A Crisis in Texas:
In a typical Texas elementary school in an urban neighborhood, too many children learn significantly below the level they would need to prosper in the coming world economy.
A recent TNTP report called this educational condition a national crisis.
We provide In-Person Classroom Support for schools in our service area. Our goal is to deepen mathematical understanding, number sense, and problem-solving. We provide teacher training and support for managing math manipulatives.
Our Approach:
Students engage in hands-on learning by applying the TEKS process standards to acquire and demonstrate mathematical understanding. They periodically engage in number talks to cultivate computational abilities. And, students solve problems using model drawing and graphical organization.
School’s Curriculum:
We will follow the school’s curriculum; however, we will make any necessary adjustments to more effectively engage students in the TEKS process standards and problem-solving, during which students will practice model drawing and use graphic-organizing techniques.
Parental Partnership:
Our approach recognizes parents as the foundation for achieving significant educational growth among students. We strengthen this foundation by establishing a robust learning partnership among parents, students, and teachers.
Teacher Buy-in:
The classroom teacher should commit to 25 hours of additional Concrete–Pictorial–Abstract instruction (self-paced learning), remain actively teaching while the support person is in the classroom, and commit to a paradigm shift in instructional philosophy from teach-by-telling to teach-by-engaging students in process standards.
Our Support in the Classroom
We provide an on-site support person (two days per week per math class) who is skilled in teaching students to apply the TEKS process standards to acquire and demonstrate math learning.
Support the Classroom teacher. Reduce stress and workload.
Help schedule and manage math manipulatives.
Help demo proper application of math manipulatives & process standards.
Conduct small group intervention & enrichment.
“We must effectively implement reforms that have already been proven to work.”
See the Math
Math Reforms:
Student engagement in their own math learning is key to deepening students’ understanding and love of math (“…students must construct [mathematical] ideas for themselves” NCTM).
Consequently, it is essential to cultivate a learning community in which students can engage in their own learning. That requires that students develop a habit of patience and the capacity to support one another’s efforts to work through lessons and resolve conflicts constructively.
Also, our students engage with the math in accordance with the cognitive development of 3rd through 5th graders. Consequently, students engage in mathematical processes to acquire and demonstrate mathematical understanding as delineated in the TEKS 2012 guidance.