When Head of School Marek Beck, Ph.D., was thinking about ways to provide increased rigor while empowering students through their development with mathematics, he decided to bring a challenged-based math program, Continental Math League (CML), to Little School. CML is a nationwide problem-solving mathematics competition designed to maximize student opportunities to participate and improve their critical thinking skills.
“We are creating more dynamic learning environments where we differentiate and personalize the learning experiences based on a student’s needs, interests, or learning profile. Continental Math League gives students a place to extend above and beyond their grade-level expectations,” says Dr. Beck.
Second through fourth-grade students meet with Dr. Beck each week to review mathematical strategies and share different ways of solving problems. Then, on assessment days, students are given six problems to solve independently in a timed environment. They are scored on their work, and then these scores are submitted to the Continental Math League. Students across the United States take part in this competition, and as members of the Continental Math League, our school receives updates on how our students are performing compared to other students across the country.
“We are seeing that our students are performing at the most elite levels, with several students earning perfect scores on every assessment,” says Dr. Beck. “The students who participate all have made notable progress as they seek to challenge themselves and their brains. When students believe they can succeed at the highest levels, they do!”
MATH SUCCESS THROUGH OUR DIVISIONS
More than 50 Little School students participated this year. At a recent assembly, Dr. Beck recognized six of these students for achieving the highest honors across multiple tests and presented them with CML medals, a symbol of their exceptional academic achievement. Among these students, a second grader received additional recognition for being one of the top performers nationally, attaining a perfect score on every test offered.
This competition may sound familiar to Morrow House (grades 5–8) families; our middle school students have been competing in the Continental Math League for many years.
“I like the CML because it supports non-routine problem-solving, and since the contest is administered during the school day, it allows all students to participate. It’s great that we are now including our elementary-aged students in this contest because the age-appropriate problem-solving and mathematical reasoning skills they are practicing will lead to success in higher-level math,” says Math Department Chair Sarah Ehatamm, who runs CML in Morrow House.
The Continental Math League in Little School isn’t just about a high score in a competition but a way to nurture and reinforce a growth mindset. “At EMS, we believe that every child is infinitely capable, every child is infinitely intelligent, and every child is infinitely creative,” says Dr. Beck. “The more we can reinforce that mindset, so the student internalizes that and owns that reality, the more likely they will thrive in what they choose to do now and in the future.”
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