COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo./PRNewswire-PRWeb/ —TouchMath, a multisensory math program that makes learning crucial mathematical concepts accessible and clear for students who struggle to understand grade-level content, had three executives and three solutions recognized at the 2023 Excellence in Equity Awards, including a category win in Special Contribution to Equity. TouchMath was a finalist in the following categories: Company of the Year, Leader of the Year (Sean Lockwood, CEO), Best Special Education Solution (TouchMath Standards Edition), Product Enhancement of the Year (TouchMath PRO 2.0), and Author, Speaker, or Consultant (Dr. Sandra Elliott).
Created by The American Consortium for Equity in Education, the Excellence in Equity Awards program recognizes the companies, nonprofits, leaders, and educators whose work contributes to the critical goal of ensuring access and equity for every learner. The award program received more than 120 nominations across its 25 different categories, each demonstrating innovative, diligent work being done nationwide to improve learner outcomes.
“We’re honored to have so many TouchMath team members and solutions recognized at this year’s Excellence in Equity Awards,” said Sean Lockwood, Chief Executive Officer at TouchMath. “This recognition is not only a testament and validation to the work my colleagues do every day, but it also serves as a reminder to prioritize equitable instruction in everything we do. Congratulations to the TouchMath team members who were selected as finalists and Scott for winning Special Contribution to Equity.”
Named Special Contribution to Equity, TouchMath Manager of Products and Design, Scott Andrews has been a champion of equity in education for over a decade. His firm belief in universal access to quality math education has led to the expansion of TouchMath materials to Spanish, aiding linguistically diverse learners. Through these initiatives, Scott’s leadership has empowered educators and students alike, removing barriers and striving for educational equality.
“I’m deeply grateful to be named a category winner for an aspect of education I’m passionate about. For me, TouchMath’s enduring commitment to inclusive education continues to be a driving factor for my work,” said Andrews. “Our upcoming initiatives are designed to fortify equity in learning by broadening our library of resources in support of our diverse student and educator communities.”
Click here to see the full list of winners in the Excellence in Equity Awards. To learn more about TouchMath, please visit https://www.touchmath.com.
About TouchMath
TouchMath provides a wide range of curriculum and tools for educators and their students who struggle to understand grade-level content. TouchMath is committed to maximizing student potential through its worldwide delivery of hands-on math programs, cultivating success with individuals of all abilities and learning styles. To learn more, visit https://www.touchmath.com.
SOURCE TouchMath
eSchool Media staff cover education technology in all its aspects–from legislation and litigation, to best practices, to lessons learned and new products. First published in March of 1998 as a monthly print and digital newspaper, eSchool Media provides the news and information necessary to help K-20 decision-makers successfully use technology and innovation to transform schools and colleges and achieve their educational goals.
We’ve all been there: You’re delivering a lecture full of insight, but students haven’t even picked up a pencil. Yes, today’s students expect printouts, class web pages, and graphic organizers, but good old-fashioned note-taking is still a skill they should master. Here’s why, along with some note-taking strategies they should try.
Why is it important for students to have good note-taking skills?
When it comes to learning and remembering information, study after study has shown the importance of actively taking notes rather than passively reading a handout later on. The act of writing engages different parts of the brain, forging new pathways that help students retain information in long-term memory.
What’s more, the studies show that the more detailed the notes, the better. And using different note-taking strategies helps too. In some cases, a general outline can be effective. But when you want students to analyze the content, encouraging charting or mapping can be more helpful.
One more good reason to learn to take notes? It’s a skill we use throughout our entire lives. Most jobs require you to be able to take notes during meetings or other activities so you can refer back to them later on. Adults use note-taking strategies on a regular basis, so teaching kids the skill early on will help them succeed later in life.
Digital vs. Handwritten Notes
There’s a lot of discussion these days about whether handwriting notes is better than typing them on a computer. Some worry that the digital devices themselves serve as too much of a distraction. When kids aren’t taking notes, they might be browsing the web, playing games, or sending each other messages instead of participating in the lesson. Others wonder if typing is less effective than handwriting when it comes to retaining information.
The research is still out on whether handwritten notes are better than digital. Some studies say that handwriting is better for learning, while others note that many people type faster than they write, enabling them to take more complete notes that way. And those who have dysgraphia or other learning disabilities should be able to take notes in the way that suits them best. Read more arguments from both sides here.
Graphic Organizers
Many teachers use what’s called “structured note-taking” in their classrooms. They provide easy-to-read graphic organizers that only require students to write in specific information. Learn more about graphic organizers here.
This is an excellent beginning strategy that enables students to grasp difficult concepts and focus on content and connections. But students should also learn to take notes from scratch. After all, in real life, the most they’re likely to get is a printed agenda for a meeting. They’ll need to know how to capture the important points themselves.
General Tips for Taking Good Notes
Ultimately, what’s most important is that students learn to take notes, period. Whatever method or strategies they choose, the key is having information in their own words they can return to later when they need to review and study. Here are some general tips to share with your students.
Focus on recording the main points of the lesson. Listen for key words and phrases, but don’t try to frantically write everything you hear.
Try to summarize the information in your own words rather than writing down the teacher’s words verbatim. Write your notes in a way that will make sense to you later on.
Jot down words you’re unfamiliar with or confused about and look them up later. Consider circling these words so they’re easy to spot when you’re reviewing your notes later.
Add color, either while you’re taking notes or later on, with a highlighter. Color helps show relationships between concepts, and it engages the brain better too.
Don’t be afraid to ask your teacher to repeat something if you feel like you missed it. If you feel like you can’t interrupt, put a star by that section to remind you to ask about it after class.
If your handwriting is hard to read, or you think you can organize the information in a better way, go ahead and re-copy your notes after class. It’s a good way to reinforce the information too.
Using standard note-taking symbols and abbreviations can be really helpful. There’s no need to memorize all of them at once; choose a few that seem the most useful and give them a try. You can add more as you get better at taking notes. Refer to the chart above for a good list.
Helpful Note-Taking Strategies
The most important thing about learning how to take notes is finding a strategy that works. Each student will have a different favorite strategy, so it’s helpful to expose students to different strategies. These are note-taking strategies that can be used across grade levels and subjects.
For students who have trouble keeping things organized (including their thoughts), the boxing strategy can be very helpful. Each box contains a complete concept, idea, or category. Adding extra colors with pens or highlighters makes things even better. Boxing is a fairly new note-taking strategy, one that’s gained popularity among college students who take notes on digital devices. But it also works well with handwritten notes.
How it works: Start a box on the page, but don’t draw the fourth line on the bottom. Take your notes inside that box, keeping everything relating to one idea or concept together. When you’re finished with that section, draw the final line to close the box, and begin a new one. (If you’re using a tablet or laptop instead, you can draw a text box instead. It will automatically resize as you work.)
