Teachers in Brunswick County are attempting to make some changes and eliminate students believing they can’t achieve in the area of math. They have been working for the past 7 years to accomplish this task. Through the help of the Math TLC grant, they have been able to attend a week long conference with professors to improve their own performance. Their entire goal is to improve their teaching performance so that it in turn increases student achievement. They want to not only improve student scores but also improve overall teacher instruction and open up partnerships with the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

Brunswick teachers aim to improve math class #dyscalculia
Brunswick County Schools aim to achieve better math education.
After the conference student classrooms will focus on problem-based learning and working together to accomplish math tasks. They are taught that it is okay to not know how to do something but it’s not okay to never try. They are instructed and encouraged to keep trying even when it is difficult as well as the concept that there are many ways in which to solve one problem. Teachers created 13 math lessons last year alone that focused on “best practice” in teaching. There are a total of over 100 of these lessons in the Brunswick district. They were highly successful with student performance going up in grades 7 and 8, with students meeting achievement goals.
The program has yielded positive results. Through Math TLC alone, performance scores improved in seventh, eighth and Math 1 courses; seventh grade and Math 1 students exceeded growth; and eighth grade students met growth, according to McCuiston.
"Key Takeaways:
Teachers in Brunswick County schools are innovating the way they teach math in the classroom
Their goal has been to engage students in the subject through group collaboration and real-life problem solving.
This new teaching method is still very experimental and teachers are looking to improve it any way they can.

