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New, free tool offered to students grades 6-8 to improve math skills

By WHIO Staff

Greenon seeks two levies to avoid deficit Conner Heath and the rest of his kindergarten class at Enon Primary School work on their math skills Wednesday in class. Greenon district residents will vote on two tax issues on Tuesday, Nov. 4. The first is a renewal levy, which would maintain the district’s current local funding and would not increase taxes. The second is a new operating levy that would generate $1.2 million for the operations of the district. The 4.96-mill levy would cost about $173 a year for the owner of a $100,000 home. Bill Lackey/Staff

By WHIO Staff

COLUMBUS — Middle school students were offered a new tool that would help students to learn math better with a greater understanding of its function and use.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced a new, online individualized learning opportunity to accelerate math learning of middle school students. All Ohio districts and schools serving students in the sixth to eighth grade were to have access to Zearn until June 30, 2025. The service was to be offered for free, according to a spokesperson for the governor’s office.

“Students deserve every opportunity to succeed, and access to this math program will give teachers another tool to help their students thrive,” DeWine said.

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Zearn offered access to a full K-8 math library of more than 1,000 digital lessons, teaching materials and ongoing educator training.

The investment was a part of Future Forward Ohio, the state’s plan to help students recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“One priority of Future Forward Ohio is to provide students with tools to accelerate their learning, both for literacy and numeracy,” Dr. Chris Woolard, interim superintendent of public instruction, said. “Zearn Math is providing Ohio students increased opportunities to access grade-level math concepts no matter where they are in their math learning journeys.”

The platform was designed for flexible use during the school day as well as with tutoring and outside of school with a parent or caregiver.

“Teachers built Zearn for teaching, and it is heartening to know that it was teachers who originally brought Zearn to Ohio,” Zearn CEO and Co-Founder Shalinee Sharma said. “We know this investment will complement the work of teachers helping to accelerate student math learning.”

The program was supported by the Ohio Department of Education through Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding.

Districts or schools that wanted free access to instructional materials through Zearn Math could learn more at about.zearn.org/ohio.

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