Elementary Education major Ashley Solar (left), now a senior, taught in Baylor SOE’s Math for Early Learners Academy, held at La Vega Primary School during the summer school session.
After a 2020 hiatus due to COVID, Baylor University’s Mathematics for Early Learners Academy (MELA), sponsored by the Baylor School of Education (SOE), returned for the summer of 2021. The program, which has helped young students ages 4-6 to achieve or exceed grade level in early math skills and number fluency, also began pilot testing its new curriculum and assessments.
The summer program, designed for students entering PreK or kindergarten and directed by Sandi Cooper, Ph.D., professor of mathematics education, aims to establish a solid foundation in “number sense,” especially for students who have been identified as struggling in mathematics.