When students need to organize, compare and contrast, or categorize, the charting method comes in handy. It’s simple and easy and works well digitally or when taking notes by hand.
How it works: Draw lines to divide the page into columns and rows. Write headers on the columns (and rows, if necessary). As you take notes, put the information into the appropriate place on the chart. It’s that simple.
The Cornell method is more than just a note-taking strategy. It offers tips on how to use notes after class for studying too. Cornell University professor Walter Pauk created this method in the 1950s. Others quickly adopted it, since it’s easy to learn and has been proven to help students learn.
How it works: Divide a page into two columns. The wider column on the right is the Notes column. Here, take concise notes during class, capturing keywords and other important information. Leave space across the bottom of the page or section for the summary, which you’ll complete after class. This is the space for a brief overview of what was covered.
The left-hand column is known as the Cue column. Use it after class to write review questions that relate to the information in your notes. Then, cover up the Notes section and try to answer the questions in the Cue column. Take some time to reflect on the information, making connections and evaluating what you’ve learned. At the end of each week, review all of the notes you’ve taken to reinforce the learning.
The mapping method is terrific for visual learners, as it helps show the connections between main points and supporting details. It’s also helpful for analyzing and evaluating content, rather than just writing it down. Fun fact: Leonardo da Vinci used this method!
How it works: Start by writing a main topic in the middle of the page. If you like, you can use the same color for all your main topics, then switch to different colors as you add and connect subtopics. Continue to add supporting details where they fit, drawing lines and arrows to note connections. Switch to a new page to begin a new main topic.
This is one of the oldest methods of note-taking, and one most kids learn somewhere along the way. You can teach them to use the standard Roman numeral and lettering/numbering system. Or just use bullet points and dashes to simplify things. This logical strategy works well in nearly any subject.
How it works: Start a main topic to the farthest left on the page. Add subtopics and supporting details on the lines beneath, indenting them slightly:
Main Topic
Subtopic
Supporting Detail
Supporting Detail
Subtopic
Supporting Detail
Supporting Detail
Start the next main topic all the way to the left, and continue your notes. Rather than writing long sections, try to keep your notes to just key words and phrases, enough to jog your memory later on.
The sentence method looks similar to the outline method, but it includes much more information. As the name implies, students write full sentences for each line. This requires the ability to write (or type) quickly and is best for students who have mastered both these skills. One benefit to the sentence method is that you’re likely to have more-complete notes to refer to after class.
How it works: Start a topic by writing the main point on one line. On the lines beneath it, add bullet points and a full sentence describing the supporting information. Be sure to use your own words rather than the teacher’s. This ensures you’re fully understanding the information rather than just recording what you hear.
Sketchnotes
Sketchnotes are fairly new but have a real appeal for those who learn best visually. They combine elements of mapping or boxing with meaningful doodles. The colorful result is fun to look at, and some students may retain images better than words.
How it works: There aren’t a lot of rules with sketchnotes. Basically, students should try to capture keywords and important phrases, then add images that help them connect with the topic. Block lettering and other doodles are fun to add too.
The Question/Evidence/Conclusion method of note-taking is a way to organize and record information from lectures. The Q/E/C note-taking method is ideal for subjects in the humanities, such as history, philosophy, and literature. It helps students keep track of how information is being presented, while focusing on the bigger picture.
How it works: Students organize their notes by listening first for the question being addressed. Then, they write the evidence that answers the question. Finally, they draw a conclusion. At the end of a lecture, students can review their notes and have concise summaries of each main topic.
Flow note-taking is a nonlinear way to take notes. Nonlinear note-taking methods ask students to actively engage with the topic that they’re learning about as they listen. Flow note-taking looks similar to mapping, but the idea here is to connect higher-level ideas and how they relate to each other. Students write the topics and draw arrows to indicate how they connect with each other.
The flow note-taking method is active and requires students to think about what they are learning as they learn it. It’s also flexible, and useful in most subjects. It is best when students have some background knowledge, however.
How it works: Students start by writing one main topic. Then, they jot down the next topic and connect the two to show how they are connected. They write the next topic and continue until they have a web.
REAP Method
The REAP method (Read, Encode, Annotate, Ponder) is an active reading note-taking strategy. The idea is that students are engaging with text by reflecting and thinking about their content. Using REAP helps students improve reading comprehension and recall of information. It also builds students’ ability to engage with text and learn how to engage with complex texts.
How it works: Students complete four stages:
Reading the text
Encoding or writing the main ideas of the text in their own words
Annotating of ideas and quotes in the text
Pondering or thinking about the text and writing their reflections or discussing with others.
Watch how to use the REAP method with historical texts:
Similar to REAP, paragraph shrinking is a way to condense and take notes on what students read. This strategy is a good way for students to focus in on the main idea of a text as they read through. It is useful for both fiction and nonfiction texts, but can be particularly helpful when students are working with nonfiction.
How it works: Students read a paragraph or section of text. Then, write the main topic or event in that section in the margin or on a separate page. Then, they shrink the paragraph further by stating the main idea in 10 words or less.
Every December, I compile a list of the most popular Proof Points columns. In 2023, the big story was the failure of schools to help children catch up from pandemic learning losses. I was proud to write several watchdog stories about the online tutoring that schools are buying and the crazy job of an online tutor. I was surprised that those were not among the most popular stories. What struck a chord with readers was research about math, math and more math….and some handy study tips.
Thank you to everyone who read and commented on my weekly stories about education data and research. I look forward to continuing this conversation with you next year. If you would like to receive my email newsletter and be notified when the column comes out each week, please click here and fill out the form. I’ll be back again on Jan. 2, 2024 with a story about college applications. Happy New Year!
CUNY’s seven-year study of its experiment to get rid of remedial math has arguably been one of the most influential attempts to use experimental evidence to change how higher education operates and is now affecting the lives of millions of college students. However, many colleges may not realize that the study never looked at how to help students pass college algebra, an important prerequisite course. Some researchers argue that the shift to statistics instead of the elimination of remedial ed might have driven the results.
This column explained the origins of the new “science of math” movement, and how a group of special education researchers are seeking to copy the science of reading playbook. Their first manifesto attacked what they described as common misconceptions about teaching math.
College professors often lament that their students are unprepared for the rigor of college-level math. But this Alabama survey highlighted another problem: high schools aren’t teaching the math skills that college professors in non-STEM fields want students to have.
I took a look at the contentious research debate on timed math tests. Short quizzes might be a more efficient way to memorize multiplication tables, but even advocates caution that there are many pitfalls.
Five charts document that white, Black and Hispanic Americans are going to college at about the same rates.But starting does not mean finishing. The likelihood of making it through the coursework and tuition payments and ultimately earning a degree varies by race and ethnicity.
People often assert that the research shows that students with disabilities learn better when they are included in regular classrooms. But a new meta-analysis says the research isn’t nearly as clear cut as advocates assert; some students with disabilities may be worse off and learn less in general education classes.
Credit: Photo illustration by Chesnot/Getty Images
Here’s some news all of us can use. The stuff we’re Googling isn’t sticking in our memories and is quickly forgotten. One experiment finds that we’d retain more if we tried to guess before Googling.
Here’s some concrete research advice for teachers on how to help their students memorize things. Since reading about this flashcard experiment, I’ve been telling my daughter to go straight to the cards and skip the studying. Kids may get frustrated not knowing something and looking at the answer over and over again. But she aced two vocab quizzes. (I was sad that multiplication songs weren’t the winner, but if you are nostalgic for Schoolhouse Rock and Billy Leach, I’ve included bonus links in this piece for you to sing along to.)
The University of Virginia’s Daniel Willingham explains why reading our notes, using highlighters and making to-do lists are not the best ways to learn. Read the piece for the most effective methods.
The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.
At this point, we have all heard about the learning gaps in math and reading scores these past few years. Unfortunately, stats are even worse in other subjects. In 2022, only 22% of students scored “proficient” or higher on a nationwide civics assessment. And one in three scored below basic understanding of the subject.
I had a conversation with Chris Sinacola, co-editor of Restoring the City on a Hill to break down some solutions. Chris emphasizes the importance of a strong foundation in the two subjects for long-term student success. The book calls for a bottom-up approach and delves into recommendations for state and community leaders to reform U.S. history and civics standards.
Among the book’s recommendations:
Require students to pass the U.S. citizenship test as a criterion for high school graduation.
Develop a curriculum that incorporates the reading of U.S. history in every grade, with a focus on primary source documents such as the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and The Federalist Papers.
Increase investment in professional development programs for educators.
Establish an open, inclusive process for parent and community input in the curriculum through panels, surveys, and regional meetings.
Kevin is a forward-thinking media executive with more than 25 years of experience building brands and audiences online, in print, and face to face. He is an acclaimed writer, editor, and commentator covering the intersection of society and technology, especially education technology. You can reach Kevin at KevinHogan@eschoolnews.com
I’m currently grappling with this question. Five years ago, my then-8-year-old niece moved in with me. Overnight, I became a single “mom” to a wonderful, if emotionally fragile, third-grader.
She had been through a lot — four schools in two years — and so I wasn’t sure what to expect from her academically. But she thrived in our local elementary school. And now she’s finding her passions as an eighth-grade middle schooler in mostly honors classes. With the exception of math. A struggle I understand.
Opinion Columnist
Robin Abcarian
In elementary and middle school, I did well enough in other classes, but I was a solid C math student. In 10th grade, however, something just clicked. At Cleveland High School, in Reseda, I had a fabulous geometry teacher. His name was Mr. Maung. I have no idea what became of him, but he was one of the best teachers I ever had. I earned an A in his class, and I never took another math course.
When my niece was in sixth grade and began struggling with numbers, we signed up for one of those costly math tutoring programs. She went for an hour after school a couple of times a week. After nearly a year with no change in her grades, I discovered that the place wasn’t really working with her on her school curriculum, which I’d assumed was the whole point. They had their own methodology for teaching the subject, and if they had time at the end of her session, they might help her with her homework. Ugh.
The next year, in seventh grade, she again struggled with low grades in math. I conferred frequently with her teacher. She did after-school “interventions” in the library. Things didn’t improve. Well, I thought, she has lots of other skills and talents.
This year, however, when she floundered on her first few math tests, I became alarmed. High school is just around the corner, and I suspected she was capable of doing well in math class but just wasn’t that interested. And maybe she was even a little invested in acting like she didn’t care.
Two weeks ago, I had a brainstorm: money. Couldn’t hurt, right? So I texted her: “I will give you 20 bucks if you get a B. [Smiley face emoji]”
“OMG,” she replied. “40 for an A!”
“Done!”
I admit: As a parent, this was not my finest hour.
Also, I was pretty sure she’d never get an A.
Amy McCready, a parenting coach who founded the online education site Positive Parenting Solutions, did not judge me when I told her about my deal with my niece. She disapproved but in the nicest possible way.
“Parents will say, ‘I get paid to work,’ and my kid’s job is school, so why not pay them?’ But there are some unintended consequences to that,” said the Raleigh, N.C.-based McCready, who wrote the 2015 book “The Me, Me, Me Epidemic: A Step-by-Step Guide to Raising Capable, Grateful Kids in an Over-Entitled World.”
The first problem, supported by lots of research, is that external rewards tend to decrease intrinsic motivation — you know, the feeling that good grades and mastery of a subject are their own reward.
Something more concrete, said McCready, “can provide a quick hit, but we need to think about the long-term goal — the love of learning, intellectual curiosity, an interest in math.”
She pointed me to the book “Punished by Rewards: The Trouble With Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes” by the prolific education writer Alfie Kohn, first published in 1993, now revised for its 25th anniversary. Kohn addresses the failures of “behaviorism” — as propounded by the psychologist B.F. Skinner — to manipulate people into changing their behavior by rewarding them, which he calls “do this and you’ll get that.”
“To take what people want or need and offer it on a contingent basis in order to control how they act,” he writes, “this is where the trouble lies.”
As McCready told me, paying for grades is ultimately not sustainable. “The reward loses its luster,” she said. “The problem is you have to keep upping the ante.”
The practice can also discourage children who really are struggling. “What if they are working their hardest and are not getting the A or B,” she said. “They should be rewarded for working their tail off.” (And by “rewarded,” she means they should be celebrated. “I distinguish between rewards and celebrations. A reward is contingent, versus, ‘Wow, you have been putting so much time into your math, let’s go celebrate that.’”)
But that’s my issue with my niece. I don’t think she has been working her hardest, and I believe she is capable of doing better.
I just needed to figure out how to motivate her. Hence, the bribe, which coincided with her recent acquisition of an iPhone. (We’d had a pact: She would wait until eighth grade for a phone with apps and internet access.) Once she discovered Apple Pay, the app that lets anyone transfer money to your account, she became transfixed by the balance in her account.
“Wow,” she said when she had accumulated $52. “I’m getting rich!”
At this point, you are probably wondering how she did on that math test. I am thrilled — more or less — to report that she got her first A. I dutifully added $40 to her Apple Pay coffers.
And now I am in the difficult position of having to decide whether to continue to this race to the behaviorism bottom or to raise my standards in the service of making her a better student and all-around human being.
A survey of college professors indicates that most fields of study don’t require many of the math topics that high school students learn in high school. Credit: Kevin Wolf/ Associated Press
The typical ambitious high school student takes advanced algebra, trigonometry, pre-calculus and calculus. None of that math may be necessary for the vast majority of undergraduates who don’t intend to major in science or another STEM field.
But those same students don’t have many of the math skills that professors think they actually do need. In a survey, humanities, arts and social science professors say they really want their students to be able to analyze data, create charts and spreadsheets and reason mathematically – skills that high school math courses often skip or rush through.
