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Boosting math achievement at Wilson Elementary

How SpringMath transformed math proficiency for students in a California school

 

At Wilson Elementary in Butte County, California, Principal Joan Schumann and her team face steep hurdles in raising student achievement. In a region with some of the state’s highest Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES), about a third of Wilson’s students are English learners, and nearly 80% come from low-income households. Although these types of challenges often make reaching math proficiency difficult, Wilson Elementary continues to see significant gains thanks to SpringMath.

Students at Wilson Elementary work together on a SpringMath exercise. Students at Wilson Elementary work together on a SpringMath exercise.

Starting small to scaling schoolwide

Wilson Elementary started SpringMath in fourth grade, where results revealed strong improvement in foundational math skills and skill mastery. By the end of the first year, Schumann expanded the program to other grades for a second year. She enlisted recently hired teacher Charity Holliman to model the program’s routines and help teachers implement SpringMath in their classrooms. 

“At that point, we had two full years of data on fourth grade, plus half a year of growth to see the difference SpringMath made,” Schumann explained. “You could see how little growth there was from fall to winter, and then suddenly, with SpringMath, it was like 13%, 15%, even 20% – just crazy growth!”

Seasonal Growth for Grade 4 chart

By the third year, she set clear expectations for schoolwide implementation.

“When you look at the data, it’s pretty clear that this program is helping meet the needs of our students,” she added. “I would not be a responsible leader if I didn’t say we should be doing this schoolwide.”

Providing support for successful implementation

Alongside Holliman’s hands-on work with teachers, Schumann ensured access to ongoing resources, training, and regular check-ins. She also aligned SpringMath with broader school initiatives, such as Professional Learning Communities. 

“It’s about anticipating teachers’ needs and planning ahead,” Schumann said. “I don’t think we would have had the success we’ve seen without this bigger-picture approach.”

Schumann credits early adopters who fully embraced the program, sharing their experiences and supporting colleagues along the way. “I have to give a shoutout to those teachers who were willing to try something new and share their success with others,” Schumann said about implementation at Wilson. “They’re truly the ones who have led to this success.”

Their insights helped smooth implementation logistics and created a foundation of confidence and commitment to SpringMath schoolwide.

Consistency drives student achievement

Data from various grade levels revealed a strong connection between consistent SpringMath use and student progress. Classrooms that used SpringMath with high fidelity, especially fourth grade, experienced the most notable gains. Wilson’s progress stands out compared to countywide results from the 2024 California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP), with 53% of fourth-graders and 37% of fifth-graders meeting or exceeding proficiency – well above the county average.

Graph showing percent of 4th graders proficient on year-end test

Reflecting on SpringMath’s impact, Schumann explained how building foundational skills is essential to students’ success in more complex, conceptual math.

“It’s important to help them see the connection, that it’s the same concept as building fluency in decoding for reading,” she explained. “We need students to develop fluency in the basics so they’re not expending all their brainpower on computation alone. Only then can they move on to higher-level skills, like applied math and problem-solving.”

SpringMath’s sequential, structured approach ensures students master core skills through targeted support based on student data – a key component of Wilson’s MTSS framework. By focusing on early skill-building, SpringMath effectively prepares students for advanced concepts.

Image showing intervention progress

Fostering growth through reflection and collaboration

Twice a year, Wilson Elementary teachers come together to share and reflect on their SpringMath data, discussing both implementation challenges and successes. These sessions create a strong sense of collective efficacy, allowing teachers to align their strategies and support one another.“If we didn’t have this time for teams to reflect on their data, I’m not sure we’d see this level of growth,” Schumann explained. “It’s become their thing, not mine. They feel true ownership over this.”

Teachers share practices and discuss challenges, asking, “How are you doing this?” or “What adjustments are you making?” In one session, teachers reviewed data showing that fourth-graders had struggled with subtraction for several months, which gave lower-grade teachers a chance to reassess and adjust to better support foundational skills. This collaborative, nonjudgmental space has become integral to the school’s math success, with teachers invested in both individual and collective growth.

“It’s all about coming back to the data, making choices that are best for kids, and giving teams the space to reflect and share their success,” Schumann said. 
 

Celebrations fuel a culture of achievement

With shared commitment comes shared celebration. At Wilson Elementary, math proficiency has become a schoolwide source of pride and motivation. Each Thursday morning, the student council announces which classes have passed a new skill, sparking cheers and friendly competition as classrooms strive to hit the next milestone.

“The kids were really excited about passing their skills, so I wanted to give that enthusiasm a megaphone,” Schumann said. “Now, there’s a positive school culture around math achievement, building camaraderie and excitement around academic progress.”

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The path to immediate impact – just start

For schools seeking to improve math proficiency, SpringMath offers a unique, research-backed approach proven to strengthen core math skills. Schumann emphasized the program’s power as part of her MTSS framework, especially for populations of students who are considered at risk.

“If you don’t have a computational fluency intervention, look at SpringMath,” Schumann advised. “There isn’t anything else out there like it. Implement it well, and you’ll see some awesome results. Kids can’t wait – they need quality math instruction now, right alongside literacy and science. You don’t have to wait a whole year to make a change.”