1. In 2015, Math Corps Philadelphia launched its Super Saturday Math
and Summer Math Camp.
2. Math Corps Philadelphia’s goal
Transcend the math
achievement gap for 30
Philadelphia middle
school students.
3. By transcend, we mean
in math achievement.
At our 4 week 2015 summer
camp, median math scores went
from 59% to 87%.
in life achievement skills:
*Resilience & grit
*Post-traumatic growth
*Service to others &
community
F to A significant improvement
4. Competitors
Philadelphia has many after-school,
STEM, and college prep programs for
youth.
Closest to us are the following:
Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia
Drexel’s Lindy Scholars
Unique is that we accept students of all
levels of math ability (not just the best
students) and desire students who “need
us.”
5. Math Corps at Wayne State (Detroit) is our model and inspiration.
We excel using their innovations.
* “best math curriculum I’ve
seen”--David Shen
* core values of hard work &
high standards wedded to
selection by need
* a belief in the unique
greatness of each child
embedded in a learned
culture of love & compassion
6. More Math Corps Detroit innovations
*each high school teaching
assistant (TA) teaches & becomes
Big Brother/Sister to 2 middle
school students (a 1 to 2 teaching
ratio)
*long term perspective: students
year after year return with many
becoming TA’s and later undergrad
CI’s
*a family overcoming obstacles
together
7. We add 2 innovations.
Positive Psychology
curriculum:
*resilience & grit
*post-traumatic growth
Fun Math:
tapping creativity & joy in
math
8. At our 2015 summer camp, our students’ median scores improved from 59% to 87%.
We aspire to the same high school graduation and college entrance rates as Math Corps Detroit.
Math Corps Detroit has 23 years of success. Its students go from 30% to 90% in math achievement,
with 90% graduating from high school and 80% entering college.
9. In 2015, middle school students came from 11 schools.
Most TA’s came from public magnets, including CAPA, Central H.S. & Science
Leadership Academy.
This year the
Philadelphia Home &
School Council and
Parent Resource
Center recruited for us.
Breakthrough opened
their pool of middle
and high school
students to us.
11. In 2015, 2 Quaker Meetings granted $3,430 and 76 individuals gave
$7,120.
With our new 501c3 status, for 2016,
we have targeted 24 Philadelphia
charitable funds focused on low
income, minority, STEM and/or
innovative education projects.
13. The Future
We wish to grow to 60 middle school
students by 2017. Charitable funders will
sustain us.
Last November, the 4 Math Corps—Detroit,
Cleveland, Utica & Philadelphia—applied to
NSF for a $3M, 3 years research grant.
Once approved, its research will show the
efficacy of the Math Corps model. With that
research, the Math Corps will approach the
Gates Foundation.
Our dream is more Math Corps.
