Episode 226 - What the Research ACTUALLY Says About Helping Struggling Math Students

In this episode, I'm making a confession: there's a free, research-backed guide for helping struggling math students that I haven't done a good job of telling you about and I've found that most educators have never even heard of. It's the 2021 Institute of Education Sciences and What Works Clearinghouse practice guide, Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics, and all six of its recommendations earned the WWC's highest rating: Strong Evidence. I share why this guide stands apart from the usual opinion-driven debates in elementary math, give you a quick tour of what's inside (including one recommendation guaranteed to raise some eyebrows), and explain why working through it together as a summer book study beats reading the PDF alone. If you want a clear, evidence-based picture of what actually helps your struggling students before the school year starts, consider this your invitation. Join the free 3-week summer book study: https://buildmathminds.com/bookstudy26

After 26 years, Susan Jo Russell's three-part definition of math fluency - accuracy, efficiency, and flexibility - is finally making its way into state math standards. In this episode, I'm celebrating this long-overdue shift, highlighting recent updates in Washington State and Iowa that now explicitly include flexibility alongside accuracy and efficiency in their fluency standards. Using a relatable cooking analogy, I break down why flexibility isn't just nice-to-have - it's the difference between students who can only follow a procedure and students who can truly think mathematically. I also share where you can learn more to help you make this shift in your own classroom, school, district, or even your state. Let me know whether your state has made this change, head to the comments to let me know where you and your state stands!

After 10 years of running the Virtual Math Summit, here's what I've learned: what matters isn't the objective you planned. It's the residue - what actually gets left behind once it's over.  My objective in creating the summit all those years ago was to help you build your math mind…but the residue isn't always something about the mathematics. Last weekend we wrapped up the 10th annual Virtual Math Summit. Over a million minutes of PD watched in just two days. And this week I went through the survey results to find out what residue people were actually taking away. In this episode I share the six themes that kept showing up - from the power of listening to student thinking, to the confidence to just start implementing now even when you don't feel ready, to what the neuroscience of math actually tells us about how kids learn. I also share one form of residue that I never thought about when I started the summit, but it might just be the most important. Sessions are still free through Monday, March 9th at 10pm Pacific. Go to VirtualMathSummit.com to register and I'll send you the link to watch the replays before they come down.

Most educators who want math to be taught conceptually are the only one in their building trying to do it. They go to a workshop, get excited, and come back on Monday to a team still teaching algorithms and admin who wants scores to go up. The excitement fades and not because the idea was wrong, but because doing hard things alone is exhausting. In this episode, the last one before the 10th annual Virtual Math Summit, I talk about why that isolation is the real barrier to change in math classrooms, and why community matters more than information. I also share what I've seen happen over 10 years of the summit: the thing educators say most isn't "I learned a great strategy." It's "I finally felt like I wasn't the only one." So pick your one thing you want to learn about and get registered for the 2026 Virtual Math Summit (Feb 28 – Mar 1) so you can find your community. There are 34 free sessions, keynotes from Dr. Kristopher Childs, Dr. Raj Shah, Pam Harris, and Graham Fletcher, free Brainingcamp access for all registrants, and giveaways during live sessions. Register free at VirtualMathSummit.com

