CHALLENGE: Bridging gaps in math understanding Every September at Isaac E. Young Middle School, approximately 12 percent of 6th grade students (of roughly 400 total) were identified as needing math intervention. And it turns out that this need wasn’t limited to students. Many of the middle school teachers were not trained to provide—or not comfortable providing—math basics to students performing significantly below grade level, or teaching elementary math fundamentals at the K–5 level. A large percentage of the students at the school come from lower middle class or borderline poverty class families. Also the Latin population has doubled in recent years, bringing a large influx of immigrant families with beginning ESL needs. “Often kids in middle school have not been suff

Join for free to read