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With educators nationwide still puzzling over how to recover from the learning interruptions during the pandemic, the debate between remediation and accelerated learning is one of the hotter topics. 

But if you ask Patrick Jones, Senior VP of the Mind Trust in Indianapolis, about how to overcome learning gaps in math, you will hear a clear call for full steam ahead. 

鈥淎s we move into this space where students are struggling with exams,鈥� Jones said, 鈥渨e have to, one, stay on task with the current grade level that they鈥檙e in and spend more time teaching where they are, and we have to, two, embrace the idea of curiosity and creativity as they are problem solving.鈥�

In a , Jones noted the unique challenge of teaching math and how the process is more complex than simply adding layers of learning atop a foundation of knowledge.

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鈥淢ath was discovered, created over the course of thousands or hundreds of thousands of years,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd we expect kids to understand that whole body of knowledge within a 12-year span.鈥�

鈥淎 lot of people call math 鈥榝oundational鈥�, where you have this foundation to move into the next foundation. I believe that鈥檚 problematic because when you really understand mathematics, it鈥檚 compounding foundational, meaning the skills that are taught to understand the next skill, in some ways, can only just help you just fractionally with the next skill because the next skill is actually represented differently in the next stage.鈥�

As Jones sees it, there鈥檚 a danger in trying to 鈥済o back鈥� to teach foundational skills. 鈥淲hen you hold on to this, kids never gain access to the compounding foundation principle where this new idea will actually be represented in a different way.鈥�

There鈥檚 also a practical concern, Jones said. 鈥淚f I need this student to be proficient at the end of the day, there鈥檚 no way I can take the amount of time to go back to teach them how to solve fractions.鈥�

Lagra Newman, the founder of Purpose Prep Academy, a charter school in Nashville, saw first-hand the impact that the pandemic and remote instruction had on math learning. 鈥淭he pandemic hit us very hard,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hile we were proud of the virtual work our teachers did, of their dedication, of their transferring so many things to the virtual space鈥�, the reality is, there were lots of gaps that developed.鈥�

To overcome some of those gaps, she said, the school is 鈥渦sing the value of time.鈥�

鈥淥ur math block is 75 minutes and we鈥檝e added additional interventions for students based on their levels,鈥� she said. The goal is to 鈥渋ntervene very strategically based on what we鈥檙e seeing — the gaps that students are demonstrating and understanding that there鈥檚 going to be a lot more intervention taking place this year.鈥�

For students, Newman said, 鈥渋t鈥檚 exciting because they鈥檙e going to class; they鈥檙e moving forward with the lesson per our scope and sequence of making sure that we鈥檙e moving through and exposing students to those grade-level skills. But they are also excited about going into their intervention blocks to make sure that they鈥檙e getting the additional conceptual understanding that they need.鈥�

Newman also described a technique of 鈥渁ggressive monitoring鈥� in which teachers circulate a classroom looking to determine which students are accomplishing specific steps in math, and those who aren鈥檛. 

鈥淲e see what students are doing at every step,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e want to see that step: 鈥極K, that鈥檚 great, you move on to the next step. Oh, there鈥檚 a gap here, fix that before you move on to the next step.鈥�

Jo Napolitano, a senior reporter for 蜜桃影视, noted that some of the most significant impacts of the pandemic and remote learning have fallen on students in the later elementary school grades and in middle school. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when they get into a bit of more complex learning and principles that are difficult for some students to master,鈥� she said. 

鈥淚 think this definitely shows that not only are we not at pre-pandemic levels [of achievement}, but we鈥檝e got a very, very long road to get to a better place,鈥� she said.

Napolitano also pointed out that recent studies about pandemic-related learning gaps could easily be understating the problem. Some assessments have failed to include data from some of the poorest students, she said. 鈥淭hey either were unavailable to take them, whether it was in person or online, they just could not access that. So I would say in my reporting鈥�, these statistics may not include the children who would be performing at the lower levels.鈥�

鈥淚n reality, this picture could be worse on the ground because it doesn’t include the most vulnerable children.鈥�

Shennell McCloud, CEO of Project Ready in Newark, N.J., discussed the unique pressures that fell upon many parents and grandparents who had to step in as teachers during remote learning — pressures that were particularly acute for Black and Brown families.

For many parents, she said, the question was: 鈥淗ow do I show up for my child as now the teacher, engaging with a teacher who is providing me the resources and tools from a digital world? But the next question becomes how do I even get that access when either A) I don鈥檛 have access to the technology, B) I don鈥檛 understand how to work the technology, or C) maybe I have all of those things, but I don鈥檛 even have the access to the high-quality internet that is needed to get that access?”

One challenge with math learning that has remained constant before and during the pandemic is getting students excited about it. 鈥淎t Purpose Prep we鈥檙e constantly thinking about how we center our students at the learning, because we know that鈥檚 when they see themselves in what they鈥檙e learning and they鈥檙e so excited about it.鈥� 

She wants her students to know the history of math, and its origins in Africa. 鈥淭he oldest mathematical object was found in Africa,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat level of information empowers our children to understand that math is you!”

Likewise, Michelle Stie, VP of the National Math and Science Initiative, called for the education funds being distributed as part of President Biden鈥檚 American Rescue Plan to go to programs that stimulate students to enjoy math and use it as a problem-solving tool.

鈥淚 would just encourage schools to be thinking out of the box,鈥� Stie said, suggesting that new funds be spent on 鈥渄irect-to-student supports especially for those curricular activities like Mathcounts or like others that are really thinking about making math engaging, fun, relevant, focused on problem-solving and just a really relevant language for all students to help them thrive.鈥�

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