The CRA Model isn't a linear path. It's a Venn diagram. And when you hit the Sweet Spot, where concrete, representational, and abstract all overlap, that's when the magic happens. In this episode, I'm revisiting one of my favorite topics and showing you why hands-on and visual learning matter MORE than ever for upper elementary students. Two examples of the CRA Sweet Spot: Early elementary: 7 + 8 on a Rekenrek (concrete) → drawing it on a number path (representational) → writing the equation (abstract) Upper elementary: 3 × 1/4 with fraction tiles (concrete) → drawing rectangles or number lines (representational) → symbolic notation (abstract) Why manipulatives aren't just for little kids: Upper elementary is when math gets MORE abstract. But if students don't have concrete and visual experiences to anchor their understanding, they end up memorizing procedures without knowing what they mean. How to normalize manipulatives: Don't make them optional or "for struggling students only." Make them available for everyone. Model using them yourself. Show students that even YOU use tools to think through problems. Tools that help: Brainingcamp (digital manipulatives) - All Virtual Math Summit registrants get 6 months FREE access Didax (physical manipulatives) - Celebrating 50 years! Giveaways during live summit sessions The CRA Sweet Spot isn't just for younger kids. It's for upper elementary too. Don't skip the connections, that's what makes the learning stick! Virtual Math Summit (Feb 28-Mar 1): 34 FREE sessions Sessions from John SanGiovanni, Ryan Dougherty, Sara VanDerWerf & Nina Smith Brainingcamp 6 months free access for all registrants Didax giveaways during live sessions (must be present to win) 10 Build Math Minds memberships given away during live sessions Register at VirtualMathSummit.com to learn from experts to help you incorporate more of the CRA into the classrooms.

Building Thinking Classrooms is powerful—but when teachers try to implement all 14 practices at once, it falls apart. In this episode, I share a better approach for math coaches: focus on ONE practice based on what your teachers actually want to improve. I walk through why the "all at once" approach backfires, how to choose which practice to start with, and how to build incrementally so changes actually stick. Plus, I'm sharing three sessions at our free Virtual Math Summit that dig deeper into BTC—including a session from Peter Liljedahl himself specifically for math coaches on navigating the messy middle of implementation, Maegan Giroux on what kindergartners taught her about thinking classrooms, and Tammy McMorrow on building math identity and belonging. Register for free at VirtualMathSummit.com 

In this episode I'm saying something that might surprise you: Flexibility alone isn't enough for math fluency. I know, I know. I literally have courses called The Flexibility Formula. I talk about flexibility ALL THE TIME. But here's the thing: We've swung the pendulum too far. The problem: For years, we taught fluency through drill type worksheets, timed tests, and memorization. That had major downsides (anxiety, math avoidance, kids forgetting everything over summer). So the pendulum swung the other way. Now we're ONLY focusing on flexibility by building number sense, using strategies, and seeing relationships. And that's not working either. The solution: True math fluency has THREE components—Accuracy, Efficiency, AND Flexibility. Students need all three. In this episode, I break down: The Fluency Framework: Accuracy - Getting the right answer Efficiency - Getting there in a reasonable time (not 1 second, but not 5 minutes) Flexibility - Having multiple strategies and seeing number relationships Here's the key insight: When kids have flexibility with numbers—when they see relationships and can use strategies—they can figure out problems without shutting down. However, for facts to eventually become automatic, students do need repetition and practice. Fluency isn't just Flexibility and it isn't just Efficiency. Students need all 3. 3 ways to help teachers stop the pendulum swing: 1. Get on the same page about what fluency means.  2. Introduce purposeful practice structures.  3. Help them understand the progression. Resources mentioned: The Flexibility Formula courses: BuildMathMinds.com/enroll 2026 Virtual Math Summit sessions from Pam Harris, Dan Finkel, and Becky Lord Register free at VirtualMathSummit.com The pendulum needs to stop in the middle. Flexibility is necessary but not sufficient. Students need all three: Accuracy, Efficiency, and Flexibility.

