Worries about lackluster student academic performance in math – as evidenced by scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress – have grown significantly in recent years. These concerns aren’t limited to learning in the early grades. Many K-12 leaders and classroom educators say students’ struggles are particularly acute during middle and high school, when students’ foundational weaknesses in math are exposed.
In this forum, we’ll uncover the nature of students’ weaknesses in secondary-level math and share research and insights that will help district administrators, school leaders, and educators find a path forward.
Join us to:
- See survey data collected from educators across the country on the shortcomings they see in math
- Explore the promise – and potential limitations – of efforts to “personalize” math instruction through AI
- Hear from researchers and educators who have made inroads with a major student population – English learners – in middle and high school level math
- Examine how school districts are attempting to fight back and support students, and much more!
First time K-12 Essentials Forum attendee? Learn more about our free virtual forums.
Agenda
2:00pm ET
Welcome & Introduction
We'll highlight key insights from recent Education Week reporting on how schools are assisting middle and high school math students who are struggling.
Sean Cavanagh is the Managing Editor of Education Week.
2:10pm ET
Interactive Session: Middle and High School Students’ Core Math Skills – and Their Biggest Weaknesses: How Much Do You Know?
Where do district and school leaders and teachers see the biggest academic challenges among students – at the elementary, middle, or high school levels? We ask our audience for their impressions and compare them against the results of an EdWeek Research Center nationally representative survey of educators around the country.
2:20pm ET
Industry Perspective: The Near Future of AI in Math: Tutoring vs. Remediation
Sponsor content provided by Voyager Sopris Learning
Over the last five years, we have heard a number of predictions about how AI will create a “tutor for everyone” by the end of the decade. Secondary mathematics is a particularly ripe target for this kind of assistance given the recent drop in 8th and 12th grade NAEP scores and the decline number of “college ready” students in math. This brief presentation will focus on the difference between the potential tutoring capabilities of AI systems and the deeper and more difficult problem of addressing the needs of students who are a year or more behind in mathematics. Recent experimental research conducted by Deep Mind shows some promise for systems that help students with a specific topic. However, how to address the needs of a student operating at the fifth grade level in an eighth grade classroom is an entirely different matter.
Over the last five years, we have heard a number of predictions about how AI will create a “tutor for everyone” by the end of the decade. Secondary mathematics is a particularly ripe target for this kind of assistance given the recent drop in 8th and 12th grade NAEP scores and the decline number of “college ready” students in math. This brief presentation will focus on the difference between the potential tutoring capabilities of AI systems and the deeper and more difficult problem of addressing the needs of students who are a year or more behind in mathematics. Recent experimental research conducted by Deep Mind shows some promise for systems that help students with a specific topic. However, how to address the needs of a student operating at the fifth grade level in an eighth grade classroom is an entirely different matter.
John Woodward
Mathematics author, Writer, and Speaker
Dr. John Woodward is a nationally recognized mathematics author, writer, and speaker. He is the past dean of the school of education and professor emeritus at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA.
2:30pm ET
Panel Discussion: Can Tech 'Personalize' Math for Secondary Students?
For years, school districts have sought academic strategies and programs that would help them customize or “personalize” instruction in math – and the promises and hype have continually outpaced reality. Could artificial intelligence technologies open new doors to tailoring classroom strategies to individual student needs, in ways that previous efforts to achieve person-to-person customization in math learning have not? We’ll look at examples of the customization teachers are already attempting.
Alyson Klein is an assistant editor for Education Week.
Burcu Arslan
Research Scientist,
ETS Research Institute
Dr. Burcu Arslan is a research scientist at the ETS Research Institute with a Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence, an M.S. in Cognitive Science, and a B.S. in Statistics. Her interdisciplinary work combines AI, cognitive science, and statistical modeling to advance educational assessment through personalization, process data modeling, and designing interactive assessment tasks to measure complex skills.
Nicola Hodkowski
Director, Mathematics Education Research ,
Center for Learning Sciences Research at Digital Promise
Al Rabanera
Academy Department Chair and STEAM Lead Teacher,
La Vista High School, CA
Dr. Al Rabanera is a high school math educator at La Vista High School in Fullerton, California, where he serves as Academy Department Chair and STEAM Lead Teacher. His work centers on helping students build identity, agency, and belonging in mathematics.
3:15pm ET
Panel Discussion: How to Meet English Learners' Need in Math: Let's Talk Classroom Strategies
EdWeek recently reported on how different schools are trying to support English learners as they navigate the complexities of math at the middle and high school level. Students are faced not only with new concepts, but also with a specialized, often confusing language. In this session, we'll talk with researchers who've looked at strategies for supporting ELs in math, and teachers who are on the ground, making it happen in classrooms.
Jennifer Vilcarino is a digital news reporter for Education Week.
Zandra de Araujo
Director of Mathematics,
University of Florida Lastinger Center for Learning
Dr. Zandra de Araujo is Director of Mathematics at the Lastinger Center for Learning at the University of Florida. Her work focuses on mathematics teacher professional development and instruction for multilingual learners. She has led numerous funded projects, published extensively in mathematics education, and received national recognition for her contributions, including early career awards from the University of Missouri and the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators. She currently serves on the board of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators and previously served on the boards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and TODOS: Mathematics for All.
Anna Kyle
Math/ESOL Teacher,
Annandale High School, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
Habiba Machkor
ESOL Teacher,
Annandale High School, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
3:45pm ET
Interactive Session: Foundational Weaknesses and Pressure Points in Math
In which specific areas -- from overcoming math anxiety to finding effective teaching strategies to help students with remedial skills -- do middle and high schools face the greatest challenges in supporting students in math? And what are the math concepts where they see the biggest foundational weaknesses -- from fractions to geometry to number sense? We'll compare our audience's responses with the results from an EdWeek Research Center survey of the nation's educators.
3:55pm ET
Closing Thoughts & Key Takeaways
Hear the big ideas and takeaways from the event.
Sean Cavanagh is the Managing Editor of Education Week.
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