Why New York’s new math curriculum isn’t enough

This piece, co-authored by New Classrooms CEO Joel Rose and Teach for America New York Executive Director Tia Morris, was originally published in Crain’s New York Business. See below for an excerpt.

Earlier this spring, hundreds of thousands of students across New York City took their annual state assessments. These assessments serve an important role, helping educators, families, and policymakers understand whether students are on track for future success.

Among all the results, eighth grade math scores are especially telling. That’s because they show whether students are ready for Algebra I–a pivotal course for long-term academic and career success. Students who pass Algebra I by ninth grade are more likely to enter higher math and science courses, graduate high school, attend college, and earn more in the workforce; those who do not are four times more likely to drop out of high school.

Last year, just 44% of NYC 8th graders scored proficient in math. In some districts, that number was as low as 17%. This year’s results are unlikely to look much different: Far too many NYC 8th graders will once again enter high school unprepared for Algebra. This is about more than testing—it’s about breaking cycles that keep too many kids from accessing their full potential in what we know will be an increasingly technological and STEM-focused workforce.

The NYC Department of Education’s new initiative, NYC Solves, is an important step. But it is just focused on giving students high-quality instruction at their grade level–and that doesn’t do enough for students who have fallen behind. NYC also needs to give teachers evidence-based tools to help students learn the skills they missed in previous years.

Students fall behind in math for a simple reason: math is cumulative. Each concept builds on the next–and so if a student misses any learning, it can lead to years of struggle. If a student hasn’t mastered addition, they’ll struggle with multiplication. Without multiplication, they’ll struggle with division–and it goes on and on. When an 8th grader takes their math exam, they are in effect not just assessed on that year’s content, but on years of prerequisite learning. That’s one reason why proficiency rates in math tend to drop in the later grades.

So to help students catch up, educators need to not just teach that year’s curriculum, but also address each student’s unique skill gaps. That’s an enormous challenge. A classroom of 30 students could mean 30 different learning paths. It’s no wonder that teaching can sometimes seem impossible.

Fortunately, new research from TNTP and New Classrooms shows there’s a better way. When students received supplemental instruction through an online learning platform that taught the skills most important for Algebra I that they personally had not yet mastered—including those typically taught in prior grades—they were significantly more likely to succeed in Algebra I. With the right approach, it’s possible to challenge students with age-appropriate content while also filling in critical gaps from prior years.