“We still need the traditional algebra-to-calculus curriculum for students who are intending a STEM major,” said Gary Martin, a professor of mathematics education at Auburn University in Alabama who led the team that conducted this survey of college professors. “But that’s maybe 20 percent. The other 80 percent, what about them?”
Martin said that the survey showed that high schools should stress “reasoning and critical thinking skills, decrease the emphasis on specific mathematical topics, and increase the focus on data analysis and statistics.”
This damning assessment of the content of high school math comes from a survey of about 300 Alabama college professors who oversee majors and undergraduate degree programs at both two-year and four-year public colleges in the humanities, arts, social sciences and some natural sciences. Majors that require calculus were excluded.
The 2021 survey prompted Alabama’s public colleges and universities to allow more students to meet their math requirements by taking a statistics course instead of a traditional math class, such as college algebra or calculus.
Martin and his colleagues later realized that the survey had implications for high school math too, and presented these results at an Oct. 26, 2023 session of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics annual conference in Washington D.C. Full survey results are slated to be published in the winter 2024 issue of the MathAMATYC Educator, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges.
In the survey, professors were asked detailed questions about which mathematical concepts and skills students need in their programs. Many high school math topics were unimportant to college professors. For example, most professors said they wanted students to understand functions, particularly linear and exponential functions, which are used to model trends, population changes or compound interest. But Martin said that non-STEM students didn’t really need to learn trigonometric functions, which are used in satellite navigation or mechanical engineering.
College professors were more keen on an assortment of what was described as mathematical “practices,” including the ability to “interpret quantitative information,” “strategically infer, evaluate and reason,” “apply the mathematics they know to solve everyday life, society and the workplace,” and to “look for patterns and relationships and make generalizations.”
“Teachers are so focused on covering all the topics that they don’t have time to do the practices when the practices are what really matters,” said Martin.
Understanding statistics was high on the list. An overwhelming majority of college professors said students in their programs needed to be familiar with statistics and data analysis, including concepts like correlation, causation and the importance of sample size. They wanted students to be able to “interpret displays of data and statistical analyses to understand the reasonableness of the claims being presented.” Professors say students need to be able to produce bar charts, histograms and line charts. Facility with spreadsheets, such as Excel, is useful too.
“Statistics is what you need,” said Martin. “Yet, in many K-12 classrooms, statistics is the proverbial end-of-the-year unit that you may or may not get to. And if you do, you rush through it, just to say you did it. But there’s not this sense of urgency to get through the statistics, as there is to get through the math topics.”
Though the survey took place only in Alabama and professors in other states might have different thoughts on the math that students need, Martin suspects that there are more similarities than differences.
The mismatch between what students learn in high school and what they need in college isn’t easy to fix. Teachers generally don’t have time for longer statistics units, or the ability to go deeper into math concepts so that students can develop their reasoning skills, because high school math courses have become bloated with too many topics. However, there is no consensus on which algebra topics to jettison.
Encouraging high school students to take statistics classes during their junior and senior years is also fraught. College admissions officers value calculus, almost as a proxy for intelligence. And college admissions tests tend to emphasize math skills that students will practice more on the algebra-to-calculus track. A diversion to data analysis risks putting students at a disadvantage.
The thorniest problem is that revamping high school math could force students to make big choices in school before they know what they want to study in college. Students who want to enter STEM fields still need calculus and the country needs more people to pursue STEM careers. Taking more students off of the calculus track could close doors to many students and ultimately weaken the U.S. economy.
Martin said it’s also important to remember that vocational training is not the only purpose of math education. “We don’t have students read Shakespeare because they need it to be effective in whatever they’re going to do later,” he said. “It adds something to your life. I felt that it really gave me breadth as a human being.” He wants high school students to study some math concepts they will never need because there’s a beauty to them. “Appreciating mathematics is a really intriguing way of looking at the world,” he said.
Martin and his colleagues don’t have any definitive solutions, but their survey is a helpful data point in demonstrating how too few students are getting the mathematical foundations they need for the future.
This story about high school mathwas written by Jill Barshay and produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.
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The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.
A study published in 2023 in the journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology documented that second graders memorized more multiplication facts when they practiced using flashcards rather than by repeating their times tables aloud. Credit: Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Young students around the world struggle to memorize multiplication tables, but the effort pays off. Cognitive scientists say that learning 6 x 7 and 8 x 9 by heart frees up the brain’s working memory so that students can focus on the more demanding aspects of problem solving.
Math teachers debate the best way to make multiplication automatic. Some educators argue against drills and say fluency will develop with everyday usage. Others insist that schools should devote time to helping children memorize times tables.
Even among proponents of memorization, it’s unclear which methods are the most effective. Should kids draw their own color-coded tables and study them, or copy their multiplication facts out dozens of times? Should they play multiplication songs and videos? Should they learn mnemonic tricks, like how the digits of the multiples of nine add up to nine (1+8, 2+7, 3+6, etc.)? My daughter’s gym teacher used to make students shout “7 x 5 is 35” and “6 x 8 is 48” as they did jumping jacks. (It was certainly a way to make jumping less monotonous.)
To help advise teachers, a team of learning scientists compared two common methods: chanting and flashcards.
The 2022 experiment took place in four second grade classrooms in the Netherlands. The teachers began by delivering a lesson on multiplying by three. Using the same scripted lesson, they explained multiplication concepts, such as: “If I grab three apples, and I do this only one time, how many apples do I have?”
After the lesson, half the classrooms practiced by reciting equations displayed on a whiteboard: “One times three is three, two times three is six…” through to 10. The other half practiced with flashcards. Students had their own personal sets with answers on the reverse side. Both groups spent five minutes practicing three times during the week for a total of 15 minutes. (More details on the experiment’s design here.)
When the teachers moved on to multiplication by fours, the groups switched. The chanters quizzed themselves with flashcards, and the flashcard kids started chanting. All the students practiced memorizing both ways.
The results added up to a clear winner.
On a pre-test before the lesson, the second graders got an average of three math facts right. Afterwards, the chanters tended to double their accuracy, answering six facts correctly. But the flashcard users averaged eight correct. Students were tested again a full week later without any additional practice sessions, and the strong advantage for flashcard users didn’t fade. It was a sign that flashcard practice not only produces better short-term memories, but also better long-term ones – the ultimate goal.
Students scored higher on a multiplication test after practicing through flashcards (retrieval practice) than by chanting aloud (restudy). Source: Figure 1 of “The effect of retrieval practice on fluently retrieving multiplication facts in an authentic elementary school setting,” (2023) Journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology.
The study, “The effect of retrieval practice on fluently retrieving multiplication facts in an authentic elementary school setting,” was published online in October 2023 in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology. Though a small study of 48 students, this classroom experiment is a good example of the power of what cognitive scientists call “spaced retrieval practice,” in which the act of remembering consolidates information and helps the brain form long-term memories.
