Supporting Struggling Algebra I Students
Too many students taking Algebra I find themselves one or more grade levels behind in mathematics. Intensified Algebra, developed in collaboration with the Dana Center, the Learning Sciences Research Institute at the University of Chicago, and Agile Mind, is a research-based program for an extended-time Algebra class. It is designed to help students who are significantly behind become successful in algebra within one academic year.
Intensified Algebra incorporates the latest research on how struggling students learn, with strategies embedded throughout the course. The program is designed in a blended model, enabled by technology and supported with print materials. Key ideas from social psychology, including how the brain works, and learning mindsets are addressed with students from the beginning.
Other built-in supports include literacy and assessment strategies, various routines and structures, distributed practice, and supports for teachers. The curriculum includes rigorous, but accessible, treatment of topics that are most critical for success in algebra and future mathematics courses, and targets students' conceptual understanding, associated skills, and related problem-solving and reasoning capabilities.
