C887 is the capstone of WGU's M.A. Mathematics Education (Middle Grades) program: you plan, teach and evaluate a multi-week mathematics unit for grades 5-9.
WGU describes it as a comprehensive, original, research-based curriculum unit designed to meet an identified educational need, providing direct evidence of your ability to design and implement a multi-week, standards-based unit, assess student learning and reflect on the learning process. It follows the seven Teacher Performance Assessment components.
Middle grades add their own challenges: a wide range of readiness in one room, the shift from arithmetic to algebraic thinking, and adolescents' changing motivation and social needs.
Course at a Glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| University | Western Governors University (WGU) |
| Course code | C887 |
| Level | Graduate capstone, competency-based |
| Program | M.A. Mathematics Education (Middle Grades, 5-9) |
| Main output | A taught, multi-week standards-based unit |
| Structure | Seven Teacher Performance Assessment components |
The Seven Components at a Glance
| Component | Middle grades focus |
|---|---|
| Contextual factors | Readiness range, developmental needs, supports |
| Learning goals | Standards-aligned, with reasoning goals |
| Assessment | Pre-, formative and post-assessment per goal |
| Design for instruction | Concrete to abstract sequences, collaboration |
| Instructional decision-making | Responding to formative evidence |
| Analysis of student learning | Class, subgroup and individual results |
| Self-evaluation and reflection | Evidence-based next steps |
Knowing Your Middle Grades Learners
Contextual factors carry extra weight in the middle grades. Young adolescents are developing abstract reasoning at different rates, care strongly about peers, and can disengage quickly if mathematics feels like repeated failure. Useful factors to describe include:
- The spread of prior achievement shown by your pre-assessment and school data.
- Students with IEPs, 504 plans or English learner support, and the accommodations they use.
- Classroom routines for group work and discussion.
- Access to devices, manipulatives and homework support.
Each factor should lead to a decision in your design, such as using visual models for students still building fraction sense, sentence frames for mathematical discussion, or short, frequent checks that let students see their own progress.
Designing a Middle Grades Unit
Proportional Reasoning as an Anchor
Ratios, rates and proportional relationships connect fractions to linear functions and sit at the center of middle grades mathematics. Many strong units for this band are built around them.
Example: A grade 7 unit on proportional relationships opens with a recipe-scaling task. Students use ratio tables, then double number lines, then graphs, and finally equations of the form y = kx. The post-assessment asks students to decide whether a new situation is proportional and justify the decision with two representations.
Concrete, Representational, Abstract
Moving from physical or visual models to drawings and then symbols supports students at different levels of readiness. Describe in your design how students move through these stages and how you will know they are ready for the next.
Differentiating Within One Unit
Middle grades classes often span several years of readiness. Tiered tasks, flexible grouping and open-ended problems with multiple entry points let everyone work on the same goal at the right level.
Example: For a task on unit rates, one group compares two prices with whole numbers, another with decimals, and an extension group writes a rule for any pair of offers. All groups share strategies in the same whole-class discussion.
Mathematical Discourse in the Middle Grades
Structured talk helps adolescents explain their thinking without fear of being wrong. Routines such as think-pair-share, number talks and "convince a skeptic" give everyone a way in. Planning these routines, and noting what students said, gives you concrete evidence for the decision-making and reflection components.
Working Through the Components
| Component | Common weakness | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Contextual factors | No implications | Link each factor to a design choice |
| Design for instruction | One path for all | Show differentiation and grouping |
| Analysis | Totals only | Report gains per goal and subgroup |
| Reflection | Not tied to data | Cite specific results for each claim |
Where Students Get Stuck
- Readiness gaps. A single pre-assessment score can hide which skills are missing; analyze by item.
- Engagement claims. "Students enjoyed it" is not evidence of learning; pair it with data.
- Alignment. Every goal needs matched pre- and post-assessment items.
- Scheduling. Middle school calendars fill with testing and events; plan the teaching window early.
Study Tips for C887
- Use an alignment grid linking standards, goals, lessons and items.
- Keep anonymized samples of student work at each stage.
- Note every in-the-moment adjustment with the evidence that prompted it.
- Write the reflection soon after teaching.
How We Help with C887
Send the task, rubric, unit plan and evaluator comments. A mathematics education writer reviews alignment, models components, helps you present data or edits for clarity. Our education capstone help guide covers wider support.
GradeEssays is independent of Western Governors University. We never invent student data or teaching experiences and never log in to student portals. You teach the unit and write your own submission under WGU's academic integrity rules. Every order is written from scratch, with free revisions within the scope of your original request.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The capstone Teacher Performance Assessment for WGU's M.A. Mathematics Education (Middle Grades): a multi-week unit you plan, teach, assess and reflect on.
C887 belongs to the middle grades (5-9) program; C874 is the equivalent for the secondary (5-12) program. The seven components are the same.
Ratios and proportional relationships, expressions and equations, and introductory statistics all offer clear goals and rich tasks.
Describe tiered tasks, grouping or supports in your design, and report how different groups performed in your analysis.
We can give feedback and show how to structure it, but your reflection must describe your own teaching and data.
No. We are independent and not connected with Western Governors University.