Partnership for LA Schools & DIRECTV Announce a $200K Investment in ST Math

The Partnership for L.A. Schools celebrated Digital Learning Day with the largest blended learning initiative at scale among urban public school districts nationwide. Ritter Elementary announced a $200,000 continued investment in MIND Research Institute’s ST Math in partnership with DIRECTV.
DIRECTV will deliver a “Math Challenge” to LA Partnership schools to run through the remainder of the school year in which weekly incentives will be presented to students and teachers who excel using ST Math. The Math Challenge will culminate in an end-of-year grand prize featuring an exclusive event for the middle school and elementary school with the highest ST Math usage.
The school has seen remarkable progress with blended learning, especially among elementary schools, since launch its program last year. The blended learning program included the implementation of MIND’s ST Math, an online and game-based math program geared toward elementary students.
Across its elementary schools, ST Math has results in a six percent point gain in math on state test scores compared to a flat average at the Los Angeles Unified School District.
At Ritter where ST Math has been used for the last five years, the numbers have proven even more dramatic, showing a 20 percent point gain — the fastest level of growth among all elementary schools. MIND recently honored the school with MIND’s School of the Year award.
Yet it’s not just test scores that ST Math is transforming in the classroom. The school has noticed a “trickle down” effect with longer siblings of students in the class at home. Because many of the students enjoy using the ST Math games and tools at home, siblings grow up watching and testing the program before ever stepping foot in kindergarten. Some students have even entered kindergarten proficient in math at their grade level.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villarigose, DIRECTV president and CEO Mike White, Partnership CEO Marshall Tuck, Ritter Principal Charlene Green, and hundreds of Ritter students gathered for the announcement yesterday in Los Angeles, Calif.
Disclosure: MIND is a Getting Smart Advocacy Partner