FAQs

Reasoning Mind currently has two year-long courses: Basic II and Basic III. A third (more elementary) course, Basic I, will become available in 2009.

Basic I is designed to be used in grades 2–4, and sometimes in 5^th grade. This course covers natural numbers in depth.

Basic II is taken immediately after Basic I; usually this is in 5^th or 6^th grade. Basic II covers natural numbers, common fractions, and decimals.

Basic III comes next, and is usually taken in 6^th, 7^th, or 8^th grade. This course completes students’ study of arithmetic and prepares students for algebra.

Reasoning Mind is working on expanding the curriculum to cover higher grades, aiming to add one grade level of curriculum each year.

There are several important differences:

• Reasoning Mind is usually used as a core curriculum. This means that the quality of instruction is improved dramatically, not incrementally.
• RM is not a product: rather, it is a new type of instruction which is focused on the individual student. Students learn by interacting one-on-one with the computer, the teacher, and their peers.
• Reasoning Mind’s materials are based on an international mathematics curriculum that has proven itself in high-achieving countries such as Russia, China, and Singapore.
• RM is a non-profit organization, whose only goal is to improve students’ mathematics achievement. This translates into lower costs and greater support for teachers and schools.

Currently, Reasoning Mind offers courses aligned with the 5^th grade and 6^th grade TEKS. We are working on adding TEKS-aligned courses for higher grades.

Yes. The results show that when a school switches to Reasoning Mind, state standardized tests scores improve or remain the same. This has been observed at a wide range of schools, including schools with lower passing rates and schools with passing rates close to 100%.

However, although Reasoning Mind may help students’ test scores, the main goal is not to increase standardized test performance but to prepare students for future grades. For this reason, RM’s curricula cover many topics in greater depth than is required for the tests.

Not at this time.

However, students who have some (albeit limited) knowledge of English can benefit from the program. For example, teachers in classrooms with several such students can seat them next to bilingual peers, who help them when they have trouble. This strategy has worked very well.

The Basic II and Basic III courses are designed to be used as a core curriculum. Using these courses as a supplement at schools has shown to be less effective than using them as a core, and for this reason we do not do this except under special circumstances.

The Basic I course – which will become available sometime in 2009 – will be used by students 60% of the time, the other 40% consisting of direct instruction. We refer to this as a co-core curriculum since we do not regard it as a supplement. The main purpose of the Basic I course is to prepare students for Basic II.

For the Basic II and Basic III courses, 90 minutes a day is usually scheduled. For Basic I, 40 minutes a day is usually sufficient.

However, the time needed varies somewhat depending on the preparedness of the students, as well as other factors.

Yes, to a point. Students who are reading one, two, or perhaps even three years below grade level can usually benefit from Reasoning Mind. However, students who cannot read at all (or close to it) will not be able to benefit from RM.

Reasoning Mind is working on adding sound to the program, at which point it will become easier for students with weak reading skills to benefit from it.

The Genie adjusts the difficulty level, which means that RM is designed for all students: struggling, gifted, and those in between.

Gifted students have often benefited immensely from the RM system, where they are not held back by the rest of the class and are able to work on very challenging problems. Struggling and special needs students have also benefited from being able to move at their own pace, as well as from the increased individual attention given by the teacher in the RM classroom.

A great deal. Every teacher is assigned a Program Coordinator, who is always on call to answer the teacher’s questions and to provide assistance. The Program Coordinator meets the teacher in person at least once every two weeks, and usually more often; he or she answers any questions about the software, curriculum, or RM classroom strategies. The Program Coordinator also makes suggestions for how the implementation can be further improved.

RM staff members also frequently meet with the principal and other administrators to provide updates on the program and answer questions.

Finally, RM provides extensive technical support to schools, helping configure the computers and network to work with RM City. Technical support staff are always available to help if questions arise.

Before the beginning of the program, teachers attend a week-long Qualification Course, in which they learn about using the software and RM classroom strategies. Teachers also begin learning then about the RM curriculum.

After passing the Qualification Course, teachers begin the Certification Course, which usually lasts one year, and includes well over a hundred hours of instruction. Among other things taught in this course, teachers learn the RM curriculum in great depth.

For the Basic II and Basic III courses, tuition costs $70 per student per year. In addition, schools provide funds for teacher professional development and certification for each RM teacher. This costs around $10,000 per teacher over the course of two years.

Because Basic I is used as only part of the core curriculum, tuition is $35 per student. Professional development costs are also lower, coming to $2,500 per teacher over the course of two years.

Besides the cost of tuition and teacher professional development, schools must keep in mind that unless they already have enough computers for a 1-1 student-to-computer ratio, there will also be costs associated with setting up computer labs. This may include the purchase of computers and installation of additional Internet connections and electrical wiring.

Often, schools are able to find charities that finance a portion of the tuition costs or help with setting up computer labs.

The teacher sets the tone of the classroom, providing encouragement and structure to the students. The teacher selects and implements classroom strategies, and determines the activities in which students participate.

Most importantly, the teacher monitors the progress of each student, giving additional assignments or individual lessons when needed. The teacher uses RM City’s reporting tools to get detailed information about students’ knowledge, allowing the teacher to work one-on-one with the students very efficiently.

Most relatively new (made in the last 3 years) computers will have no trouble running RM. On the software side, the most recent version of Adobe Flash Player must be installed. A broadband Internet connection is needed, and the bandwidth required varies with the number of students online simultaneously.

Reasoning Mind technical support works with school technical staff to make sure all computers and networks are configured to work with RM. Technical support visits every computer lab to certify the lab before the first day of class.