NBA Math Hoops

In the United States middle school math proficiency rates are at a near all-time low. According to the 2023 National Assessment for Educational Progress, students in the US in 4th-8th grade have seen the largest decline in math proficiency since 1990. Socio-economic status is also a key contributor; although male and female students achieve similar math proficiency rates in the US, when socio-economic status is considered males of a lower status are more likely than comparable girls to achieve proficiency in math. Math achievement in the middle school years is critical for all students' long-term academic success. Studies suggest that engagement and achievement in middle school mathematics is an essential condition for high school graduation. A longitudinal study conducted by Robert Balfanz reported that 81 percent of School District of Philadelphia students who failed their sixth grade math class had still not graduated one year past their scheduled high school completion date. To see long-term academic success for all students, we must intervene during these critical middle school years.

Quality of education in Latin American and Sub-Saharan African Countries, particularly in Math and STEM, continues to fall behind other countries due largely to lack of support and resources for students and educators. In both regions, only about 41% of students complete lower-secondary education. Government funding for education in Latin American countries like Brazil and Columbia primarily goes to universities who only serve 10% of the population. In many Sub-Saharan African countries, high costs of education for families drives the high dropout rates, and the main attendees in secondary schools are economically privileged boys living in urban areas. Globally; rural students, lower income students, and young female students bear the brunt of inequity in education.

For over a decade, Learn Fresh has been dedicated to achieving equitable representation across the STEM pipeline for middle school girls, students of color, and lower-income students by leveraging their passions for sports and entertainment. In a world where the academic achievement gap continues to widen at astronomical rates for underrepresented groups, students and educators rely on supplemental programs that transcend language barriers and cultural differences. We know that success in middle school STEM classes has a direct correlation with high school graduation rates and eventual entry into STEM forced careers. Offering engaging and culturally relevant STEM programming to students during the critical middle school years can have a transformative impact on their long-term success and the landscape of STEM. 

Learn Fresh aims to challenge and change the narrative around STEM education and academic success for students of color, girls, and those living in low-income communities; offering a new paradigm for relevant, engaging learning. Our flagship program, NBA Math Hoops is specifically designed to address the achievement gaps among students in the middle school years. This program has become the largest and only league-adopted education program in the NBA. The experience is built around a physical and digital NBA Math Hoops board game, which feature the real-life performance statistics of NBA and WNBA players, providing an exciting, culturally-relevant “hook” to engage students of all genders and ethnicities. Our program represents a highly diverse community of athletes in a data-rich learning environment. NBA Math Hoops includes a 10-lesson curriculum mapped to Common Core and 21st Century Learning Standards that develops students’ algebra readiness prior to entering high school, while strengthening important skills including self-regulation and executive function.

The program develops students’ algebra readiness prior to entering high school, while strengthening important skills including self-regulation and executive function. This free experience primarily engages low-income students and students of color in grades 4-8 across in both in-school and out-of-school environments. Students who complete the program demonstrate a 30 percent increase in math achievement over their peers in a traditional math curriculum and an overwhelming 93 percent of educators report that their students now find math to be more accessible, relevant, and engaging. 

The NBA Math Hoops experience begins with the educator. Learn Fresh staff host trainings each fall to fully equip educators to bring the program into their classrooms. From there, Students then begin the experience with their educator by signing a Sportsmanship contract, committing to a set of shared values as they enter the “NBA Math Hoops season”. Then, students act as Coach and General Manager of their own fantasy basketball team; drafting a team of real life NBA and WNBA players. Gameplay simulates the game of basketball as students switch from offense to defense in a fast-paced, timed setting. Students are incentivized to think critically and craft strategy using number sense and statistical analysis. As they work through the season, students have the opportunity to participate in local activations and events with NBA team partners, including STEM workshops and experiences, culminating in a regional tournament. 

Our solution to the global education crisis is to grow and scale our existing programming to reach historically underserved populations across the globe. Major steps are to expand current work in South Africa, Brazil, and Columbia. Pilot programs in the regions have proven to be largely successful, with students from all three countries participating in the 2023 Global Championship Tournaments. Based on impact made within the past couple of years, Learn Fresh is confident in the ability to expand & target more rural communities in each country with the help of local community-based partnerships. With adequate support, Learn Fresh can potentially impact STEM learning of 2000-3000 more international students. 

Org-wide, our student demographics are over 80% students of color, with 93% of our educators serving low in-come communities. The current beneficiaries of Learn Fresh programming compose the following cultural demographics: 6% Asian-American/Pacific Islander; 27% Black/African-American; 22% Hispanic/Latinx; 11% Multiethnic/Multiracial; 12% Native American/Alaskan Native; 22% White. More than 90% of the students served reside in lower-income communities. Our programs are offered across the United States and beyond with programming in South Africa, Australia, Columbia, Belize, Brazil and Mexico. Our reach extends even further through our mobile apps which have been downloaded in over 125 countries. 

Our programs’ gender breakdown is 47% female and 53% male identifying students. This is important to note; offering a program that is sports focused, we often receive comment that our programs are geared towards male students. Over the ten years of our organization we have consistently seen a near even gender divide in program participants. This has held true from when the program started with 500 students to today serving approximately 200,000 students a year. We have found female students to be equally enthusiastic sports fans. The implication that sports are only for boys in a similar societal gender norm we work to fight against. 

We connect with student populations through their educators in both in-school and out-of-school learning environments. In the afterschool space we work with organizations like the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Girls, Inc., YMCA, and City Year. At the state level, we seek to work with statewide afterschool programs and education agencies, an example of this model is our programmatic work in Texas where we are an endorsed program with Texas ACE and the Texas Education Agency. 

Our team’s experiences are directly informed by the communities we serve. The vast majority of Learn Fresh staff (including two executive staff) are former educators who have extensive experience implementing programs with students before joining our organization. This team collectively brings over 100 years of experience living and teaching in the communities that we serve, ensuring our programs are uniquely tailored to benefit students and educators in the most efficient, supportive, and impactful way possible. Through our existing community-based program model, our staff maintain close relationships with educators across the United States. These educators provide essential feedback around the effectiveness of our programs and tools. 

All Learn Fresh programs are rooted in student passions beyond the education space. The authentic nature of the experiences allows for direct integration of teams, athletes, and entertainers into the learning. Youth voice is intentionally woven into curriculum design. In addition to our pre and post test to measure students’ math achievement; students complete a self assessment to measure their SEL growth and overall experience in the program. These responses greatly inform updates to the program, ensuring that the experience is culturally relevant to our students. 

Our Board is very involved with the refinement of all programs and how these programs directly relate to youth. They are all in attendance at several of our events throughout the year, engaging directly with our students. This year, we launched our Alumni Leaders Council, who will engage with the Board and share their experiences going through the program. These students will also have the opportunity to offer feedback and engage with our events. 

Our programs include NBA Math Hoops, MLB Players STEM League, and STEM Goals. These sports-based experiences develop students' algebra readiness while strengthening key skills such as self-regulation and executive function. Learn Fresh program serves about 150,000 students annually, with sites in 48 U.S. states, as well as international programs in Latin America, Australia, and South Africa. To date, we have reached more than 1 million students and over 10,000 educators. 

Our flagship program NBA Math Hoops is proven to improve core math skills in students in grades 3-8, while also helping to build social emotional learning skills. Over the course of a five-year period, program evaluations by the American Institutes of Research have shown consistent gains among students participating in NBA Math Hoops across major demographic groups (female, male, Black, Latino, White), as well as consistent improvement in the program’s impact each year. The success of our programs is evaluated through the breadth and depth of impact. A 2021 third-party assessment of 5,556 students participating in this program demonstrated 29%  gains in math fluency and 19% improvement with higher-order math skills related to statistics and data analysis among program participants, compared to 15% and 3%, respectively, for a control group of non-participants. A 2019 social-emotional outcomes study showed that program participants were 30% more likely than a control group to report growth in key attributes like leadership, grit, and resilience. 

In addition to NBA Math Hoops, Learn Fresh launched the MLB Players STEM League in 2022. The MLB Players STEM League board game features the real stats of current MLB stars, including players from every country represented in Major League Baseball. Students compete to solve math problems and score points in a timed setting, while working with arithmetic, decimals, percentages, and fractions. This program offers a series of adaptable lessons, allowing students to develop important executive function and youth development skills while taking a deeper dive into stats and data analysis in the game. The program has already engaged more than 20,000 students in the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, Columbia, and Belize. Our newest program, MLS STEM Goals is currently in the pilot stage. MLS STEM goals features customizable, grade-aligned STEM content along with real MLS team statistics into a soccer-themed board game and community program. Students represent a real MLS team in their class, competing in a series of games throughout a STEM soccer "season". The program can bed augments with a series of community experiences, including educator training, STEM workshops and career events, and regional championship events featuring the MLS STEM Goals game. Curricula featured in the game is currently designed for students in grades 4-8, and can be easily customized by individual education.

Although Learn Fresh is an official partner of the NBA & WNBA, we have not gained as much visibility as a nonprofit as other organizations our size. We are a best kept secret in some aspects. Given that our programs are free for students and educators to access, we want more people to know about these available resources.We would love the opportunity to connect with a variety of networks to gain more resources as we continue to branch out and pilot more projects on fronts such as climate education. Additionally, we always encourage staff, leadership and executive teams alike, to constantly looks for areas of improvement and growth. While all of the aspects of the support program interest us, the leadership coaching and network resources in particular drew us to this opportunity. 

Learn Fresh partners with many organizations with similar goals to serve youth from traditionally marginalized groups, particularly in education. What sets Learn Fresh apart as an organization is the strong connection to sports and entertainment as the culturally relevant hook to engage students across all backgrounds. Learn Fresh is the only non-profit to hold a royalty free license with the NBA, MLS, and MLBPA, and our program is the largest league-adopted educational program for the NBA and WNBA. The culturally rich & diverse representation of these leagues allows students to see themselves reflected within the games, cultivating a unique level of relevance and connection to the material that empowers their STEM learning. 

Learn Fresh aims to challenge and change the narrative around STEM education and academic success for students of color, girls, and those living in low-income communities; offering a new paradigm for relevant, engaging learning. The 2022 NAEP showed that only 26% of eighth grader students are proficient in mathematics. The racial achievement gap is stark with only 9% of Black and 14% Hispanic students performing at or above proficient, compared to 35% of their White peers. 

Our program structure fosters deep academic benefits. Over the course of a five-year period, program evaluations by the American Institutes of Research have shown consistent gains among students participating across major demographic groups (female, male, Black, Latino, White), as well as consistent improvement in the program’s impact each year. The success of NBA Math Hoops and our programs is evaluated through the breadth and depth of impact. A 2021 third-party assessment of 5,556 students participating in this program demonstrated 29% gains in math fluency and 19% improvement with higher-order math skills related to statistics and data analysis among program participants, compared to 15% and 3%, respectively, for a control group of non-participants. Extracurricular events, including tournaments, STEM activations, and STEM career panels comprise a substantial part of the program’s broader impact by exposing students to the vast range of STEM careers and academic pathways. Students often report transformative gains in their academic outlook. Our programs uniquely bridges education, with sport and industry to foster positive long-term outcomes for students.

Elementary and secondary education in mathematics and science is crucial for success in postsecondary STEM majors and a wide variety of STEM-related occupations. Promoting elementary grade participation in STEM has the potential to help broaden and strengthen STEM education at the K-12 level, raising overall student achievement, increasing advanced high school course taking, reducing performance gaps among demographic groups, and improving college and career readiness in mathematics and science. There is a particular need to address disparate outcomes in mathematics for students of different races, ethnicities, genders, and social classes through learning methods and classroom processes that facilitate diverse students’ sense of belongingness and engagement with math.

Our theory of change is simple: Students learn more effectively when the material is engaging, exciting, and relevant, and teachers teach more effectively when they have the tools to bring the material to life. Our programs help to prepare low-income students and students of color for high school STEM courses, and to be more effective learners overall. Learn Fresh helps provide students with the skills, confidence, and motivation to consider STEM studies and careers, while building community within schools and afterschool programs and celebrating student achievement. In the long-term, these immediate impacts lead to improved and more equitable educational outcomes, which is linked to reduced poverty and improved long-term economic prospects and earning power.

Students who complete a Learn Fresh program will see the following outcomes: 

1. Improved fluency with fundamental math skills, higher-order math skills related to stats and data analysis, and understanding of math concepts

2. Improved social-emotional skills and ability to work as part of a team

3. Improved attitudes towards learning and increased engagement in the learning process 

4. Improved understanding of the importance of math in the real world and awareness of STEM-related careers

An evaluation system helps us measure participants’ progress towards the short-term program outcomes through a combination of qualitative and quantitative measures. A select pool of students take pre- and post-test evaluations that measure their math skills and understanding, SEL attributes, and attitudes towards school and learning.

