69传媒鈥� math scores have plummeted, national assessments show, and educators are working hard to turn math outcomes around.
But it鈥檚 a challenge, made harder by factors like math anxiety, students鈥� feelings of deep ambivalence about how math is taught, and learning gaps that were exacerbated by the pandemic鈥檚 disruption of schools.
This week, three educators offered solutions on how districts can turn around poor math scores in a conversation moderated by Peter DeWitt, an opinion blogger for Education Week.
Here are three takeaways from the discussion. For more, watch the recording on demand.
1. Intervention is key
Research shows that early math skills are a key predictor of later academic success.
鈥淐hildren who know more do better, and math is cumulative鈥攕o if you don鈥檛 grasp some of the earlier concepts, math gets increasingly harder,鈥� said Nancy Jordan, a professor of education at the University of Delaware.
For example, many students struggle with the concept of fractions, she said. Her research has found that by 6th grade, some students still don鈥檛 really understand what a fraction is, which makes it harder for them to master more advanced concepts, like adding or subtracting fractions with unlike denominators.
At that point, though, teachers don鈥檛 always have the time in class to re-teach those basic or fundamental concepts, she said, which is why targeted intervention is so important.
Still, Jordan鈥檚 research revealed that in some middle schools, intervention time is not a priority: 鈥淚f there鈥檚 an assembly, or if there is a special event or whatever, it takes place during intervention time,鈥� she said. 鈥淥r ... the children might sit on computers, and they鈥檙e not getting any really explicit instruction.鈥�
2. 鈥楪amify鈥� math class
69传媒 today need new modes of instruction that meet them where they are, said Gerilyn Williams, a math teacher at Pinelands Regional Junior High School in Little Egg Harbor Township, N.J.
鈥淢ost of them learn through things like TikTok or YouTube videos,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey like to play games, they like to interact. So how can I bring those same attributes into my lesson?鈥�
Part of her solution is gamifying instruction. Williams avoids worksheets. Instead, she provides opportunities for students to practice skills that incorporate elements of game design.
That includes digital tools, which provide students with the instant feedback they crave, she said.
But not all the games are digital. Williams鈥� students sometimes play 鈥渢rashketball,鈥� a game in which they work in teams to answer math questions. If they get the question right, they can crumble the piece of paper and throw it into a trash can from across the room.
鈥淭he kids love this,鈥� she said.
Williams also incorporates game-based vocabulary into her instruction, drawing on terms from video games.
For example, 鈥渋nstead of calling them quizzes and tests, I call them boss battles,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 less frightening. It reduces that math anxiety, and it makes them more engaging.
鈥淲e normalize things like failure, because when they play video games, think about what they鈥檙e doing,鈥� Williams continued. 鈥淭hey fail鈥攖hey try again and again and again and again until they achieve success.鈥�
3. Strengthen teacher expertise
To turn around math outcomes, districts need to invest in teacher professional development and curriculum support, said Chaunt茅 Garrett, the CEO of ELLE Education, which partners with schools and districts to support student learning.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to be able to replace the value of a well-supported and well-equipped mathematics teacher,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e also want to make sure that that teacher has a math curriculum that鈥檚 grounded in the standards and conceptually based.鈥�
69传媒 will develop more critical thinking skills and better understand math concepts if teachers are able to relate instruction to real life, Garrett said鈥攕o that 鈥渒ids have relationships that they can pull on, and math has some type of meaning and context to them outside of just numbers and procedures.鈥�
It鈥檚 important for math curriculum to be both culturally responsive and relevant, she added. And teachers might need training on how to offer opportunities for students to analyze and solve real-world problems.
鈥淪o often, [in math problems], we want to go back to soccer and basketball and all of those things that we lived through, and it鈥檚 not that [current students] don鈥檛 enjoy those, but our students live social media鈥攖hey literally live it,鈥� Garrett said. 鈥淭hose are the things that have to live out in classrooms right now, and if we鈥檙e not doing those things, we are doing a disservice.鈥�
