High 5s

Anna Erickson

Senior Project Manager

Anna Hart Erickson is a senior project manager for the Youth Policy Lab, focusing on education and early childhood research. Prior to joining the Lab, Anna taught high school social studies and was an account manager for a marketing firm. She holds…

Deb Hubbard

Project Manager

[email protected]

Deb has a BS in Computer Science from MSU and a MA in Education Studies from UM with certification in secondary education math. She has an interest in work that improves the educational experience of young people, particularly in middle school math.…

In the Media

Students’ math outcomes have plummeted. Here’s what to do

Jan 2, 2024 Education Week

Math education across the country is in urgent need of redesign, and recent NAEP scores confirm there is no time to waste, with students showing the largest decline in math scores for 4th and 8th graders since 1990.Recent findings from the EdWeek...

$Two pencils lying next to a calculator$

Press Release

Chancellor David C. Banks announces new cohort of Next Generation Community Schools backed by partnership with the Robin Hood Foundation

Nov 6, 2023

NEW YORK, NY- Chancellor David C. Banks today announced that 20 Community Schools have been selected to participate in the Next Generation Community Schools (NGCS) pilot program. The K-8 pilot program is supported through the Robin Hood Foundation...

Chancellor David C. Banks announced that 20 Community Schools have been selected to participate in the Next Generation Community Schools (NGCS) pilot program. The K-8 pilot program is supported through the Robin Hood Foundation in the form of a $5.5 million grant over the course of three years. The Next Generation Community Schools Pilot Program integrates a high-quality, rigorous academic experience into the community school model in twenty K-5 and K-8 schools across the city.

News

Math games: High 5s program brings the 'math out of play'

Apr 11, 2022

TAYLOR—While groups of first graders work in clusters at pods around the classroom, four children face their teacher at a U-shaped desk, backs straight and eyes alert as she deals cards to each of them. They're playing "Chocolate Chip Count," a...

Math games: High 5s program brings the 'math out of play'

In the Media

These early math supports translated to gains later on for vulnerable students

Dec 10, 2021 Education Week

Immediate academic gains from early-childhood programs often fade as children move into upper elementary school. But a new study suggests math supports in the earliest grades may build on each other over years to create longer-term benefits in math...

$A teacher giving 1:1 math tutoring to an elementary student$

Journal Article

New evidence on the benefits of small group math instruction for young children

June 7, 2018

Robin Tepper Jacob, Brian Jacob

We describe the findings from a randomized evaluation of a one-year kindergarten math enrichment program, the High 5s program. The program was designed to provide small-group math enrichment in a fun, club-like format to children who had received...

a teacher giving a math lesson to her students

High 5s

July 2015

Robin Tepper Jacob, Anna Erickson, Deb Hubbard

High 5s is a small-group math enrichment program, developed at the University of Michigan with the help of MDRC and leading early childhood math experts Doug Clements and Julie Sarama. Participation in the program closed almost a fifth of the achievement gap between low-income children and their peers. Working closely with teachers and schools in Taylor, MI, and New York City, NY, we hope to adapt, expand and then evaluate a more integrated and scalable version of the High 5s...

a student calculating additions on whiteboard