How we operate

We recruit, train, coordinate and support tutors working one-on-one with students closing gaps in their knowledge of basic arithmetic. Students gain more than just knowledge of basic math skills. They gain confidence in their academic ability which allows them to approach grade level math successfully and enhances their overall academic performance.
With your support we have successfully received grant funding from the Greater Cincinnati Foundation and United Way of Greater Cincinnati. Your partnership is crucial to expanding our reach to other schools as we work to close the gap of student achievement in math.

The need

In 2011, United Way identified algebra as a key metric of student success in their Cradle to Career/Be The Change initiative. Focusing on success in algebra directly supports higher graduation rates. Math competency has also been identified as a key driver of post secondary attainment according to pre-pandemic data collected by Strive Partnership, where they identified that “nearly 70% of students in our urban core require remedial math upon their arrival to college making them more likely to drop out.”

For students in Cincinnati schools typically experiencing racial and socioeconomic disparity, math success was low but steadily improving until the impact of the pandemic, which proved to be devastating. In 2020/21, math proficiency rates for Ohio students in grades 5-8 decreased by approximately 15 percentage points (Ohio Department of Education Data Insights: Evidence of the Pandemic’s Impact on Students in 20-21) and, based on the National Assessment of Education Progress in 2023, “thirteen-year-olds have hit the lowest math and reading scores in decades.” 

Our experience fully supports these findings, where middle- and high-school students are deficient in their ability to perform basic math such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, and working with fractions. These basic skills are a key indicator of a student’s ability to be successful in higher levels of math such as Algebra 1, and we’ve found that these gaps in basic math skills seriously undermine student confidence and willingness to attempt grade-level math. Teachers report they do not have adequate time to fully address these basic skills gaps because they must teach grade-level curriculum to all students.