Smarter Ways To Teach Math

Schools across the country have found new ways to make math add up for students-and the country's most recent "report card" is showing the results of that hard work.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, a study called the Nation's Report Card, which provides state-by-state educational data, shows across-the-board gains in mathematics. In fact, overall fourth-grade and eighth-grade math scores rose to all-time highs, according to the study. The news comes as many Americans have focussed on ways to help their children improve their math scores in an effort to help ensure that their children have more successful academic and financial futures.
To help, many schools have used new types of technology to teach kids math. For instance, an interactive computer program called Accelerated Math, by Renaissance Learning, Inc., helps educators personalize their lessons to each student in a classroom. The technology prints personalized math practice sheets for students, corrects their work and then reports their results. Detailed reports and record keeping functions give educators a daily snapshot of each student's progress and mastery.
The process makes it easier for teachers to gauge each student's individual strengths and weaknesses and to help kids meet state and federal test requirements.
Accelerated Math content is designed to work with existing math textbooks and is aligned to state standards. Teachers can learn more about how to use Accelerated Math by working with a specialist from the company.
The specialists advise on ways to use classroom-proven routines and best practices associated with the software, as well as ways to get the most time-saving benefits from the technology. For instance, teachers using the software need to grade fewer papers and develop fewer lesson plans, freeing them up to pay more attention to their students.
It's thought such technology can help schools remain competitive in the global academic arena.