Math-O-Metry: Building In(ter)dependent Learners [A NEW IDEA]

As scholars enter our classrooms again after the pandemic, it is apparent that the gap between the "haves" and the "have nots" are wider than ever before. Many families are left in the dark during an endless stream of "transitions." They want to see their scholars do well, but are left in the dark as to how the system works. As a result, teachers are stressed, schools are stressed, parents are stressed and ultimately parents are stressed.

In the ideal world, a teacher would email each parent when there is a cause for concern. However, teachers are swamped and busy. They have lessons to plan, tests to grade and all sorts of compliance emails to send out.

In the ideal world, a parent would reach out to a teacher when they have a concern and send an email to the teacher asking the teacher for strategies to best help their student. However, some parents have obligations. They may be working a job that is 60 hours a week and they may not have to the time

ENTER: Math-O-Metry- an app that teaches students and families how to help themselves.

It would function similarly to a program like Khan Academy, IXL or Delta Math but have an interface that emphasizes communication with parents, teachers and students. It would use machine learning to detect when a student needs help and inform the teacher and the parent that support is needed for the student and can even bring them together proactively.

Here are some examples of how it would work:

• Steve is working through a problem set assigned on Math-O-Metry and is at the point where he gets 10 questions in a row incorrect. As the machine algorithm detects that Steve is getting less than 50 percent of the questions correct consistently, an alert is sent on the Teacher's dashboard. Additionally, the parent gets a text message that the student is struggling on a particular skill. The text message also sends the parent a help video so that parent and student can watch the help video at home.
• Seth has skipped 3 assignments in a row and appears to be disengaging from the class. He has not logged in to the program in a week. The machine algorithm detects disengagement and sends the parent a disengagement alert. The parent receives a text message saying something to the effect that:

"Seth appears to be disengaged in Mr/Mrs.___________'s math class. Seth has missed 3 straight assignments. Please click the link: so end an email with the teacher.

Also, please click HERE to read about strategies to best help Seth on his math homework"

The parent clicks on the link and a form email that reads:

Dear Mr./Mrs.____________

I am the parent of Seth and I am concerned with Seth's level of engagement in class. I would like some strategies from you concerning Seth. I would welcome your feedback so we can think about how to best help my student succeed.

(insert parent name)

• Enter Helen Smith, a parent who wants to understand what their student is doing and how their student is progressing? Helen Smith wants help her daughter with math but does not necessarily know how. Math-O-Metry can provide a dashboard of her daughter's progress including how many problems she has attempted. The machine learning algorithm can give the parent an idea of what the student's current math performance level is at. It can link the parent to help videos over current skills and link the parent to an online forum where parents can discuss with other parents best ways/strategies to help a student with a particular concept. Teachers at any time can assign a "diagnostic" that can provide the parent with their students' math level and provide a report with the students' strengths and weaknesses in real time.

Almost every parent that I have encountered in my years of teaching wants their student to succeed. The current practice of looking up their scholar's grades on a program like PowerSchool and crafting an email of concern to a teacher could easily take 15 or 20 minutes. For parents working 60 hours/week, every minute counts. What if we could streamline this act of communication to a text message and a click of a button?

And what if this click of a button led to a student and family to be part of a community of parent and teacher helping start a conversation as to what can be done to help their student succeed in math?