No-cost math platform for Oklahoma 5th & 8th graders - MetroFamily Magazine
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No-cost math platform for Oklahoma 5th & 8th graders

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Oklahoma students in the fifth and eighth grades now have access to an online, supplemental math platform. Imagine Math is being offered at no cost to public schools and districts for the 2020-21 school year.

Passed last legislative session, House Bill 4153 allocated $1 million to implement Imagine Math in schools across the state. The program provides comprehensive math lessons and tutoring with the goal of raising student achievement.

“Imagine Math provides the ability to meet students where they are and offer adaptive learning paths,” said Joy Hofmeister, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. “Beyond improving test scores, math skills are invaluable in the development of analytical and critical thinking, which reinforces concepts in all subjects and provides students a leg up in their postsecondary pursuits.

“Supplemental educational tools like Imagine Math are particularly critical this year, when we know our students have sustained learning losses as a result of the pandemic. We must take advantage of every opportunity to close instructional gaps to position our kids for long-term success.”

The platform works with the classroom teacher to tailor online instruction to the needs of individual students. Students can also access live 1:1 support from certified math teachers in English and Spanish after school hours. Imagine Math is fully aligned to the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Mathematics.

Oklahoma’s eighth-grade math scores have shown progress in the last few years. Oklahoma’s results from the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation’s Report Card, showed an increase of one to two points in eighth-grade math scores over 2017. At the same time, national scores remained flat or dropped slightly.

Fifth and eighth grade often serve as “bridge” years for students, transitioning from elementary to middle school and middle school to high school content, respectively. Imagine Math supports these students during critical transitions; fifth- and eighth-grade mathematics standards focus on the essential foundational skills needed for future coursework and real-world applications of mathematics.

More than 10,000 students already are signed up for Imagine Math. For more information on Imagine Math and to sign up, go to sde.ok.gov/mathematics.

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