Retrieval practice can seem counterintuitive. One might think that students should study before being assessed or quizzing themselves. But there’s a growing body of evidence that trying to recall something is itself a powerful tool for learning, particularly when you are given the correct answer immediately after making a stab at it and then get a chance to try again. Testing your memory – even when you draw a blank – is a way to build new memories.
Many experiments have shown that retrieval practice produces better long-term memories than studying. Flashcards are one way to try retrieval practice. Quizzes are another option because they also require students to retrieve new information from memory. Indeed, many teachers opt for speed drills, asking students to race through a page of multiplication problems in a minute.
Flashcards can be less anxiety provoking, provide students immediate feedback with answers on the reverse side and allow students to repeat the retrieval practice immediately, running through the deck more than once. Still, kids are kids and they easily drift off task during independent practice time. With a timed quiz, the teacher can be more confident that everyone has benefited from a round of retrieval practice. I’d be curious to see flashcards and quizzes pitted against each other in a future classroom experiment.
As charming as multiplication songs are – I have a soft spot for School House Rock and my editor fondly recalls her Billy Leach multiplication records – they are unlikely to be as effective as flashcards because they don’t involve retrieval practice, according to Gino Camp, a professor of learning sciences at Open University in the Netherlands and one of the researchers on the study.
That doesn’t mean we should jettison the songs or all the other memorization methods just because some aren’t as effective as others. Researchers may eventually find that a combination of techniques is even more powerful. Still, there are limited minutes in the school day, and knowing which learning methods are the most effective can help everyone – teachers, parents and students – use their time wisely.
This story about multiplication flashcardswas written by Jill Barshay and produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the first step in a new partnership focused on equity in math education, Casio and Open Up Resources (OUR) have joined forces to integrate Casio’s ClassPad.net technology into the Algebra 1 Program of Open Up High School Mathematics, the organizations announced today at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference. This collaboration addresses challenges stemming from limited access to technology resources, aiming to create a more inclusive and enriching learning environment.
Open Up High School Mathematics students and educators now have access to ClassPad.net, an intuitive online tool seamlessly incorporated into OUR’s openly accessible curriculum. This platform empowers teachers and students to delve further into the presented mathematical concepts.
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A new survey of K-8 teachers and students from LEGO Education found that nearly all (98 percent) of students say purposeful play helps them learn and the majority (96 percent) of teachers believe it’s more effective than traditional methods
Teacher burnout is a real and growing challenge for US K–12 schools. Last year, school district leaders reported a 4 percent increase in teacher turnover according to a nationally representative survey from RAND.
Anthony Salcito, Chief Institution Business Officer at Nerdy, touches upon the impact of the pandemic on education, the role of teachers, the evolution and challenges of tutoring in the education landscape, and, of course, the potential of AI in education.
Tom Lamont is the painting and design technology instructor at Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School (BVT), in Upton, Massachusetts. Mr. Lamont offers his vocational high school students a unique hands-on opportunity to learn about the design industry and to prepare for jobs in the workforce.
While some of the recent efforts focused on recruiting more teachers of color have paid off, keeping those teachers in our schools and classrooms is an urgent challenge.
You’ve heard all the news about kids using ChatGPT to cheat, but there’s another side to this story. Just as the internet revolutionized education, AI will be the next game-changer.
Education is changing because the world is changing. During the pandemic, teachers and students rapidly adopted new tools to pivot to remote and hybrid learning.
Now in his 10th year of teaching, John Arthur’s students have gained national recognition as champions for children and immigrants like them through music videos and other digital content they create and share across platforms.
I believe that the low supply of STEM professionals can be attributed to significant barriers to entry originating in educational settings–this is to no fault of teachers and administrators, but how the educational system is structured.
The benefits of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education are numerous, and one would be hard-pressed to find a school district that doesn’t have a project, initiative, class, or lesson with the acronym in its title.
STEM education has myriad academic and career benefits for students
STEM-focused schools can engage their surrounding communities and stakeholders to craft strong learning programs
See related article: 5 science and technology videos to get students talking
For more news on STEM learning, visit eSN’s STEM & STEAM page
The benefits of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education are numerous, and one would be hard-pressed to find a school district that doesn’t have a project, initiative, class, or lesson with the acronym in its title. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, in 2021, there were nearly 10 million workers in STEM occupations–a total projected to grow by almost 11 percent by 2031. This figure represents a growth rate twice as fast as non-STEM occupations.
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Prior to the pandemic, reading achievement had been showing little to no growth. Scores have continued to decline, in part because of pandemic-related learning interruptions.
Indiana is in the midst of an enormous undertaking to improve literacy rates. The approach: Align state standards, curriculum, and teacher training programs with practices rooted in the science of reading.
When it comes to digital equity, U.S. schools are well-positioned to help families get online with low-cost, high-speed internet options through the federal government’s Affordable Connectivity Program
Mentorship is an essential aspect of professional growth and development for early childhood educators, but for many training programs, mentorship components are either not well supported or are missing altogether.
Educators face myriad dilemmas in the wake of ChatGPT’s explosion, with some of the most popular including teaching with ChatGPT and how to address student use of AI chatbots in assignments.
Belonging is a fundamental human need. We are all searching for a sense of connection with the people and places in our lives. Students and school staff are no different.
School models are, for the most part, outdated–and very overdue for replacement. When students reach high school, research shows that close to 66 percent of students are disengaged.
Our students’ belief that everything they need to know is online can, without the right skillset, leave them prey to misinformation. So how do we teach our students to steer through the online ocean of data to be both effective researchers and responsible digital citizens?
In early September, CISA announced a voluntary pledge for K-12 education technology software manufacturers to commit to designing products with a greater focus on security.
Every teacher hopes to ignite, empower, and engage the students who walk through their classroom door. Ample research has shown that student engagement is crucial to overall learning and long-term success.
NEW YORK, September 7, 2023 (Newswire.com)
– EvidenceB was named today as one of 32 winners of the 2022-2023 Tools Competition. EvidenceB joins teams from 12 countries being awarded more than $4 million to develop and expand tools that will impact 35 million learners by 2026.
EvidenceB will receive $250,000. The funding will help develop richer learning analytics to measure student impact into the next generation of Adaptiv’Math. Measuring impact through an improved learning dashboard will help improve student outcomes and further enable research partnerships.
Adaptiv’Math is an AI-driven platform of over 10,000 self-correcting math exercises for elementary-aged students. After a profiling test, Adaptiv’Math’s AI engine provides individualized math exercises for each student. Adaptiv’Math is research-based and delivers unique exercises built on the latest data about how learners acquire number sense, problem-solving skills, and proportionality.
