National Math Stars (NMS) announced today that the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) will invest $30 million to scale its work identifying and supporting mathematically extraordinary young students.

By Claire Partain

Houston ISD seventh grader Xavier Cherkas can solve a Rubik’s cube in less than a minute. He’s been a math whiz since he was 2, when he began reciting polygons and counting as high as he could, his mother, Ericka Lee, said. Now, the Mandarin Immersion Magnet School student is creating a QR code library while learning coding and geometry.

By Julia Brodsky

I met with Ilana Walder-Biesanz, the leader of National Math Stars, to discuss her innovative program that’s changing the landscape of advanced mathematics education for exceptionally gifted children. Walder-Biesanz understands these students’ challenges firsthand. Growing up in Portland, Oregon, she was six years ahead in mathematics and required a customized educational path.

National Math Stars, which funds tutoring, enrichment and supplies for 10 years, is moving into the Midwest, adding another 100 underserved students.

By Jo Napolitano

By the time Xavier Cherkas was 5 years old, his college-educated mother, Ericka Lee, could no longer help him with his math homework. A gifted student, her little boy had already moved on to algebra.

Access to acceleration has long been wildly inequitable. Here’s what schools can do to reduce the financial and logistical barriers.

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz

I went to high school at age 11.

Within two years, I had run out of math and Spanish classes there, so I walked from my public school campus to nearby Lewis and Clark College to study differential equations, symbolic logic, and the plays of 1830s Spain.