NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams and Schools Chancellor David Banks revealed Monday that New York public school students often struggle with math, NYC Solves, a new and innovative program.
The program, which seeks to relate math to real-world experiences such as going to the grocery store or pharmacy, will launch this fall at 93 middle schools in eight districts and 420 middle schools. It is necessary because math skills are sorely lacking in city schools.
“By 2023, half of our students in grades 3 to 8 were not proficient in math, which was an improvement on the year before. Nearly 66% of black students and about 64% of Latino students scored below proficiency. That is completely unacceptable,” Banken said.
“The equation is simple. If you multiply good policy by hard work, the net results will always be positive,” Adams added.
The move came after 1,000 teachers signed a petition organized by a group called Educators for Excellence, which said the move by the mayor and chancellor shows they have heard the teachers’ pleas.
“NYC Solves is another huge and much-needed step forward in helping our students achieve better results in math,” said Marielys Divanne, the group’s executive director.
Program designed to change attitudes towards mathematics
Adams and Banks now plan to drum math into the minds of the city’s public school students, like eighth-grader Imani Reevey.
“I used to hate math,” Reevey said.
Reevey is a success story of a new way of teaching mathematics, which tries to remove the fear of numbers that so many students and teachers have.
“I now feel confident in my skills as I do math, both with and without help,” Reevey said.
Officials said it is also about changing classroom attitudes on the subject of math. CBS New York’s Marcia Kramer asked the mayor if he hated math when he was in school.
“Yeah, because, you know, when I was growing up in the household, everyone in the neighborhood said they hated math. You were constantly reminded of what you can’t be,” Adams said.
The mayor and chancellor also announced the creation of a new department within the Ministry of Education that will focus on students with disabilities who may not speak English. It will also focus on the needs of approximately 38,000 migrant students already enrolled in the system.
Marcia Kramer