Adaptiv’Math’s curriculum agnostic design helps students master core math concepts at all levels, from underperforming to excelling students. Adaptiv’Math’s dashboard with powerful learning analytics helps teachers gain insight into and respond faster to student learning gaps and individual progression or groups of similar learners.
“We are honored to be named as a winner in the 2022-2023 Tools Competition,” said Thierry de Vulpillières, CEO & Co-founder, EvidenceB. “With this generous award, we will continue to advance the design of Adaptiv’Math, based on the results of research in cognitive science, and continue to help address several social biases including marginalized student populations in priority education zones and gender bias in mathematics learning. Adaptiv’Math is grounded in the way humans – regardless of their social background – learn numbers, operations or proportions, and our modules are a lever to enable each student to master the fundamentals of mathematics.”
Winning teams recognized and supported as part of the Tools Competition are tackling solutions to improve students’ K-12 math competency following the sharpest declines in decades, address equity in education, bolster students’ problem-solving and emotional skills, and unlock career training opportunities for adults via virtual reality.
This year’s competition generated more than 1,000 proposals from 73 countries, with the 32 winners hailing from institutions and organizations across North America, Europe, Asia, South America, the Middle East, and Africa.
This is the third cycle of the Tools Competition, which has awarded nearly $10 million to 80 edtech innovators to date.
The next cycle of the Tools Competition will launch on September 21, 2023. To learn more, sign up to attend the virtual competition launch event here.
For more details on our winning proposal, please visit https://www.evidenceb.com/. A full list of winners and their projects can be found here.
Students across the U.S. have fallen behind in both math and reading in the past three years, illuminating the drastic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress exams released Monday.
The exams, often called the “Nation’s Report Card,” sampled about 450,000 fourth and eighth graders in more than 10,000 schools across the country between January and March. The last exams were administered in 2019, just before the beginning of the pandemic and a widespread transition to virtual learning.
In the past three years, math scores showed the steepest declines ever reported by NAEP since its initial trial assessment in 1990, according to Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics. Eighth graders’ scores sank by eight points since 2019. Fourth graders’ scores were slightly better, but still declined in 41 states. Just 36% of fourth graders were considered proficient in math, compared to 41% in 2019.
“Eighth grade is that gateway to more advanced mathematical course taking,” Carr said, according to CNN. “This is what these students are missing. They’re missing these important skills that will prepare them eventually for (science, technology, engineering and math) level careers.”
Last month, the national assessment released results showing that math and reading scores for 9-year-olds have declined since 2020 at a level not seen in decades.
Compared to math scores, students’ reading performance was less affected, possibly because students received more help from parents during the pandemic, The New York Times reports. Still, reading scores declined in more than half the states, continuing a downward trend that had already been observed in 2019. No state showed improvement in reading, with only about 1 student in 3 meeting proficiency standards.
All students across the country were affected by the pandemic, as reflected by the report, but there was a disproportionate effect on certain marginalized groups. Eighth-grade math scores declined across most racial and ethnic groups, among low-, middle- and high-performing students. Fourth graders’ math scores in 2022 declined at the lower and higher percentiles for Black and Hispanic students, students of two or more races, and white students compared to 2019, and scores declined at the lower percentile for Native and Asian students.
“What we’re seeing is (lower performing) students… dropping even faster and we’re also seeing students who were not showing declines ― students at the top, meaning students at the higher performing levels ― they were holding steady before the pandemic or even improving,” Carr said. “Now all the students, regardless of their ability, are dropping. That is the point we need to be taking away from this report.”
The results show the ways that school closures during the pandemic affected students. But researchers indicated it doesn’t necessarily follow that states where remote learning lasted longer experienced dramatically worse results. Factors like poverty levels and individual state education policies may have also played a role.
More analysis is needed to understand the pandemic’s role in the declines, said Carr, along with examination of other factors like teacher shortages and bullying.
“If this is not a wake-up call for us to double down our efforts and improve education, even before it was ― before the pandemic, then I don’t know what will,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said Monday, according to CNN.
The federal government invested $123 billion in American schools last year to help students catch up from learning lost during the beginning of the pandemic, according to The New York Times. School districts were required to spend at least 20% of the funds on academic recovery.
The funding is due to expire in 2024, but research suggests billions more dollarsmay be needed for students to truly recover.
A Taiwanese math tutor uses p0*nhub to give math lessons and earns over $250,000 annually. His channel, with the slogan “Play Hard, Study Hard!” contains hundreds of videos of him explaining calculus.
The new Brainingcamp enables powerful learning, maintains ease of use.
Press Release –
Aug 17, 2022
AUSTIN, Texas, August 17, 2022 (Newswire.com)
– Brainingcamp announced a massive update to its digital math manipulatives. The update is immediately available, just in time for the 2022-2023 school year. The new Brainingcamp will enhance math education for its more than 7 million global users and counting.
“This is our biggest update ever,” said Dan Harris, President of Brainingcamp. “We’ve rewritten every line of code.”
Empowering Math Educators From the beginning, Brainingcamp’s focus has been on delivering easy-to-use, powerful math education tools, Harris said. “Ease of use is incredibly important to us. We want students spending their mental energy learning math, not learning UI.”
With a modernized and updated user interface (UI) and purpose-focused design, the New Brainingcamp is also easier for teachers. The design team built new, optimized workspaces for all its 16 virtual math manipulatives.
“Teachers never have enough time to prepare everything they need for the classroom,” said Mark Schmit, VP of Education at Brainingcamp. “We want to empower teachers with easy-to-use tools for math education that even their youngest students can understand and enjoy using.”
Upgraded Features Brainingcamp has updated its stunning animations, created an adaptive and scalable workspace, and added a universal tools bin for the new release. It has also upgraded several features from the previous release.
Teachers can access nearly 300 high-quality K-8 Tasks, complete with Teacher Notes and Share Codes for students to launch. Tasks are now available in English and Spanish.
The new Brainingcamp will preserve existing Share Codes, which teachers use to create activities or lessons for their students and have them share their work back. As a result, teachers won’t lose their work after the update.
And educators will still be able to create LIVE sessions to monitor student progress, load student screens, and provide instant feedback.
“We rebuilt Brainingcamp from the ground up to create a wonderful experience today and a platform to rapidly build more features for tomorrow,” said David Brown, VP of Engineering at Brainingcamp.
Product Availability The new Brainingcamp is immediately available. Users will see the new features and changes when they log into their Brainingcamp account. They will not have to download or install anything to access the update.
About Brainingcamp Brainingcamp’s mission is to bring math to life. Their focus is on creating a world where students and educators are connected and inspired by the wonder of math through their digital math manipulatives.
Kids and adults have a new, free game to play twice a day that’s addicting and fun.
Press Release –
Aug 2, 2022
LOS ANGELES, August 2, 2022 (Newswire.com)
– GuessMyNumbers.com has taken kids and adults by storm as a fun, new numbers puzzle. Inspired by the popular web-based game Wordle, GuessMyNumbers provides three chances to guess a featured three-digit number. If players guess correctly, they can submit their own three-digit number for a shot to be the featured numbers.
