Donny McChesney, CTO Teacher-Driven, Student-Centered Math Education According to the NAEP Report Card, students are struggling to recover after the pandemic. Less than 40% of U.S. fourth graders are proficient in math, and students below the 25th percentile have been hit the hardest. Teachers today face classrooms with widening ability gaps and the impossible expectation […]
Donny McChesney, CTO The Problem When students struggle in math, we often assume the issue is content knowledge. But research shows that social-emotional learning (SEL) skills are powerful predictors of math achievement. SEL helps students manage emotions, stay motivated, and persist through challenges, precisely the qualities math learning demands. We look at four SEL factors
Donny McChesney, CTO The Problem: Boredom, Not Difficulty “Every maker of video games knows something that the makers of curriculum don’t … You’ll never see a video game advertised as being easy. Kids … say school is boring, not hard” (Papert, 1998). Nearly three decades later, this insight still rings true. Students crave challenge. Popular
Donny McChesney, CTO Tutoring Works One-on-one tutoring has long been one of the most effective interventions in education. Bloom (1984) famously found that students who received individual tutoring performed two standard deviations better than peers in traditional classrooms – the “two sigma” effect. More recent meta-analyses confirm that high-quality human tutoring yields effect sizes of
Donny McChesney, CTO Why Differentiation Matters Since Benjamin Bloom’s groundbreaking work on mastery-based learning, we’ve known that adapting instruction to the needs of each student can transform outcomes. In his studies, allowing students to learn at their own pace led to 80% of students reaching mastery – results previously achieved by only the top 20%
Donny McChesney, CTO Why Math Fact Fluency Matters Math fact fluency (the ability to instantly recall basic arithmetic like 7 x 8 = 56) provides a critical foundation for higher math. When students must calculate simple facts, they use up cognitive resources and time that could be spent on problem solving (Caron, 2007). Research consistently
By Don McChesney, CEO Every math classroom is filled with students who learn at different paces, bring varied levels of background knowledge, and need unique support. Differentiating instruction ensures that every student can engage meaningfully with math, build confidence, and achieve growth. Here are 10 practical strategies teachers can start using right away: How Zipline
By Don McChesney, CEO Grading can feel like an endless cycle – collecting work, scribbling comments, double-checking rubrics, and trying to keep feedback timely enough for students to actually use it. Math teachers know that feedback is essential for learning, but when class sizes are large and assignments pile up, giving meaningful feedback quickly can
By Don McChesney, CEO One of the most powerful shifts in a math classroom happens when students begin to recognize—and correct—their own mistakes. Instead of waiting for a teacher’s red pen or a test score to point out errors, self-correcting builds independence, deeper understanding, and confidence. Why Self-Correction in Math Matters When a student identifies
By Don McChesney, CEO For decades, math instruction has often followed a one-size-fits-all model. Teachers stand at the front of the classroom, presenting a lesson that moves at a set pace. Some students grasp the material quickly and are ready to move ahead, while others fall behind—struggling to keep up without the time or tools
