"With Math I Can" Helps Encinitas Students Improve Mindsets

Written by Ashley Tarquin

District Educational Technology IB Coordinator and Teacher, Encinitas Union School District

“Just tell me if I have to add or subtract.”

Fifth-grade teacher Natalie Christ at La Costa Heights Elementary School got used to hearing this kind of exasperated comment as her students got stuck on a math problem. They didn’t want to know why or how to find a solution, they just wanted to get it out of the way.

“That sense of frustration and wanting to get rid of an uncomfortable feeling with a quick answer is the kind of mindset we’ve been working hard to change at the Encinitas Union School District. District-wide, teachers have been working with students to examine how they perceive their own abilities and work on skills that will help them develop real-world skills, like perseverance,” explained Dr. Leighangela Brady, Assistant Superintendent Educational Services.

In line with research by Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck and math education expert Jo Boaler, Ph.D., professor of mathematics education at Stanford University, when students feel like they can develop and grow their intelligence – a “growth” mindset – they achieve more. When they believe their intelligence is something that can’t be changed – a “fixed” mindset, they don’t do as well in school or in life.

Changing Math Attitudes

Our district is a partner with the Amazon company TenMarks, a digital math platform. As part of TenMarks, Amazon developed the “With Math I Can” initiative, which directly supports the growth mindset.

The With Math I Can initiative can support all types of students. It’s for those who say, “I’m not good at math.” We’ve found it’s also beneficial for students who have typically coasted through math, then all of a sudden hit a concept that gets hard.

The WithMathICan.org website has an entire library of tools to help our teachers support the growth mindset in math. When Ms. Christ first showed the videos from the website to her students, she encouraged them to listen to how the kids in the video felt about math, and then discuss their own reactions. As expected, some students hated math, some liked it, and some were in the middle.

But all the students agreed they had times when they feel stuck. The materials in the program helped students feel less alone, recognize that their frustration was temporary, and give them strategies to push through to reach success. Ms. Christ and the other teachers are there to provide support when things get difficult.

Third-grade Park Dale Lane Elementary School teacher Cori Grasley has been amazed and thrilled by the progress her students have made since taking the pledge.

“It’s incredible to see kids who didn’t think they were good at math are moving forward at such a rapid rate,” she said.

Ms. Grasley described how one of her students had a shut-down effect: when he felt he couldn’t complete a math task, he’d just stop working. Now, with an individualized goal sheet that is part of the WMIC program, he’s created a situation where he feels successful.

“Once students start to feel success, it’s a positive snowball effect – they want to achieve more,” Ms. Grasley said.

Moving Forward

Our Amazon partnership, including With Math I Can, is going to remain an integral part of our curriculum at Encinitas Union School District. The students have already achieved higher scores on the latest standardized math tests, and while we still need to analyze the factors that led to that success, I can’t help but think that our Amazon partnership played a role. The With Math I Can materials are free, so entire school districts, individual classrooms or even students at home can take the pledge.

Working with grit and determination and looking at mistakes as an opportunity to learn isn’t something that you teach students once. This is a journey and a process. We’re going to continue along this path for as long as it takes, until, instead of students saying, “I can’t do this,” they’ll be saying, “I can’t do this…yet,” with confidence.

Ashley Tarquin is the district educational technology IB coordinator at Encinitas Union School District (EUSD) as well as an Apple Distinguished Educator and a teacher at Ocean Knoll school. More than 5,400 EUSD students in kindergarten through 6th grade are involved in TenMarks and “With Math I Can.”