The game updates twice a day at 12 a.m./12 p.m. PST, and each round features a user’s three-digit number, name, location, and an option for a link (to their social or website). Their info is showcased internationally for the world to guess for 12 hours.
“It’s a fun game to play every day,” says Josh Gottsegen, creator of GuessMyNumbers.com. “It started as an indirect way to promote my middle-grade fantasy novel, ‘The Adventures of Rockford T. Honeypot,’ but then it started to take on a life of its own. Every day I check and see more and more people from around the world playing and submitting their numbers.”
Bloggers are also starting to have fun with the free game; Victor from FanDads.com tweets, “Get ready for a new addiction!”
Although the game only allows players to play each round once, players can activate practice mode that generates a unique number. The game can be played over and over. It truly is fun, especially when you get it right.
About: ‘The Adventures of Rockford T. Honeypot’ Book
Timid of danger and germs but fiercely desperate to grow up like the hero in his favorite novels, twelve-year-old chipmunk Rockford sets off on an extraordinary adventure to find his place in the forest. Set against an expanding metropolis, where animals talk and work together, The Adventures of Rockford T Honeypot is a heroic tale that uncoils with ambitious, complex storytelling and humor, with each chapter set to thrill the entire family.
SAN RAMON, Calif., December 15, 2021 (Newswire.com)
– The United States is facing a crisis in the area of afterschool education. Recent polling suggests that over 90% of parents believe that afterschool programs are essential for their child’s education, but for most parents, high-quality afterschool programs are out of reach. According to a recent study, more than 24.6 million children in the U.S. are unable to join after-school programs.
Understanding the problem
Among the reasons listed by parents for not sending their children to afterschool programs, these highlight the difficulty that parents face when trying to give their kids a quality education:
Cost: A majority of parents cited cost of afterschool programs as being largest barrier that stood between them and enrolling their child in a program. With some courses coming in at $3,600 per year, the cost is impossible to manage.
Availability: More than 42% of parents reported that afterschool programs were not available in their community, indicating that nearly half the children in this country are unable to attend afterschool programs because there aren’t enough of them.
Transportation: Parents said transportation played a role in their inability to send their kids to afterschool programs. With some parents working two jobs, there isn’t time to get their kids out of the house. For other families in larger cities, parents worry about safe transport because they don’t have access to a car.
Quality: Another factor stopping parents from putting their children into afterschool programs is quality. Most afterschool programs are more daycare than education, with kids only playing around instead of learning something that’s truly beneficial.
Becoming the Solution
Veeko was created by passionate professionals and teachers to ensure that every child in America can access genuine, high-quality, afterschool education regardless of geography or financial status.
To make this possible, we created an innovative new app and hired the best teachers in the field to design fun, creative lessons to keep kids engaged and on the path to success.
Afterschool classes include: Math Tricks, Guitar, Piano, Ukulele, Fine Arts, Painting, Drawing, Storytelling, Magic, Yoga, Kung Fu, Spanish, Chinese, & Singing
We want every child to benefit from these amazing courses, so we’re offering it for just $99! You’ll get a year of access to all 15 courses, and a shared family login so that everyone will be free to explore all kinds of lessons and discover their real interests!
We also created a series of arts-based masterclasses with the finest instructors in the nation. For just $198 you can select two masterclass courses and enjoy 15 afterschool courses!
Masterclasses include: Piano, Violin, Ballet, Guitar, Singing, Music Theory, Oboe, Clarinet, Viola, Double Bass, & More
Visit Veeko.com today and use the code VEEKOGIFT to get this special offer!
SAN CARLOS, Calif., December 15, 2021 (Newswire.com)
– The United States is facing a crisis in the area of afterschool education. Recent polling suggests that over 90% of parents believe that afterschool programs are essential for their child’s education, but for most parents, high-quality afterschool programs are out of reach. According to a recent study, more than 24.6 million children in the U.S. are unable to join after-school programs.
Understanding the problem
Among the reasons listed by parents for not sending their children to afterschool programs, these highlight the difficulty that parents face when trying to give their kids a quality education:
Cost: A majority of parents cited cost of afterschool programs as being largest barrier that stood between them and enrolling their child in a program. With some courses coming in at $3,600 per year, the cost is impossible to manage.
Availability: More than 42% of parents reported that afterschool programs were not available in their community, indicating that nearly half the children in this country are unable to attend afterschool programs because there aren’t enough of them.
Transportation: Parents said transportation played a role in their inability to send their kids to afterschool programs. With some parents working two jobs, there isn’t time to get their kids out of the house. For other families in larger cities, parents worry about safe transport because they don’t have access to a car.
Quality: Another factor stopping parents from putting their children into afterschool programs is quality. Most afterschool programs are more daycare than education, with kids only playing around instead of learning something that’s truly beneficial.
Becoming the Solution
Veeko was created by passionate professionals and teachers to ensure that every child in America can access genuine, high-quality, afterschool education regardless of geography or financial status.
To make this possible, we created an innovative new app and hired the best teachers in the field to design fun, creative lessons to keep kids engaged and on the path to success.
Afterschool classes include: Math Tricks, Guitar, Piano, Ukulele, Fine Arts, Painting, Drawing, Storytelling, Magic, Yoga, Kung Fu, Spanish, Chinese, & Singing
We want every child to benefit from these amazing courses, so we’re offering it for just $99! You’ll get a year of access to all 15 courses, and a shared family login so that everyone will be free to explore all kinds of lessons and discover their real interests!
We also created a series of arts-based masterclasses with the finest instructors in the nation. For just $198 you can select two masterclass courses and enjoy 15 afterschool courses!
Masterclasses include: Piano, Violin, Ballet, Guitar, Singing, Music Theory, Oboe, Clarinet, Viola, Double Bass, & More
Visit Veeko.com today and use the code VEEKOGIFT to get this special offer!
ACT English, ACT Math, ACT Reading, and ACT Science scores show improvements over prior best scores, with 44% of students improving their ACT composite by an average of 1.53 points
Press Release –
updated: Jun 22, 2021
BROOKHAVEN, Miss., June 22, 2021 (Newswire.com)
– Jumpstart Test Prep recently released the ACT® improvement results from Kemper County High School, whose junior class used the program to prepare for the state-administered February 2021 ACT® exam (American College Testing). Following completion of Jumpstart’s complete ACT prep review, the school had 65% of its students improving their best prior English subscores by an average of 2.8 points and 38% improving their Reading sub-scores by an average of 3.46 points. Additionally, 32% of students improved their Science sub-scores by an average of 3.54 points and 47% improved their Math subscores by an average of 2.18 points.
