As I reflect on fiscal year 2024, I am not only really proud of the progress we've made and the potential that lies ahead, but genuinely excited. This year has been one of growth, innovation, and impact as we continue on our journey to transform math education. The commitment and energy from our teams, partners, and supporters have have been nothing short of inspiring. Together, we are truly reshaping how students experience and learn math.
A standout highlight of this year is the incredible strides we've made in the development of our new comprehensive curriculum, InsightMath. Field testing began in the 2024 school year, and the feedback has been positive with enthusiasm from both students and educators. InsightMath builds on the same neuroscience foundation that powers ST Math, leveraging the brain's natural way of learning to make math accessible and equitable for all learners. This is more than a curriculum—it's a pathway for teachers to deliver effective, joyful instruction while empowering students to become confident problem-solvers. As we continue addressing the ongoing challenges in math education, InsightMath is a pivotal tool for helping students not only catch up, but exceed expectations.
This year, we continued to bring opportunities to impact students beyond the traditional classroom setting. Community engagement programs like Family Math Weeks, through our MathMINDs offering aim to deepen relationships with math by changing the way math is experienced.
A major area of focus this year has been our continued investment in enhancing ST Math. Tremendous upgrades were made, including redesigned student experiences with new games and an island-themed student journey, an improved educator dashboard, and enhanced Puzzle Talks. These innovations ensure ST Math continues to be a powerful tool for teachers and students alike, supporting deep, conceptual understanding and engagement in math learning.
In addition, we deepened our partnerships with leading research organizations, working together to drive meaningful insights into how math is taught and learned. Our collaborations with these groups help ensure that our programs remain at the forefront of educational research, delivering outcomes that make a difference for all students.
The work we do is meaningful because of the collective dedication of our teams, our donors, and you—our supporters. Together, we are driving a movement that will redefine math education, ensuring all students have the skills and confidence to thrive in a complex world. Our vision remains bold and unwavering: a world where every student, every person, proudly says, “I am a math person.”
Thank you for your continued support and partnership as we work together to achieve this vision. With your help, the possibilities are limitless.
Brett Woudenberg
Chief Executive Officer
MIND Education & MIND Research Institute
We spoke with LeiLani Cauthen from The Learning Counsel podcast to discuss today's important topics in math education.
We sponsored the "Math the Way the Brain Learns" community on edWeb and hosted several webinars that resonated with educators.
We published an eBook and a white paper.
I Think, I Try, I Learn: Empowering the Next Generation of Thinkers underscores a transformative approach to math education by fostering creative problem-solving and critical thinking over traditional rote memorization, aligning with modern needs for future-ready learners. The eBook illustrates how engaging students in active learning can significantly improve their mathematical proficiency and prepare them for the challenges of tomorrow.
Recipe for Success in Gaining Momentum with Math highlights the critical role of neuroscience in enhancing math education, presenting evidence that spatial-temporal reasoning and visual learning can significantly improve students' conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills. By addressing both the challenges of post-pandemic learning recovery and enduring proficiency gaps, this white paper provides administrators and educators with actionable insights to foster robust math cultures and drive long-term student success.
The One8 Foundation has been instrumental in the success of ST Math in Massachusetts. One8 supports best-in-class applied learning programs to scale, providing educators with implementation support and training. In 2023-24, the Foundation helped us reach over 110,000 students in 288 schools across the state through their school grants and complementary programming. In addition, One8 is underwriting a rigorous evaluation to ascertain the impact of ST Math on student achievement, interest, engagement, and beliefs, as well assessing how implementation factors affect student and teacher outcomes. Together, MIND and One8 are preparing students to solve 21st Century challenges by fostering strong math foundations and skills such as critical thinking, complex problem solving, and collaboration.
Overdeck Family Foundation’s Innovative Schools portfolio aims to expand access to tech-enabled, student-centered K-9 learning environments, intentionally designed for all students to thrive. With a strategic emphasis on innovation, growth, and impact, the Foundation’s most recent two-year grant to MIND supports the continued development of InsightMath, our new core math offering, as well as ST Math, to improve usage and implementation. Through this partnership, MIND and Overdeck Family Foundation are working to accelerate math learning and empower students for life-long success.
EF+Math, a program of the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF), seeks to dramatically improve math learning outcomes for students in grades 3–8, with a focus on Black and Latino students, and students of all races experiencing poverty, by strengthening the core assets every student has — executive function (EF) skills. EF+Math supported MIND in developing MathFluency+, an innovative product that combines adaptive math fact fluency instruction with research-based executive function development in a digital game system. Preliminary results from a small pilot already demonstrate potential impact and we will continue to further validate MathFluency+ through a larger independent evaluation in 2025.
In 2023, the spotlight remained on ST Math and its wealth of resources for students, teachers, and families.
Coverage of MIND and ST Math appeared in:
