The Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative is a significant contributor to Alabama's rise to 32nd on NAEP's national ranking of state math scores from 52nd (tied with Mississippi). "We are in the middle of the pack," says Rachel Broadhead, who works with the statewide initiative. "That's a big deal for a state that's been at the bottom for as long as anyone can remember." In a conversation with Tech & Learning's Kevin Hogan, Broadhead explains Alabama's "three-legged stool" approach: job-embedded on-site support, physical resources and professional learning opportunities.

Students in California's Oakland Unified School District who participated in at least 10 sessions of the MathBOOST program experienced an average increase of eight points on district math assessments compared to nonparticipants, according to a Northwestern University study. The program for recovery and advancement involved choosing tutors who knew the students -- like a family member or neighbor -- then training them, paying them and arranging for high-dose tutoring.

A desire to help students led Victoria Martin to leave cosmetology for a career in education. Now a high-school math teacher, Martin encourages students to adopt a positive mindset, pointing out that perception is everything. "[I]t's more like an experience thing. You have control of your experience. You either choose to make the best out of the experience, or you choose to make it a negative experience," Martin says.

Asobo -- a Raleigh-N.C.-based K-12 startup -- uses AI to adapt game-like math modules for each student via a database of 300,000 questions. AI helps personalize the questions to match a student's grade level, background, learning disabilities and needs.

A study by Paul Morgan and Eric Hu from the University at Albany finds that male teachers do not significantly improve boys' academic performance or behavior in elementary schools. The analysis, which used data from 8,000 students tracked from kindergarten through fifth grade, finds no differences in reading, math, science achievement or behavioral measures based on the teacher's gender.

School districts can improve attendance by sending messages to parents at optimal times, such as between 2 and 4 p.m. or close to 8 a.m., and by starting communication early in the academic year, an analysis by School Status finds. The study, which looked at 3.3 million texts from 205 districts, found that families respond more quickly and frequently to messages during these times, especially when the messages are specific and empathetic.