worked with every principal and every teacher in the district’s seven elementary schools. Among other things, she’s provided professional development, conducted classroom visits and modeled and co-taught lessons.

Curriculum Associates is highlighting Seashore’s work revamping Lake Oswego’s elementary math curriculum.

The district adopted a new curriculum that Seashore described as a “pendulum swing” from the traditional style of math instruction. She said their new approach is all about ensuring every student and teacher has an entry point into math, and that the students understand the logic behind the equations.

This is significant for Seashore as someone who, even as an elementary school teacher, didn’t originally consider herself “a math person.”

“I know, when I was raised, it was like, I didn’t feel like a great mathematician because I didn’t know how to do the algorithm,” she said. “And that’s not what it’s about … it’s about the journey.”

Lake Oswego’s passing rates on standardized math tests are more than double the statewide average. Seashore said they’ve already seen improvements since starting this new curriculum. The students are more confident, and they have a better understanding of the foundational skills that will enable them to progress in math throughout their schooling.

“We’ve really tried to build this culture around their mindset of like, ‘Yes, we can do math, and there are multiple ways to do it,’ ” she said. “We celebrate the way that they get there, not the answer.”

Seashore’s national recognition comes with a handful of opportunities for her, such as a chance to work closely with the curriculum company, give them feedback, write blogs for their website and speak at conferences.

“Teachers work so hard, and I think we’re kind of unseen heroes,” she said. “So much of our work is based off of our passion for what we do for teachers and kids, but [it isn’t always] noticed.”

Still, it wasn’t the award she was after.

“When I came to Lake Oswego six years ago, even before we had a new math curriculum, we had the building focus of, ‘How could we make math more equitable within our classrooms?’ and ‘How can we create a better math experience?’ ”

Seashore says she’s always been most focused on helping kids and teachers.

“I think it’s just kind of like a cherry on top of like, ‘Oh, the work that I really care about and the work that is changing experiences for children matters.’ ”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/07/06/math-accessible-national-honor-lake-oswego-educator-kari-seashore/