New Orleans, Apr 3, 2014 The popular ST Math® visual learning program will unveil several new programs for middle and high school students at the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics Annual Conference, April 7-8 in New Orleans.
The new programs build on ST Math’s successful pre-school through fifth grade curricula and expand the previously available middle and high school offerings, which were limited to intervention and fluency programs. The new programs are ST Math: Grade 6, ST Math: Middle School Supplement, and ST Math: High School Intervention.
“As a society, we desperately need students to be proficient in mathematics so they can succeed in high school, college and the future workforce,” said Matthew Peterson, Ph.D., creator of ST Math and co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of MIND. “Expanding ST Math programs to middle and high school and beyond is critical to our mission of ensuring every child is mathematically equipped to solve the world’s most challenging problems.”
The impact of the ST Math curricula from kindergarten through fifth grade on student math achievement has been proven in numerous analyses over the years. Schools using ST Math consistently experience double to almost triple the growth in percentage of students testing proficient or better on state standardized math tests, when compared to similar schools not using the program. The same results are expected with the new curriculum.
“The outstanding and repeatedly proven results of ST Math: K-5 make the new ST Math programs a welcome and promising option for educators seeking to move the needle on middle school math performance,” said Tom Vander Ark, author of “Getting Smart: How Digital Learning is Changing the World” and CEO of Getting Smart, an education advocacy firm.
The ST Math programs now available to middle and high schools are:
• ST Math: Grade 6 has been added to the existing ST Math: K-5 program, to complete ST Math: K-6. The program contains on-grade-level curriculum for each grade level that complements the core curricula and moves all students toward reaching deep conceptual understanding of math topics.
• ST Math: Middle School Supplement prepares students for success in Algebra 1by remediating students on concepts from previous grade levels and by building students’ conceptual understanding of select on-grade level math concepts from 6th, 7th and 8th grade mathematics. The software is designed to connect interactive visual models to abstract concepts and language components for each math topic. The built-in diagnostic tool personalizes the learning path for students and gives each student the intervention content that he or she needs. Individualized student reports provide teachers with diagnostic results and real-time content mastery for each student.
• ST Math: High School Intervention is designed as an intervention for high school students performing below grade level to prepare them for success in Algebra 1. The intervention identifies students’ math readiness through a built-in diagnostic, prescribing a learning path for each student that connects interactive visual models to abstract concepts and language components for each math topic. Individualized student reports provide teachers with diagnostic results and realtime content mastery for each student.
• ST: Math Fluency, which builds speed and accuracy with addition and multiplication facts as an intervention program, will continue to be available to schools, rounding out MIND Research Institute’s program offerings for middle and high schools.
Developed by neuroscientists, MIND’s ST Math instructional software provides visual, computer-based math games that support deep understanding of concepts covered by math standards at each grade level. Because the program does not rely on language proficiency or prior math proficiency, it is accessible to English Language Learners and children with learning disabilities. Students use ST Math in a blended learning environment. The teachers are trained how to connect the visual puzzles to their conventional symbolic texts, and coached how to guide pupils through challenging sections by getting them to express their thinking, rather than simply showing them the solution.
ST Math is currently used by more than 630,000 students in 35 states, including in large urban districts such as Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia and Seattle.
Those interested in test driving the middle school games can visit the MIND Research Institute at booth 707 at the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics Conference, April 7-8, or booth 1627 at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Conference, April 9-12. Both conferences are being held at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside.
About MIND Research Institute
MIND Research Institute is an education nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that all students are mathematically equipped to solve the world’s most challenging problems. MIND's distinctive visual approach to math and problem-solving is the basis of its innovative, research-proven ST Math® programs for elementary and secondary schools. MIND's programs currently reach over 630,000 students and 25,000 teachers in 2,050 schools in 35 states. For more information, visit www.mindresearch.org.
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