Ed | Bronx Lacrosse Algebra Tutoring: Getting Results for Bronx Students – Bronx Times

As a 2015 Teach for America corps member, I entered the seventh-grade classroom at Highbridge Green Middle School in the South Bronx eager to support students struggling with math. I quickly realized the wide range of challenges my students faced, which led me to launch Bronx Lacrosse and now our algebra tutoring program.

While teaching, I started an after-school lacrosse team to share my passion for the sport with my students. With lacrosse as a motivational hook—program participants received equipment, personalized training, and were part of a supportive team culture—my students dramatically improved their attendance, behavior, and grades in school.

Then in 2018, I founded Bronx Lacrosse to provide more students with the same academic, athletic, and social-emotional opportunities. The program currently serves over 240 middle and high school students from 15 schools. Our mission is to improve the academic outcomes and life opportunities of underserved student-athletes in the Bronx.

Because students love playing lacrosse and being part of a team, Bronx Lacrosse participants demonstrate tremendous commitment to our academic programs off the field. In our early days, we set up study rooms to help our students with classwork or homework and to deal with other classroom challenges that might arise. However, the pandemic has made it clear that an ad hoc approach to academic support is not enough.

The pandemic has disproportionately impacted the students Bronx Lacrosse serves, making a focus on academics more important than ever. As a recent New York Times article noted, “racial and economic disparities in math achievement are wide across the United States, and they have widened during the pandemic.” In fact, national data suggests that higher-achieving students will need about nine weeks of instruction to catch up, while students who were already struggling will need 36 weeks to start catching up.

Algebra has become a particularly controversial topic across the country. Although all students take algebra in the ninth grade, we offer some students, mostly from affluent communities, the course in the eighth grade. Early success in algebra enables students to avoid taking remedial classes in high school and pursue more advanced courses such as calculus, giving them an advantage in the college application process. It’s no surprise, then, that students of color and those living in poverty are most likely to lack access to eighth-grade algebra.

In 2021, Bronx Lacrosse has chosen to focus its academic efforts on helping middle school students better understand the most important middle school math topics. Thanks to the generous support of the Heckscher Children’s Foundation, we launched our algebra tutoring program. Like other high-impact tutoring programs, our priority was to provide sufficient frequency, small class sizes, high-quality curriculum, and well-trained teachers with strong relationships with students. Research shows that tutoring programs with these features can accelerate a student’s learning by three to 15 months.

Every September, our middle school students undergo a diagnostic assessment that helps us create personalized learning plans. Students meet with a Bronx Lacrosse tutor twice a week to work individually or in small groups on topics identified in their plan. This includes key concepts such as integer operations, basic ratios, and exponents and square roots. The tutoring materials are clear, student-friendly, and – most importantly – allow us to meet each student where they are and guide them from square one to success at Algebra Regents.

The results of this program are encouraging. In Community School District 9, where we work, only 46% of students passed the Algebra Regents exam in 2023. That same year, 86% of Bronx Lacrosse students enrolled in tutoring for at least a year passed the test. This success pays off because our students apply to competitive high schools. In our commune, less than 70% of adults have completed secondary school. Bronx Lacrosse students are well on their way to changing that; in 2023, 100% of our eighth grade graduates were accepted into high schools with a graduation rate of 85% or higher.

Success in Algebra Regents and middle school math is essential for our students and shows them what is possible for their academic future. They hold their heads high in everything they do. Eighth grader Rabill says of Bronx Lacrosse, “The tutoring program has helped me build my confidence. I used to struggle with math, but the support of Bronx Lacrosse has given me extra practice outside of school and helped me improve. I feel extra ready to enter high school and compete in Algebra Regents next year.”

Like many of his teammates, Rabill is currently excelling in middle school and has been accepted into a competitive high school with a 100% success rate, where he is confident of passing the Algebra Regents exam next year. His early successes – on the field and in the classroom – set him on the path to a life full of possibilities. In 2024, Bronx Lacrosse will offer our impactful academic, athletic and social-emotional programs to over 300 Bronx student-athletes.

Dan Leventhal is the founder and executive director of Bronx Lacrosse.