A WebBased Educational Community for Learning Math in Middle School

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A Web-Based Educational Community for Learning
Math in Middle School
Reasoning Mind, Inc.
Ernie Cockrell, Chairman of the Board
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Who We Are
Reasoning Mind (RM) is a Houston-based non-profit
501(c)3 corporation established in 2000 for the
purposes of improving K-12 educational
practices.
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Reasoning Mind A Math Class of the Technology Age
The RM Web-Based Educational Community
Teachers control and coordinate the learning
process, interacting with students, tutors and
the system
Students get help from online tutors, who mentor
students and set up virtual classrooms to aid the
learning process
The Genie selects the path and pace of learning,
tailored to the individual characteristics of
each student
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The RM Timeline and Milestones
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The RM Timeline and Milestones
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Hogg Students at Work with the RM System
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Hogg Students at Work with the RM System
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Stage I New Version Developed in 2003-2005

• Genie II prototype converted into a
  production-grade system capable of delivering
  curricula to thousands of simultaneous users

• 5th Grade Math Curriculum Developed
• 187 learning objectives
• Theory material with 600 animations
• 8,000 original problems including 2,000
  interactive
• Powerful pedagogy an artificial intelligence
  expert system governing the educational process
  fully developed

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Selected Endorsements
Dr. Hung-Hsi Wu, Professor of Mathematics at UC
Berkeley member of the National Mathematics
Advisory Panel and Dr. Jim Milgram, Professor of
Mathematics at Stanford member of the National
Board of Education Sciences

• the most promising approach so far to using
  artificial intelligence and computer aided
  instruction to improve outcomes in math.

Gerald McElvy, President of the ExxonMobil
Foundation and a Member of the RMs Board of
Trustees

• we believe Reasoning Mind represents an
  innovative approach to the teaching and learning
  of mathematics. It helps teachers and captures
  the attention of children. Given the potential
  for large-scale rollout, it is worthy of our
  support.

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Genie II System
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Genie II System
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Partnerships with Schools 2005-2006
Metro Charter Academy (Arlington, TX) started
recently with 20 students
As of Jan 16, 2006
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The RM Timeline and Milestones
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Lessons Learned in the RM 2005-2006 Pilot

• Schools Are Ready for Solutions That Require
  Effort on Their Part
• Desperate to find solutions that work
• Accountability matters

• Teachers Need Powerful Tools to Succeed
• Teacher professional development by itself is not
  sufficient
• To ensure scalability, such tools have to be
  based on technology

• Deployment Is a Challenge
• Buy-in is essential at all levels teachers,
  principals, ISD administrators
• Technology infrastructure at ISDs/schools is not
  well supported
• Teachers need training and year-round support to
  use tools effectively

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2006-2007 Project and Plans

• Current Schools Wilson IS (Aldine ISD)
• Cornelius ES (HISD)
• Angleton MS (Angleton ISD)
• Metro Academy (Dallas)
• McReynolds MS (HISD)
• E O Smith (HISD)
• Deady MS (HISD)
• Foster, Little, Wimbish (Arlington
  ISD)
• St. Bernard Parish
• (New Orleans Area)
• Current Students 900
• Curriculum Development Full 6th grade
• Headcount 55 employees

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2006-2007 Project , February 2007
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2006-2007 Project and Plans

• Plans
• 2007 serve 2,000 students, primarily in Houston
  and Dallas 150/student/year
• 2011 product breaks even with 50,000 students
• 2015 over 275,000 children
• Add full-grade curriculum every year, grades
  7th-12th

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Summary
Research evidence confirms that Reasoning Mind
works. The program addresses a pressing national
problem the radical improvement of our failing
K-12 education system. Apart from other
solutions that are generational, RM offers a
solution that is

• Immediate
• Inexpensive
• Scalable
• Uniform

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Lessons Learned Donors Perspective

• Rely on proven math pedagogies
• Effective math teaching is a serious science
  distilled from experiences of great teachers and
  educators over many generations
• Focus on identifying and delivering proven math
  teaching methods and curricula to more students
  regardless of race and socio-economic status

• Business As Usual models do not work there is
  a clear need for innovative start-up projects
• Comprehensive and sound business plan
• Disrupting the status-quo systems in K-12 math
  education is extremely difficult be ready for
  major challenges
• Strong leadership with fire in the belly

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Lessons Learned Donors Perspective

• Measuring progress and success
• Student academic achievement the major metric
• Annual independent evaluations
• Rigorous research designs randomized control
  trials

• Return on investment
• Must be a scalable solution affordable to schools
• Sound marketing distribution strategy
• Donors role jump-start the project

• Multi-year commitment to jump-start innovative
  initiatives
• 5-10 years is required to take a project from
  proof of concept through large-scale piloting
• Be ready for setbacks
• In the end schools should pay for the product