Brett Woudenberg is chief executive officer of MIND Education, creators of ST Math, an award-winning, game-based instructional program designed to increase math learning outcomes and proficiency through visual learning, and used by millions of students across the US.
1. Tell us about your company and the problem it solves, or its benefit to learners or educators.
MIND Education exists to transform how students learn math. Our approach is rooted in more than 25 years of research on how the brain learns, which has driven the development of our visual, game-based learning programs such as ST Math. These programs allow every child, regardless of background or learning style, to engage deeply with mathematical concepts through puzzles that promote critical thinking and problem-solving.
For educators, we offer embedded, just-in-time PD. Many more teachers come from ELA backgrounds than math backgrounds, which means that math teachers often have to learn their subject matter on the job. We’re dedicated to delivering them the support they need, when they need it.
Our programs’ ability to improve math outcomes for all categories of learners has been proven by more than 100 studies of up to 40,000 students across the country, including randomized controlled trials and longitudinal evaluations. But our proof doesn’t come just from numbers—it comes from kids. We’ve seen time and time again that students, regardless of where they start, can succeed at math when they have the right tools. Every minute in the classroom is an opportunity to help students unlock their potential, and that’s what drives us forward every day.
2. What is the challenge educators face today that is fixable?
Educators are increasingly facing higher demands on them, especially in areas affected by immigration bursts. Many students struggle in math not because they lack ability, but because of the classroom environment they’ve been in, or because they’re being taught math in a way that doesn’t connect with how their brains actually learn. When math is presented only as words and numbers on a page, English language learners (ELLs) can miss out on crucial opportunities to understand the meaning behind the math. MIND has always been ahead of the curve in meeting this challenge with our visual, brain-based approach. It has taken us more than two decades to refine our programs so they are easy-to-use in the classroom and produce exceptional growth outcomes for all types of students, including ELLs.
3. What is the challenge educators face today that will persist?
Classrooms will continue to have students with diverse needs at all levels of aptitude and, increasingly, different language needs. Teachers will increasingly need curriculum and tools to help tackle these challenges. MIND will continue to support teachers by helping them create individualized journeys for students and use visual-based puzzles to engage students in play-based learning.
4. What are the areas of education or training and workforce development that are being overlooked?
In the area of math core curriculum, little has changed for years, if not decades. Student outcomes from core programs have flatlined, and the results from traditional publishing houses are almost indistinguishable. As a result, US students continue to fall behind in math results.
In response to requests from our partners, in 2021 we began working on an innovative core program that builds on the exceptional effectiveness of ST Math, again leveraging neuroscience to produce higher outcomes for students. Next spring, we’re releasing InsightMath to give educators an integrated, easy-to-use experience and help them fully engage students by creating rich math discourse, regardless of the educators’ own experience in teaching math. Our goal is for all educators and students to truly experience joy in math.
In the area of workforce development, I’ve seen great strides in training to prepare students for careers of all types. However, I believe the effectiveness of these solutions is a function of how prepared students are by the time they enter those programs in their academic journey. MIND focuses on pre-K-8 because that’s where the foundations are laid for a student’s academic success. Our goal is to make sure all students become confident in saying that they are a “math person,” and that their success in math creates a positive ripple effect on their future.
5. What do you foresee will be a challenge in education in three to five years?
The effect of the pandemic and other trends have resulted in lower student populations in some cases, leading to staff layoffs and a need to compete with other schooling options available to parents and students. At the same time, the increasing percentage of ELLs in classrooms has placed a burden on district finances and capabilities that they’ve never experienced before. I’m confident that MIND’s approach will remain effective as districts look for ways to meet these evolving needs. So often, language fluency becomes the barrier to ELLs’ progress in all subjects. By allowing students to learn math through visual problem-solving that doesn’t depend on language, programs like ST Math or InsightMath break down that barrier. One of the most powerful experiences I have witnessed with ST Math was watching a new ELL student immediately complete a puzzle without any language supports—learning visually as the human brain is wired to do.
