Nebraska company aims to improve student math proficiency

A Nebraska-based company wants to solve low math proficiency scores across both the state and nation by using a new professional development tool.

Merritt Nelson, CEO and founder of ImpactED Global Inc., said the company spent two years with a team of researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln diving into the reasons behind low math scores in kindergarten through eighth grade.

“If we get to the root cause of this, if we figure out what's causing the math proficiency crisis and then build a tech solution that we can scale, we feel like we can change the direction and the trajectory of these bad math scores,” Nelson said.

According to Nelson, one out of four eighth graders is proficient in math nationally, and one out of three fourth graders is proficient.

The teams at ImpactED and UNL discovered there was a disconnect between how educators were teaching math and what students were being tested on. Nelson said teachers show students how to do the steps, but not necessarily the concept behind the steps.

“What teachers are thinking is, ‘If my students get the answer, then they're proficient. They know how to do math,’” Nelson said. “But then, the students go to the assessments, and they're not asked for the answer. They're asked for ‘Show how you know that six times six is 36,’ and they're like, ‘Wait a minute. I know that six times six is 36, but I don't know how to show it.’”

Researchers asked the 82 teachers involved in the survey to answer questions about each of the five content standards: number, geometry, data, algebra and ratio. They found that while 75-80% had a general or expert understanding of math standards, when it came to awareness of those standards and knowledge of student proficiency, only 55-70% felt effective.

With that issue in mind, Nelson and his team set out to help teachers improve their lessons so students are better prepared for assessments. They started out with a pilot program in an eastern Nebraska school, where school administrators worked with teachers in person.

Lisa Fye used to be a principal and is now vice president of innovation and strategy for ImpactED. She and her assistant principal would meet with grade-level teams weekly to discuss standards, how to teach them and how to help students learn them.

“Teachers’ confidence went up, students’ confidence went up and student achievement increased significantly,” Fye said. “Ultimately, that's your goal.”

Over the course of three years, math proficiency increased by 21% in the pilot school. Fye said quality math instruction creates more paths for students in their life.

“Math is used every day, but it's also an area where if you're not successful in English language arts, you can be successful in math,” Fye said. “Math is for some people. It may not be for everyone, but it is for some students, and we need to make sure they have a really rich experience.”

Nelson said there are many careers in STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — where students utilize the skills and concepts they learn in math class.

“When they go to do their next thing — could be a four-year college, could be a two-year college, could be a trade, it could be just to be a productive member of society — we want them all to be proficient in math, because math is a universal language,” Nelson said. “There's nothing that they're going to do in their future, in their careers, that doesn't have an element of math in it.”

Based on the pilot program, ImpactED is forming an online video library to release in August so math teachers can access professional development on their own time. Nelson said schools in Nebraska and Florida are already working with ImpactED, as well as the entire state of Montana. He also said the company is working on a contract with California that would service about 160,000 teachers.