Math Awareness | Closing the Gaps & Connecting the Dots
The leading objective in the Careers2Communities (C2C) Program is to build math awareness throughout New Mexico. For years, the average mathematics score of eighth-grade students in New Mexico have trailed the national average1. Add on the additional learning loss challenges due to the global pandemic and the need to introduce innovative approaches to make significant progress is crucial.
The Program, funded by The Expanding Access to Well-Rounded Courses Demonstration Grant, seeks to resolve this challenge and more with a series of well-rounded courses to support math learning in New Mexico. As part of the program, all schools have free access to Pathway2Careers™ Curriculum, an online curricula and assessment for 8th Grade Math, Algebra I and II, and Geometry.
Pathway2Careers bridges the gap between traditional math outcomes and over 400 real, high-value careers in New Mexico. When students can connect math learning to tangible, well-paying careers, we expand the potential trajectory for students. This is particularly important for our rural students as noted in a recent article from The Hechinger Report. The report showed that rural and small-town students are not pursuing a career in math or science at the same rate as students in urban or suburban areas even though careers requiring STEM skills are projected to grow by 8 percent by 20292.
When all students can learn critical math skills by seeing how math is applied to meaningful, everyday tasks used in a variety of careers, we can begin to close the learning gaps across the state. Interested in learning more and implementing Pathway2Careers Curriculum for free? Click here.
Article Sources:
U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), various years, 2000-2019 Mathematics Assessments.
Barshay, Jill (July 12, 2021) PROOF POINTS: Rural American students shift away from math and science during high school, study finds – Lower math achievement, fewer course offerings and lower quality teachers block path to science, The Hechinger Report
Note: NS4ed is a collaborative partner of the Careers2Communities Program