Students who showed significant gains were excited to provide their thoughts about the review program. On her first ACT® attempt, Kemper County junior Kaylan Clayton achieved a 21 on her English subscore. She says Jumpstart made the difference because, “It helped me to gain knowledge in new areas and to refresh my memory. Jumpstart also taught me how to best use my time when taking the ACT.” Anderiah Rush agrees, as her English subscore improved 5 points over her prior attempt. “The many tips and flashcards helped me to remember things I learned years ago. The mark and move strategy for time management helped me to finish the ACT completely.” Rush continued, “I think other students in Mississippi need to know about Jumpstart and use it because the review will help them to remember everything they’ve forgotten.” Another student, Kaylah Hearn, who improved her English subscore by 3 points over her last attempt commented, “Jumpstart gave me a refresher of things I had completely forgotten about and the flashcards taught me a lot of tips that I didn’t know. I would say that Jumpstart works!”
Kemper County junior Illyana McClendon improved her English subscore by 4 points, going from a 14 to an 18. She shared, “Jumpstart gave me so many tips and tricks to help me succeed on the ACT. It was a refresh from elementary school until now and that made all the difference for me!” Reslyn Ramsey agreed with McClendon, “The tips and tricks that Jumpstart shows you are really amazing and it is also a great program to teach time management.” Reslyn achieved a 45% increase in her English subscore, improving by 5 points.
Jumpstart Test Prep is an online review program based on over 50 years of work by Dot McClendon, a legendary educator and Mississippi’s 19-year STAR teacher hall of fame inductee. “As a teacher at The Mississippi School of the Arts and several other schools during my career, I was able to help guide the preparation of students in person,” said McClendon. “Now through our online, on-demand video review, students in Kemper County classrooms, as well as classrooms around the country, around the breakfast table, or on the couch at home, are able to benefit from our approach.”
All juniors at Kemper County had access to the following resources:
Expert content review and practice, along with test-taking tips and strategies delivered in the classroom via streaming video
Online, on-demand, 24-hour review (36 modules, approximately 40 minutes each) of English, Math, Reading, and Science content tested by the ACT® that could be led from the classroom or used individually by students
Consumable student workbooks for each subject area to be completed in conjunction with lecture content and later used as a student study guide
Online assessments for the Math and English review areas which linked students back to their weaker areas reviewed in the Jumpstart module content
School administrators utilized an online dashboard reflecting the video module completion progress of teachers assigned to proctor the review and/or individual student progress.
NEWTON, Mass., June 7, 2021 (Newswire.com)
– Summit Educational Group is pleased to announce a new suite of advanced math and writing courses designed to elevate students’ understanding of concepts and strengthen their skill set and confidence level. The customized courses, 1-1 Peak Academic Math and 1-1 Peak Academic Writing, will be taught online or in-person by highly qualified tutors who are experts in their field. The courses serve to extend the company’s tutoring expertise into essential programs for core academic subjects.
The courses, designed for students who are looking to accelerate their learning in math and writing, will provide each student with a way to stand out academically, as well as foster an in-depth understanding of topics that cut across the span of their scholastic and professional careers. The 1-1 Peak Academic courses will also help bolster each student’s skill set after a challenging year in education due to the pandemic.
With Summit’s established expertise in 1-1, individualized test prep and academic tutoring, the Peak 1-1 programs are a natural next step for the company.
The new courses will result not only in an increased understanding of topics but also in the development of an instinct for problem-solving and the writing process. “As a result of Summit’s 1-1 Peak Academic Courses, our students will learn how to meet tasks with more confidence and less frustration, conquering the fear and stress that often accompanies even starting math problems or writing assignments,” said Summit Founder and CEO, Charlie O’Hearn.
“Each student possesses specific goals, a unique learning style, a distinct personality, and personal strengths and areas for improvement,” O’Hearn said. “Only through one-on-one tutoring can a student’s needs be fully assessed and a customized plan be created.”
Peak Math Courses
Summit offers six different math courses: Grade 4 Math, Grade 5 Math, Pre-algebra, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Geometry. The goal of these courses is to bring the student immersive, engaging content that will help ensure success now and in future math classes. The skills and strengths developed in these courses will lead to eager engagement with math, and the development of transferrable skills such as perseverance, confidence, and creative problem solving.
Peak Analytical Writing Course
Our Peak Analytical Writing course focuses on teaching students to master analytical writing, the most important, and most frequent type of writing that students encounter in high school and college. In this engaging program, students will learn to structure their essays, deepen their analysis, develop their arguments, and create quality supportive examples that showcase their true writing skills. This level of skills development will help students prepare for honors, advanced placement (AP), and other higher-level English classes as well as other subjects requiring strong written communication.
To learn more about Summit Educational Group’s 1-1 Peak Academic Courses, visit:
For over 30 years, Summit has helped students realize their potential through customized, 1-1 test prep and academic tutoring programs. Our commitment is to each student’s academic success on their terms, a commitment to find the right tutor, to customize the optimal program, to create a test plan that works for each student, and to help students realize their score and academic potential.
61R Chapel St, Newton, MA 02458
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Girl experiences three-level increase in reading after program and makes the honor roll!!
INDIANAPOLIS, June 4, 2019 (Newswire.com)
– LearningRx (www.LearningRx.com), the world’s largest personal brain training company, is celebrating the success of Callie, who saw significant changes in grades, academic enjoyment and confidence after completing a LearningRx program.
Callie came to LearningRx because she was struggling in school and she thought she was “stupid.” She had tried afterschool tutoring with her teacher and was in a special reading group in school, but she still had significant issues with reading and felt that her brain wasn’t working.
When she came to LearningRx, a cognitive skills assessment showed that Callie’s auditory processing skills were weak. (It’s the most-needed skill for reading!)
She enrolled in six months of LearningRx and saw drastic improvements. Her math got easier, her reading went up THREE levels and she made the honor roll at school!
“The more I played the games, the easier they got,” says Callie. “Math got a lot easier and reading got a lot easier.”
Callie’s mom says, “She was definitely more confident. Beforehand, when she was struggling, she would say things like ‘I’m stupid’ and ‘I just can’t get this.’ The more she came—probably after the third or fourth week—she didn’t say those negative things anymore. You hear people say it’s life-changing, but until you experience it … I mean, it really IS life changing.”
LearningRx, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is the largest one-on-one brain training organization in the world. With 80 Centers in the U.S. and locations in 39 countries around the globe, LearningRx has helped more than 100,000 individuals and families sharpen their cognitive skills to help them think faster, learn easier, and perform better. Their on-site programs partner every client with a personal brain trainer to keep clients engaged, accountable and on-task — a key advantage over online-only brain exercises. Their pioneering methods have been used in clinical settings for over 35 years and have been verified as beneficial in peer-reviewed research papers and journals. To learn more about LearningRx research results, programs, and their 9.6 out of 10 client satisfaction rating visit http://www.learningrx.com/.
