MIND's ST Math & Music Program Strikes a Positive Chord

    SANTA ANA, CA, July 19, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Students at two Central Texas elementary schools experienced dramatic gains in math proficiency after using MIND Research Institute's ST Math + Music program after just one year of implementation. Each school received a perpetual license funded by grants from KDK-Harman with the identified goal of increasing math & music proficiency through the use of MIND's mathematics instructional software and corresponding research-based music curriculum.

"The KDK-Harman Foundation is interested in finding and supporting proven, research-based math intervention programs that integrate technology and 21st century skills into the lessons," said Janet Harman, President and Founder. "The ST Math + Music program helps young people understand math at the conceptual level, regardless of language ability, and gives them a foundation from which they can build upon through self-paced, engaging games and music lessons."

Preliminary scores on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test for the 3rd and 4th grades at Wieland Elementary, in the Pflugerville School District, demonstrated that on average, 78% of the students met the standards for mathematics with an average of 25% commended. The current 4th graders took the TAKS test the previous year as 3rd graders, which is the first year the TAKS is administered. As 3rd graders only 65% of the students met standard and 12% were commended while in 4th grade 79% of these same students met standard with 25% commended.

According to Russell Larson, the coordinator of Elementary Math at the Pflugerville Independent School District, the teachers at Wieland are also seeing a tremendous difference with their students' academic performance in mathematics. "Teachers are particularly seeing how students are now easily able to take abstract concepts and put them into a concrete learning situation, said Larson. The students are able to take the concepts learned through ST Math and apply their knowledge with the regular classroom curriculum. This has helped the students and the teachers make the connections that are vitally important for increased math awareness. Therefore, teachers are finding it much easier to teach math!"

Stephanie Swanson, the music instructor at Wieland added, "All the third, fourth, and fifth graders began playing the keyboard this year. They are now able to apply basic music theories to the keyboard. Specifically, rhythm, pitch, and various musical symbols. I feel as a music teacher I am able to cover more difficult concepts because of the "hands on" visuals the students have."

At Camino Real Elementary School in the Hayes Consolidated School District, every student from Kindergarten through 2nd grade took a district-administered test to assess their level of math knowledge. Each class showed significant gains between the beginning of the year and end of year assessment. On average, math scores for kindergarten students, as measured by the Kindergarten Assessment of Basic Skills test, increased by 39% from pre-test to post-test; the average increase for 1st grade students on the district assessment was 21%; and the average increase for 2nd grade students was 32%. In addition, all students learned about piano keyboarding and note reading skills.

Based on first year results, Camino Real is committed to continuing the implementation of ST Math + Music. "Our primary students made great gains and I am sure they will continue to show growth by having access to good teaching, ST Math + Music and a solid viable and aligned curriculum,",said Principal Marivel Sedillo.

About KDK-Harman Foundation
KDK-Harman Foundation was founded by Janet E. Harman in December 2004. The Foundation provides financial and capacity-building resources to education-focused nonprofits that assist disadvantaged Central Texas families, with a focus on women, to help them achieve educational success. The ultimate goal of such funding is to transform their lives from poverty to financial independence to enable a better life for themselves and future generations. The Foundation supports programs within Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, Caldwell, Burnet and Llano counties.

About The MIND Research Institute
The MIND Research Institute is a neuroscience and education research based, non-profit corporation. MIND applies its distinctive visual approach to illustrating concepts and building problem-solving skills as the basis for innovative, research-proven math education programs for elementary and secondary schools. The programs include the ST Math patent-pending instructional software for K-5 students, ST Math : Algebra Readiness for intervention at the secondary level, and Algebra Readiness: A Blueprint for the Foundation of Algebra a comprehensive program featuring a tightly integrated textbook and courseware. MIND's visual approach taps into each student's innate ability to do spatial-temporal (ST) reasoning and problem-solving, and is effective at engaging students at all levels of language or academic proficiency. There are currently 500 schools in California, Texas and 18 other states, and more than 100,000 students and 4,500 teachers participating in the program. For more information, visit http://www.mindresearch.net.

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