How to Improve Math Scores in Miami-Dade County and Broward County Public Schools

As a teacher in Miami-Dade County Public Schools, you understand that whether a student is in your classroom, or in Miami Dade Online Academy, or attending Miami Dade Virtual School with classes on their computer, they all have to meet the B.E.S.T. (Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking) Standards for Mathematics, rolled out in 2020.
Like the new standards in neighboring Georgia, or the math standards on the coast in California, Florida’s B.E.S.T. Math Standards can be demanding. From “decomposing” geometric figures in 1st grade, learning about the “attributes” of quadrilaterals in 3rd grade, understanding the mean and data in 5th grade, developing an understanding of probability in 7th grade, to using the Law of Exponents and applying the Pythagorean Theorem in 8th grade, there’s lots of math to be learned.

Covering Miami-Dade County in Southeastern Florida, Miami-Dade County Public Schools has over 410 schools, including over 170 elementary schools, over 337,000 students, and over 34,000 employees. It’s the 3rd largest school district in the country, has a graduation rate of around 94% of students, and is one of Florida’s Academically High-Performing School Districts according to Florida’s Department of Education.

The Dade County Board of Education first met in 1885 and the first school, Coconut Grove School, was built in 1887. In 1915 Broward County was created and in 1928, George Washington Carver Senior High, the first school for Black Americans in Dade County opened. From the mid-40s through the mid-70s, 16 high schools, 30 middle schools, and 45 elementary schools were opened to accommodate the rising population in Miami-Dade. Meanwhile, the integration of schools in the district began in 1959 and continued throughout the 60s. The 80s and 90s saw waves of immigrants, many from Latin America, requiring the construction of around 40 new schools in the early 2000s. In 2004 the Miami-Dade Public School District schedule was adjusted with classes now beginning in early August, and in the 2010s there was an emphasis on magnet programs and advanced education programs.

The State of Florida now requires, as of 2024, what are called the FAST (Florida Assessment of Student Thinking) Exams for Mathematics They replaced the FSA exams over the period 2022-2024. The FAST exams are aligned with Florida’s B.E.S.T (Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking) Standards. 

In over 100 Miami-Dade public schools, there are a large number of Magnet Programs available, with a focus on specific areas - for example, STEM, Public Service, International Advanced, or Information Technologies. Additionally, in Miami-Dade County Public School District over 160 languages are spoken by students, hardly surprising for the 2nd largest minority-majority school district in the U.S. In fact, Hispanic students represent around 62% of the student body, with Black students at 25% and Non-Hispanic White students at around 10%. 

Broward County is just north of Miami-Dade County and south of Palm Beach County. Broward County Public School District is Florida’s 2nd largest school district and the 6th largest in the country, with over 245,000 students, nearly 240 schools, centers, and technical colleges, and 88 charter schools. As is the case in Miami-Dade Public School District, Broward public schools have students from around 170 countries speaking around 150 different languages. The BCPS schedule for the 2024-2025 school year starts in early August and ends in the first week of June.

In 1915, when Broward County was first incorporated, there were reportedly 835 White students and 247 Black students, educated separately due to segregation. School buildings for African-American students were provided in those years by the Rosenwald School Building Program. In 1966, Broward County Public School District began allowing some limited integration and by 1969 integration was put into practice more widely.

BCPS is the largest school district to offer scholastic chess to 2nd grade students and also offers Chess4Life - an online interactive chess platform - for K-12. BCPS provides over 75 Career Technical Education Paths at its high schools, middle schools, technical colleges, and alternative education centers. Broward County Public Schools reportedly have the largest school debating society in the nation with around 15,000 students involved. Asian students account for around 4% of the student body, while Black students make up close to 41% and White students represent about 51%. Across the whole student body, Hispanic students account for 39% and Non-Hispanic students 61% of the students in BCPS.

In Pensacola, Florida, Beulah Elementary School had lost its Title I funding, despite over 40% of its students qualifying for free or reduced-cost lunches. As a result, the school faced tough choices on what programs to keep. Because of Prodigy Math’s reliability and adaptability, the staff decided Prodigy Math was a keeper with its Placement Test and its ability to personalize pathways for math learners. 

Staff at Beulah liked that Prodigy Math automatically adapts to students; however, they recognize that Prodigy Math is even more successful when teachers create assignments and view the data on the dashboard. Teachers can then adjust their instruction based on the data Prodigy Math provides. They can align Prodigy’s content with what they are currently teaching, or they can let Prodigy’s adaptive algorithm guide each student. Prodigy’s easy-to-read reports also make it easier for teachers to target skills for reteaching. 

Perhaps most importantly, staff also reported that students responded enthusiastically to the Prodigy Math. They loved battling each other, whether they were gifted or struggling math students. building their math skills and their confidence, as they played the game. This meant that kids were reportedly more than willing to continue playing Prodigy Math at home too. All parents had to do was create a free parent account and connect by typing in their child’s login credentials. Once their parent account was set up, Prodigy helped fill in the gaps in their children’s math skills, while providing helpful reports to parents along the way. 

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.