A new method of Pre-K math instruction used in Buffalo schools that encourages children to find the reasons behind shapes and numbers and integrates math throughout the day has produced better math assessments than those that result from traditional methods. Building Blocks, created at the University of Buffalo, is explained in “New Pre-K Approach to Math Adds Up.”

A recent study found that Buffalo Pre-K students who were taught with the Building Blocks method performed 50 percent better on standardized tests than those students at city schools where traditional methods were used.

The method of instruction is different, says University of Buffalo professor Douglas Clements, who created the program with Associate Professor Julie Sarama. Teachers emphasize not just math instruction throughout the day, but also counting throughout life, such as counting the number of stop signs on the way home from school. Other instruction includes activities like stringing together beads in patters that follow a number sequence and using blocks that teach number sequences. Parents are encouraged to help at home as well.

Clements believes early instruction is key: “Our culture does not support math all that well,” he said. “This program helps provide a more equal emphasis on both math and literacy in the early childhood years.”

In Clements’s study, in the fall of 2006 and again in the spring of 2007, two randomly selected groups of Pre-Kindergarten students were assessed via personal interviews. The traditionally-taught students scored about 100 points better on the post-test; the Building Blocks students’ scores were about 150 points better.

The program is funded by a $7.2 million grant from the US Department of Education, and because of the results, the program will be implemented district-wide at pre-K, kindergarten, and first grade levels.

Pre-K teacher Lara Lozo reports that math skills in her classroom showed a dramatic increase after the curriculum was implemented in 2005 and that the program “really teaches [the students’] brains to think mathematically.”

Buffalo Schools Superintendent James A. Williams agrees that the new approach is important in helping student excel, but that “The parents must also be an integral part of the learning process.”