How to Improve Math Scores in Atlanta Public Schools

When it comes to performance in Math and English, Atlanta Public Schools covers a wide range of elementary schools - from some KIPP Academies with only around 10% of their students proficient in English and Math, to other schools with proficiency scores at 77 and 79% in 2023. In a large and diverse city like Atlanta, this shows the challenges some teachers can have in helping their students meet Georgia’s Math Standards.

This is especially true as Georgia has recently revamped its math standards. With Atlanta Public Schools putting the new standards into practice, math teachers have had plenty of homework to work through as they shift their methods and fold them into the new approach. The good news is that students are now encouraged to think flexibly about how to solve a problem and choose the way that works best for them.

However, they are demanding standards. For example, by 3rd grade, students are  already having to solve problems involving length, liquid volume, mass, and time - and analyze visuals like simple graphs. By 5th grade, they’re looking at polygons and rectangular prisms and by 7th grade, they’re solving multi-step problems. In 8th grade, students not only have to solve systems of linear equations but also explain why they used the strategies they used.

These standards - aligned with the Georgia Standards of Excellence and with Common Core - can mean some students feel they have to learn too much, too quickly. Further, the abstract nature of subjects like algebra means middle-school students may not see how math applies in the real world outside the classroom. Additionally, English Language Learners may have a difficult time understanding word-based math problems, for example. While APS’ new math standards try to address these issues, some students still risk becoming discouraged and disengaged.

The Atlanta Public Schools District is located in Fulton County, Georgia and is based in the city of Atlanta. The student body is diverse with Asian students accounting for about 1% of students, Black students accounting for just over 72%, Hispanic students at just under 8%, and White students making up almost 16% of the student body. The student/teacher ratio is quite low at around 12 to 1 but the average proficiency scores in mathematics slip from 19% in elementary schools to 18% in middle school and then fall to 16% by high school.

In 1869 the Atlanta City Council established the Atlanta Public Schools with 3 grammar schools for black students having been already set up in 1866 by the Freedmen’s Bureau. These were folded into APS around 1872 when the first 3 grammar schools for white students were built. By 1896 there were a total of 22 schools with 15 grammar schools for white students, 5 grammar schools for black students and 2 high schools for white students. In 1952, 38 schools from Fulton County Schools were placed under the authority of Atlanta Public Schools.

In the early 1960s integration proceeded rapidly and reportedly very smoothly in the Atlanta Public Schools District. However, many schools remained segregated. In response, the Compromise Desegregation Plan was agreed to in early 1972 between Atlanta Civil Rights leaders and the APSD. The district’s first African-American Superintendent, Dr. Alonzo A. Crims, was appointed in 1973.

The Atlanta Public Schools District has 61 elementary schools, 27 middle schools, 21 high schools, and 13 charter schools as well as 4 single-gender academies. It has over 50,000 students and nearly 4,000 classroom teachers. As of 2023, its 4-year graduation rate was nearly 87%. Total spending per student is around $20,000 while per-student instructional spending was around $10,800 for the 2022-2023 academic year.

In Clayton County Public Schools, Georgia’s 5th largest school system, some schools were juggling their students’ math needs by using different online platforms. That took time and was sometimes frustrating for teachers. When they started using Prodigy Math, they said they realized that the differentiation was automatic - it was built  into the platform which responds according to a student’s skill level and creates a suitable learning pathway. Because the math is embedded in a game - and not the other way around - teachers reported that students engaged and participated, learning math skills along the way. 

As Prodigy Math is web-based it can work on any device, which makes it easy to use, as well as being fun for students. Teachers said they even logged into the platform to battle their students, keeping them engaged while simultaneously increasing math confidence.  Further, Prodigy Math provides teachers with data on their students’ progress through the teacher dashboard. Teachers stated that Prodigy was easy for them to use and that students could easily access the platform from home or school. Math tournaments were set up on Prodigy, and teachers reported that they began to observe growing confidence in some of their quieter students.  

In Floyd County, Georgia, teachers pointed out that they were looking for math learning that was entertaining and meaningful. With Prodigy Math, they said that they found that kids loved playing it and became more engaged, adding to their math skills as they moved through the levels of the game. Prodigy Math is aligned to state and national math standards so the skills learned match the areas teachers need to cover with their students.
Additionally, in Floyd County, placement test results were reportedly shown to have improved with schools with a high usage of Prodigy and teachers at some schools even reported high usage of Prodigy Math on weekends. They said they were able to let parents know that they could send out practice on the exact skills a child needed in math by using Prodigy. Parents found that using Prodigy at home meant more time practicing math skills, helping students improve and build confidence.

Prodigy is a web-based digital learning platform which embeds math tasks and quizzes within an engaging online game students enjoy playing. It provides reports on students' progress to  teachers and  parents on the dashboard. Prodigy  can be played at home or at school on any device.

A key feature of Prodigy is that a student’s level is determined by the answers they give. The learning platform responds adaptively, giving each student an individualized pathway with skill-building math questions that challenge them while also encouraging them. Prodigy Math keeps them playing, answering, and building skills day after day, both in class and at home on their iPad, computer, or tablet.  

Exposure to math really matters because math learning is cumulative and every task builds towards a deeper understanding. Thus, the challenge for a teacher is keeping their math students engaged. As students move through Prodigy Math, they gain a better understanding of the mathematical concepts they need to know. This is important because  if a student has trouble with math in elementary school, middle school math can become an even tougher challenge. A supportive game-based learning platform is essential to ensure  students don’t get left behind. 

Teachers realized that Prodigy Math helped fill  gaps that students were facing, especially given the disruptions created by the COVID-19  pandemic. They realized that Prodigy would keep  students engaged with their math practice. Using Prodigy, several studies showed that:

• Students' enjoyment of math on average was shown to have improved after only a few months usage.
• The more students used Prodigy Math, the more their math scores were demonstrated on average to correlate with higher grades.
• A higher percentage of accurate answers to Prodigy Math questions tended to correlate to better scores in math exams.
• In a study, public school students in New Jersey who used Prodigy, were shown on average to make significant progress adding math skills every month.

Finally, progress monitoring with frequent reports through the Prodigy dashboard can help teachers to intervene and support math students in far more effective ways than is possible when not using digital game-based learning platforms. They are able to adjust their strategies based on the reports Prodigy provides them. And parents get to see their children’s progress in mastering new skills by using the parent dashboard and by receiving weekly reports.  

It should be clear that with over 2 million active daily users, Prodigy Math is an engaging learning tool that turns math practice  into a fun experience for kids, rather than an anxiety-inducing chore.