Reasoning Mind Celebrates 9th Anniversary at its 2009 Annual Dinner
November 06, 2009
Reasoning Mind held its 2009 Annual Dinner on November 5th at the Magnolia Hotel. The event was hosted by Gerald McElvy, President of the ExxonMobil Foundation. In attendance were over 200 leaders in business, education, philanthropy, and academia.
Guests at the Annual Dinner watched the premiere of Part III of the Reasoning Mind Movie, featuring stories from teachers and students, and endorsements from a host of supporters. Students in attendance showed off their skills in a “Math Race” competition, and guests at the dinner were invited to face off against each other while solving a series of logic puzzles from the RM system.
The Annual Dinner was also an opportunity to celebrate the growth of the program and tremendous achievements of the past year, including the following:
- Enrollment in Reasoning Mind is expected to nearly triple this year from 5,593 students in 69 schools to more than 16,000 students in over 150 schools.
- Reasoning Mind has raised more than $14 million in donations and received more than $1 million in in-kind contributions to date.
- Students on the RM system in 2009 consistently received higher TAKS passing and commended rates than their non-RM peers. Several schools in HISD had more than twice as many RM students pass the TAKS as non-RM students, and over three times as many students receive a commended score.
- At Angleton Middle School, RM closed the gap in scores between regular and special needs students. 100% of Angleton’s special needs students using RM passed the TAKS test, compared to only 98% of the regular students who were not using RM. Even more remarkably, 48% of the special needs students received a commended score.
- At Mitchell Elementary, in Houston ISD, all students with Limited English Proficiency were put on the RM system, while their fluent peers were given traditional whole-group instruction. In both passing and commended rates, the LEP students who used Reasoning Mind outperformed their peers who were fluent in English, but did not use RM.
- Youngblood Intermediate put 5th and 6th grade students who had not passed the TAKS previously on the system. After using RM for just one year, gaps in prior knowledge were closed and students were on pace with their peers. Using RM, these students achieved a 40% passing rate on the first TAKS administration in 2009, with 5% even receiving a commended score. Almost 70% of students passed on the 2nd administration.
- Attitude surveys taken by Reasoning Mind students show that they love being taught at their own pace and level of ability. Of those who have a preference between RM and a traditional classroom, an astounding 92% prefer RM. An overwhelming majority of students say that they enjoy RM, learn more in RM, and like math better after spending a year in an RM classroom.
- 2009 teacher survey results revealed that 96% of teachers were satisfied with the overall RM experience and 100% were satisfied with the ongoing support they received from RM staff. Similarly, overwhelming majorities of teachers said that RM increased students’ independence in learning (91%), confidence in their mathematical abilities (91%), reasoning skills (94%), and enjoyment of mathematics (93%).
The dinner was sponsored by the ExxonMobil Foundation, Reasoning Mind’s largest donor. “This dinner is Reasoning Mind’s annual opportunity to shine the spotlight on the tremendous student growth made possible through this program,” said Alex Khachatryan, President and CEO of Reasoning Mind. “And throughout our organization’s growth, the ExxonMobil Foundation has been a stalwart supporter of Reasoning Mind. Their generosity and support has enabled RM to remain at the forefront of the math education movement.”
