The 2019–2020 school year did not end on a high note. Due to the COVID-19 health pandemic, students were short changed in receiving the education promised to them at the beginning of the year. Between navigating a confusing remote-learning atmosphere and the stress that accompanies a nationwide health pandemic, students struggled with learning key concepts, which may hinder their abilities come fall.
Many students struggle to maintain grade-level knowledge and understanding of key concepts without the added burden of a global health pandemic. This is especially true in the subject of math. New Classrooms Innovation Partners reports that only 40 percent of students are proficient in grade-level math concepts in the fourth grade. As the students move up through the education system, the gaps in learning expand, causing students’ comprehension of cumulative concepts to fall further and further behind. This is a crisis identified by New Classrooms as The Iceberg Problem.
New Classrooms’ solution to The Iceberg Problem is its innovative learning approach, Teach to One: Math (TTO). TTO is a personalized, structured learning platform designed to meet each student where they are. It addresses individual learning gaps with designed modalities that help mend the gap, affording all students the ability to become college and career ready by high school graduation.
TTO’s online platform provides students, teachers, and parents with up-to-date progress reports and has helped improve student growth, success, and participation. Because of this technology, TTO made the transition to remote learning seamless for its partners across the country.
During the COVID-19 school shutdown, TTO partners were able to continue using the technology to keep their students on track. Many of the key aspects of TTO are technology based, including the personalized daily scheduling, adaptive curriculum, and progress reports known as exit slips.
When identifying TTO as a solution to help teachers and students during this unique time, co-founder of New Classrooms Chris Rush said, "Districts and schools are facing unprecedented challenges. It's been encouraging to see how quickly teachers and students are adjusting to this new reality. They are able to pick up where they left off."
The rapid response from TTO partners helped maintain engagement levels with a distance-learning environment. It allowed students to continue learning without falling behind, and teachers had the ability to track student success through the remainder of the school year.
TTO partners have expressed that the unique approach, though it encourages independent learning, has brought teachers together to provide a collaborative learning environment. Teachers and schools have built upon this idea of connectivity, which has allowed them to create innovative solutions to keeping students engaged in the remote learning environment.
TTO partner schools have created online learning labs using video technology such as Zoom meetings. Teachers have also kept themselves engaged and motivated by connecting virtually to discuss current issues and struggles that they may be facing with this new work environment or simply to destress and participate in a group fitness class.
New Classrooms also made sure to take care of teachers across the country by introducing a YouTube series entitled Timely Teacher Tips (T3). T3 spotlights TTO partner school teachers and employees, sharing everything from tips on improving student participation during virtual learning to maintaining a sense of community with virtual relationship building. The weekly series even includes tips for families, such as how to be productive when working from home with children.
New Classrooms Innovation Partners works hard to identify gaps in education, and providing a solution like Teach to One: Math is the organization’s answer to ensuring that all students are prepared for the road ahead. TTO partner schools have been impressed with the rapid response that the organization took to ensure learning continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they feel confident that students will return to school in the fall better prepared because of it.
About Teach to One: Math
Founded in 2011, Teach to One is an innovative and technology-driven personalized learning model that meets each student where they are at, building an educational roadmap to get them to where they need to be. Developed by the founders of New Classrooms Innovation Partners (New Classrooms), Teach to One ensures each student is learning the right math, at the right time, and in the right way. The transformative approach focuses on growing cumulative skills, offering eight different learning modalities, and providing insights through daily assessments. The Teach to One platform is based on a model designed and implemented by New Classrooms co-founders Joel Rose and Chris Rush called School of One. School of One was developed as a pilot for math students within the New York Department of Education (NYDOE) and, due to its success, was named one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of the Year in 2009.
Shifting its implementation model due to COVID-19, New Classrooms enhanced the offerings Teach to One provides to include personalized digital solutions called Teach to One Roadmaps and improvements of its original classroom design, named Teach to One 360. Teach to One 360 is a holistic, personalized learning model that provides teachers with the ability to tailor learning to each student’s unique strengths and needs every day, whether in a traditional classroom environment or through remote learning. Teach to One 360 offers an adaptive curriculum that uses analytics to provide students with personalized concept maps, a skills library, playlists, and assessments to conceptualize math learning and ensure they are developing lifelong habits of success.
Teach to One is currently used by thousands of students in schools across the nation. To learn more about Teach to One, visit www.teachtoone.org.
