Helping Math Students Excel During the Transition to Common Core

Classrooms around the United States are faced with the challenge of helping students excel in mathematics right now and transitioning to the Common Core State Standards next year or in the years to come. Many schools are discovering how Excel Math can smooth the transition while increasing student performance now and preparing students for the Common Core future.

For over 30 years, Excel Math has proven to be a powerful approach to teaching elementary mathematics. Take a look at the amazing results experienced by teachers around the country who have used Excel Math:

Excel Math allowed me to effectively teach math at two grade levels...without it I don't know how I would have hit all standards and provided the review and practice the students required to succeed. I recently had the opportunity to visit with twin sisters who were in my class during this time, and their mother shared with me that "those long math sheets" really prepared her girls for math throughout the rest of their schooling. Both girls are in college now, are strong math students, and both reported that they started liking math when they were in my class!

—Anne Evans, Teacher, Meridian School District, Idaho

“I just had to call you! We used your curriculum for the last two years and our scores were phenomenal. Would you believe, this year both 4th and 5th grade got 100%! The parents love it because it’s consistent. It’s just an awesome program and very teacher-friendly. 7 out of 15 students were commended in my class in TAKS! So, hip…hip… hooray!"

— Marilyn, 4th Grade Teacher, Utopia Elementary, Utopia, Texas

So we were pleased, but not surprised, to see how well our Excel Math materials correlate to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Concepts are first taught in the Excel Math Student Lesson Sheets during the lesson of the day and then spiral back into the homework, guided practice, stretches (brainteasers), interactive activities and tests. So in the following days and weeks, concepts are reviewed and reinforced with a uniqiue system of carefully spaced repetition.

Basic Fact Practice is a regular part of the Student Lesson Sheet. And now you can have your students use their computers and iPads for additional online Timed Basic Fact Practice. All of these features combine to create a rigorous math program where students achieve outstanding results and are fully prepared for the future.  

One of the great benefits of Excel Math is that it is continually enhanced. We print Excel Math throughout the year so you will always have the latest lesson sheets, unlike textbooks, which are static until you buy a new book.

With Excel Math, students learn higher-order thinking skills beyond what is required of CCSS. Our correlations allow you to focus on the standards or go even further, with additional concepts we provide.

Within each grade level, we correlate the Excel Math Lessons, Stretches, Activities and Exercises to each Common Core Standard. Visit the correlations page here. Click on the grade level button to see the correlation between that set of educational standards and Excel Math. At the bottom of each CCSS correlation, we list additional concepts covered by Excel Math. You can use these additional concepts to provide accelerated learning for your students who are ready for more.

Regular assessment and spaced repetition give students powerful preparation for future. Mastery is long term. Students receive immediate feedback on concepts practiced, which creates a natural feedback loop.

Excel Math is a proven mathematics program when used as a core curriculum. (Read more amazing testimonies about Excel Math from principals and teachers.) And it also complements and strengthens many of the other math programs on the market today. Test scores went up over a five-year period, when schools in Troy Michigan began using Excel Math. Here's what the local newspaper reported:

Fourth graders at three elementary schools in the Troy School District earned a 100 percent passing grade in the mathematics MEAP test administered in January 2004. All 212 fourth-graders at Bemis, Hill and Troy Union elementary schools earned passing scores on the Michigan math proficiency test.

Dr. Ronald O’Hara, principal of Troy Union, said elementary and middle school students in Metro Detroit improved their MEAP scores on eight of the 10 state exams. Local scores rose from last year in every grade and every subject except seventh-grade writing and eighth-grade social studies. Metro schools showed the most improvement on the fourth-grade and eighth-grade math and fourth-grade reading. 

The school adopted Everyday Math as its core math curriculum seven years ago, O’Hara said. Two years later, the school added the Excel Math program as a take-home supplement. After that, math MEAP scores began to climb. 

Learn more about Excel Math and try out some lesson samples at excelmath.com. Download an Excel Math Lesson Overview here.