UT Physicians

Children’s Learning Institute addresses math “epidemic”.

The United States is not making the grade.

By Melissa McDonald

The 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) shows the United States ranks 12th of 25 countries among eighth graders in math and science skills. In the No. 1 and No. 2 spots: Singapore and the Republic of Korea.

“There is a critical need right now in this country to do research on math. We need to identify the skills that children need to improve upon and hone in on factors that can predict development. We really want to answer the question, ‘Why do some children succeed at math and others do not?’ There is an epidemic when it comes to children who just don’t have basic math skills,” says Steven Hecht, Ph.D., associate professor of pediatrics in the Children’s Learning Institute (CLI).

CLI is expanding its math intervention program through satellite clinics that can offer extra small-group tutorials. The initiative is currently limited to pre-kindergarten students, but the program aims to expand to elementary school and middle school.

According to Susan Landry, Ph.D., director of the Children’s Learning Institute and Michael Matthew Knight Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, if children can be reached when they first begin struggling with math, a better educational foundation can be built.

“We don’t want them just thinking ‘math is not my subject.’ We want to give them ways to succeed, so they can be anything they want to be. CLI uses only research-proven interventions that can help them pursue their dreams,” she says.

To better understand how the brain processes mathematics, experts are using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG).

“We are studying the entire brain to obtain more information on how it responds to mathematics,” says Andrew Papanicolaou, Ph.D., professor of pediatrics and director of the Center for Clinical Neurosciences.