Don't be fooled - it may look like these students are playing games. They are studying Everyday Mathemathics.
"Originally, our math program was not consistent throughout the grade levels and based upon the scores we realized that we needed to make a change,” said Ted Fisher who is the principal at Kaala Elementary School.
The change is a program called Everyday Math, created by researchers at the University of Chicago.
It's now in its third year at Ka'ala.
Last year, the students outscored the state average by 14 percentage points.
The program is sequential, building on what the student learns each year.
The students become problem solvers.
"And because it teaches them how to think differently, what it does is, it empowers the child to become an independent learner and learn how to adapt to different situations, which is really fantastic,” said math coach, Bea Okamoto.
Independent learners who are also encouraged to join their peers to solve problems.
"With everyday math, there's a lot of teamwork involved when it comes to them working with the different math objects because then they can take that object, see the problem and as a team, try to find different solutions to it,” said math teacher, Dan Haiola.
The younger students have calculators and worksheets.
The older students may use what's called a smart board to help them solve problems.
But the whole time, one senses they are involved in the learning process.
Haiola said, "It's a lot more kid ownership, kid engagement, child engagement. And from there, they actually own the experience and from there they soak it up like a sponge."
Eighty-five percent of the students at Ka'ala qualify as being in a lower socio-economic status and yet, their accomplishments have soared in the past two years.
Principal Fisher credits the program and the teachers with that success.
Fisher said, "They saw the progress. They saw that there was a change from not expecting the students to, to now we have a school where there is an expectation of success. And we like that."