Over the past few weeks, I've had AI generate 13 math lessons.  Teachers ARE using AI to generate lessons—whether we like it or not. So instead of pretending that's not happening, I decided to put AI to the test. Can it actually create good math lessons? The short answer? Not really. But the insights I gained from evaluating those 13 AI-generated lessons? Those apply to ANY math lesson—AI-generated or straight from your textbook. In this episode, I share the 3 biggest things I learned: Lesson #1: AI needs tons of detail in your prompt. I started with simple prompts like "Create a lesson for this standard" and got surface-level, procedural lessons. Even when I added more detail, AI still missed the mark. To get a truly good lesson, you'd need to give AI so much detail that you might as well write the lesson yourself. Lesson #2: AI doesn't know learning progressions. This is the biggest problem. AI assumes the standard you give it is exactly what students are ready for RIGHT NOW. But standards are where students need to be at the END of the year. AI doesn't understand where students typically are at the beginning, what foundational concepts need to be in place first, or where YOUR specific students are in their learning journey. Lesson #3: AI lessons are a starting point, not a finished product. Bottom line: I don't recommend using AI for lesson plans. But if you do, evaluate it with a critical eye and modify based on what you know about your students and the learning progression. So what IS AI good for? Analyzing data to find patterns in coaching cycles or assessment data Generating differentiated materials as a starting point Drafting communication and handouts (that you then edit) AI can handle mundane tasks so you have more time for the human work—coaching conversations, relationship-building, and instructional decision-making. My YouTube Shorts series: I'm doing a series called "AI Made This Lesson, Let's Make It Better" where I show you—in under 2 minutes—how to improve AI-generated lessons. But here's the thing: those same modifications apply to textbook lessons too. Watch them all (even if they're not your grade level) because the advice applies everywhere. Resources mentioned: YouTube Shorts playlist: "AI Made This Lesson" 2026 Virtual Math Summit sessions from Dr. Kristopher Childs and Dr. Nicki Newton Register free at VirtualMathSummit.com AI isn't going away. So let's learn how to use it wisely. Register at VirtualMathSummit.com to learn from experts about how to use AI in Education in the best ways.

 Teachers are overwhelmed, students are struggling, and the strategies that worked pre-pandemic aren't working anymore. In this episode, I tackle one of the biggest mindset barriers happening right now: "They should already know this." Yeah, they should. But they don't. So now what? I'm giving you three practical coaching strategies to help teachers shift from "they should know this" (which leads to frustration and blame) to "here's where they are and here's how we move them forward" (which leads to action and hope). You'll learn: How to help teachers identify the actual gap so it feels manageable, not overwhelming How to reframe "catching up" as "building forward"—addressing foundational gaps within current instruction How to normalize where students are and reset expectations around the timeline Math recovery is taking longer than reading recovery since the pandemic. Your teachers aren't failing—they're working with a different reality. Resources mentioned: 2026 Virtual Math Summit sessions from Jen Hunt, Graham Fletcher, Ann Elise Record, and Dr. Sue Looney Register free at VirtualMathSummit.com Whether you're a math coach, instructional coach, or administrator supporting math teachers, this episode will help you address one of the most common (and most damaging) mindsets holding us all back right now. Register at VirtualMathSummit.com to learn from experts to help your staff Build Forward.

In this episode, we tackle a hot topic in education: the Science of Math. Inspired by a podcast about women's health and a meeting with state math supervisors, I'm exploring two critical questions educators need to ask when applying research to their math instruction. First, is a powerful parallel I had when I heard: "Women are not small men" and that helped me think that math is not reading.  Let's challenge the common practice of taking research from reading instruction and automatically applying it to mathematics without questioning whether it actually fits. Just because something works for teaching reading doesn't mean it will work for teaching math—our brains process these subjects differently. Second, I challenge you to really take a look at the good and bad of what research suggests we do through the lens of timed tests. While research shows timed tests can increase fact retention, I ask the important follow-up questions: What about student anxiety? What about their enjoyment of math? I break down the actual benefits of timed tests (goal-setting, measuring progress, feeling achievement) and challenge listeners to find ways to get those benefits without the negative side effects. I'll leave you with two key questions to ask whenever you hear about "what the science says": Was this research actually done with mathematics, or are we borrowing from another field? If the research looks good but feels wrong, can you get the benefits without the downsides? Resources mentioned: Christina's previous video on timed activities 2026 Virtual Math Summit featuring Douglas Clements' session on The Science of Math - Register free at VirtualMathSummit.com Whether you're a teacher, math coach, or administrator, this episode will help you think more critically about the research you're applying in your math instruction. Get any resources/links mentioned in this episode at BuildMathMinds.com/217