District Administration - May 2010 - (Page 9)

ADVERTISEMENT Visual approach to math leads to big gains in Texas district ST Math, from the MIND Research Institute, helps students and teachers in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD They work at their own pace on a series our years ago, the growing of animated games that have no verbal pains at Cypress-Fairbanks ISD or written instructions; instead, the proin Texas were getting severe. gram is based on a visual, conceptual The district was adding 4,000 stuand problem solving approach. dents a year, and the percent of chil“ST Math matches our philosophy dren from families living below the about the way mathematics should be poverty level was growing by about taught, which is visually,” Bogard said. “It 3 percent annually. The ELL populadoes that very well, and in fact, it also tion also was growing. helps our teachers understand things The growing pains were particuabout mathematics that they didn’t relarly noticeable in math, according to ally know.” Jennabeth Bogard, the elementary The program’s activities are hosted math coordinator at Cypress-Fair“ST Math matches our by an engaging penguin named JiJi , who banks. The worst math scores in the philosophy about the way silently indicates if a student has sucdistrict were coming from students in ceeded in a game by confidently crosssecond and third grades. mathematics should be have a Meanwhile, the enrollment growth taught, which is visually.” ing a little bridge.a“Igrocery JiJi t-shirt and when I walk into store kids just was requiring the district to hire many swamp me and ask if I know about JiJi the new elementary school teachers, and administrators were having difficulty finding enough candi- penguin,” Bogard said. “They love the program.” To help her track the students’ progress with ST Math, MIND dates with advanced math skills, according to Bogard. “Elementary math teachers don’t get a lot of real back- Research sends Bogard regular emails alerting her about ground in mathematics in universities,” Bogard said. “The classes where students are not getting enough time on the mathematics they know is basically the mathematics that program. “We’re awash in data, so these emails are very helpful,” Bogard said. “They prompt me to send a note to the buildthey remember from their years in school.” Faced with the need to quickly improve student math ing principal, and that usually addresses the problem.” Evidence of the program’s effectiveness can be seen in the scores at a time when many teachers needed their own professional development in math, the district in 2006 piloted district’s test scores, according to Bogard. “We are seeing inST Math, supplemental math instructional software that uses creased performance,” she said. “We’ve seen improvement in our grade three state test scores each year, and the prelimia visual approach. ST Math was developed by the MIND Research Institute, a nary data indicates we are going to get a big jump this year.” Bogard added that ST Math has also had a beneficial side non-profit organization in California, based on many years of neuroscience and education research. The program’s visual effect with teachers. “They are watching what the kids are approach to math instruction is incorporated into self-paced doing,” she said. “We think it has helped them understand activities that align to state standards and complements any some of these math concepts in ways that make them better third-party textbook. In addition to the K-5 version used in teachers.” Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, there is a middle school edition for For more information about ST Math, Please visit www.mindresearch.net. Algebra Readiness. Over the past three years, Cypress-Fairbanks implemented ST Math for second and third grades in 31 of its 50 elementary schools, mainly targeting Title 1 populations. Students use the program for 90 minutes a week, mostly during school but sometimes before or after school hours. F http://www.mindresearch.net http://www.mindresearch.net

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - May 2010

District Administration - May 2010
Contents
Tech Disruptions
From the Editor
News Update
Technology
Conversations
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Problem Solution
Power to the Students!
Lone Star
Racing for Reform
Department of Education Revives Civil Rights Office
New Products
Product Focus
Crisis Response
Supervisor’s Opinion
Professional Opinion

District Administration - May 2010