A strong foundation in mathematics in early adolescence is essential to ensure young people have access to rigorous math instruction in high school and beyond, but middle-grades schools often provide unequal access to high-quality math experiences for students who have been historically marginalized. Beginning in 2022, the NYC Partnership for Math Equity brought together the Center for Policy, Research and Evaluation, NYC Public Schools, Amplify, and the Research Alliance for NYC Schools, with support from the Gates Foundation. As a member of the AIMS Collaboratory, the NYC Partnership for Math Equity set out to investigate how digital tools that center mathematical sense-making, social problem-solving, and discourse disrupt unequal access to high-quality math instruction and foster engagement, belonging, and positive math identities.
Our mixed-methods research study examined how middle-grades teachers in 29 New York City schools used digital lessons from Amplify Desmos Math (ADM) as a supplement to core instruction. We found that:
- Students and teachers said that ADM digital lessons supported math understanding and engagement, fostered peer collaboration, and supported rich classroom math discourse.
- When teachers used tools within the digital lessons to select, sequence, and display student work, students reported more understanding and enjoyment of the lessons.
- Students who perceived more opportunities to belong in their math classrooms experienced more growth in math engagement, enjoyment, belonging and identity.
- We didn’t find a consistent relationship between ADM digital lesson use and growth in math engagement, enjoyment, belonging, or identity, but our data suggests that higher rates of use could support growth in these outcomes.
Our final research report describes the study design, full findings, and implications for future research and practice.
In this blog post, Dr. Erika Abarca Millán reflects on the ways ADM digital lessons support peer collaboration and belonging.