ST Math and the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness

MIND Research Institute created the visually-based Spatial Temporal (ST) Math program to engage all students in the strategic and analytical thinking that guides the new State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR). Through visual and kinesthetic online manipulative games organized into mastery-based objectives, ST Math provides multiple rich, interactive representations for teachers and students to work through the conceptual areas covered by the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards. ST Math also fully integrates the Texas Mathematical Process Standards into the grade-level content, enabling students to develop long-term problem-solving skills, which they can apply to daily, real-life situations while building strong connections between concepts and across grades. College and Career Readiness: ST Math ensures that students possess a strong and clear foundation in the mathematical concepts necessary for understanding in upper grade math, as described in the Texas College and Career Readiness Standards, preparing them for success in high-school, college and beyond.

STAAR Process Standard

Apply mathematics to problems arising in everyday life, society and the workplace.

ST Math Support
ST Math content objectives are designed around learning paths that begin with basic concepts and end in rigorous applications where students use abstract, quantitative, and creative reasoning to solve non-routine problems. ST Math engages students in learning through problem solving. Students may be challenged with 50 or more complex problems during a single session, building mastery and conceptual understanding through the development of strategic planning and evaluation skills. Through online games and new touch technology integration, ST Math bridges the gap between visual and physical manipulatives, enabling students to choose real-world tools and strategically use them to solve problems. Learning paths guide students progress from visual to symbolic to contextual problem solving, using mathematics to model and describe complex situations. Games require students to apply newly learned concepts to non-routine situations while creating both visual and symbolic models of problems. Each key concept is presented in multiple games with different representations, allowing students to identify patterns and reasoning strategies that enable them to solve problems in different forms and make connections between ideas. With Teacher Mode, the ST Math software provides teachers the opportunity, not only to guide individual student software use, but also to bring the games into the classroom and use them as a vehicle for classroom discussion, asking students to make conjectures, discuss problemsolving strategies in groups, and clearly explain and justify their reasoning.

Use a problem-solving model that incorporates analyzing given information, formulating a plan or strategy, determining a solution, justifying the solution and evaluating the problemsolving process. Select tools such as real objects, manipulatives, paper/ pencil, and technology or techniques such as mental math, estimation, and number sense to solve problems.

Communicate mathematical ideas, reasoning, and their implications using symbols, diagrams, graphs, and language.

Create and use representations to organize, record, and communicate mathematical ideas. Analyze mathematical relationships to connect and communicate mathematical ideas.

Explain, display, or justify mathematical ideas and arguments using precise mathematical language in written or oral communications.

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