Historically our math-related pre- and post-test assessment have been modeled after the Common Core evaluation and the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP), and specifically measures students’ ability in the following academic areas: fluency with basic operations, percent/decimal/fraction calculation and conversion, graphing and plotting with statistics, and decision-making with statistics and data. All skills covered through the program and assessment represent critical components of the late elementary and middle school Common Core Standards. We manage all assessment and survey data through the Learn Fresh Coaches Association (LFCA), our educator portal, which allows us to track student responses to pre- and post-test evaluations over the course of multiple seasons. 

In 2024, Learn Fresh plans to launch a randomized controlled trial (RCT), under the direction of our Director of Program Evaluation, Dr. Darnley. The analysis aims to investigate in-school program effectiveness and will evaluate changes in math achievement across treatment and control groups using de-identified standardized tests administered by the state.

Learn Fresh is dedicated to achieving equitable representation across the STEM pipeline for girls, students of color, and those living in low-income communities. In 2021, we launched a digital version of our program, NBA Math Hoops. This free app builds math proficiency for students in grades 4-8. Gameplay simulates the game of basketball. Students work through math problems to score points; utilizing statistical analysis to craft strategy. Initial evaluation has shown this app to be just as successful as the traditional classroom program.

Our proposed concept is to build a parent extension to the existing app. A 2022 published study by Aryn Dotterer at Utah State University examined the links among parent involvement and underrepresented students’ STEM achievement, found that parent involvement in STEM was significantly related to students’ achievement. Our portal would provide parents with user-friendly data of their student’s math proficiency along with suggested activities and lessons for students struggling with specific math concepts. While the content will be geared towards parents, educators engaged in our core program will have the opportunity to access the portal and utilize the tools. 

Our goal is to have this available by the 2025-26 school year. This would include an initial pilot and comprehensive evaluation. After this initial stage, a primary focus will be to train existing parents and educators in our network on the tool and market its availability to schools, after-school networks, and parenting groups. Working with our partners and marketing team, we will develop and execute a strategic communication plan to engage stakeholders beyond our existing channels. Empowering parents with accessible tools to engage in their children’s STEM education will lead to an increase in academic achievement and confidence in STEM subject matter especially for underrepresented students who have faced historical and, often, socioeconomic barriers to achievement. 

Learn Fresh currently has 18 full time staff. 

Since the app's launch in 2021, our program and product development team has worked towards building an app that does not simply exist as an extension to the board game play, but act as it own separate tool for improving math fluency in middle school aged children. Just as educators are able to track students progress with the original game, parents and guardians should be able to track the improvement made in play on the app. The concept of a parent/educator app extension has been in development since 2022. 

Equity and Inclusion is at the core of the Learn Fresh mission and culture. We believe in the inherent value of all individuals regardless of race (including hair texture and hairstyles), color, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, pregnancy, physical disability, mental disability, age, military status, veteran status (including protected veterans), marital status, registered domestic partner or civil union status, gender (including sex stereotyping and gender identity or expression), medical condition, genetic information, or sexual orientation. 

We are dedicated to serving the needs of our community with the intentional focus of uplifting underrepresented groups in STEM spaces. Our staff and Board of Directors reflect the diverse identities and experiences of the communities we serve. 55% of Learn Fresh staff identify of persons of color while more than 50% of our board identify as persons of color, with all women serving on our board being women of color.  

Sixty-one percent of students we serve are in grades 4-6, and the program serves 53% male-identifying and 47% female-identifying students. The current beneficiaries of Learn Fresh programming compose the following cultural demographics: 6% Asian-American/Pacific Islander; 27% Black/African-American; 22% Hispanic/Latinx; 11% Multiethnic/Multiracial; 12% Native American/Alaskan Native; 22% White.

We actively seek to work with implementation partners who align with this commitment to diversity and also work to serve similar communities, this includes organizations such as Boys and Girls Clubs of America, YMCA, City Year and Girls Inc. 

Learn Fresh works to ensure accessibility of our programming to as many communities as possible, this includes offering our programming free to all students and educators, offering pre-recorded training videos in both English and Spanish that are ADA compliant for the hearing impaired. 

Founded in 2012, Learn Fresh leverages the power of sports and entertainment to inspire students’ STEM and social-emotional development in the classroom. In 2022, on the heels of the pandemic, the share of US students who performed at or above proficient in math on the National Assessment for Educational Progress declined by 5% from 2019. New strategies are needed to meaningful engage students in this critical subject.

Over the last decade, our programs have engaged over one million students across the United States and abroad. 60% of our reach has been achieved in the last two years. 54% of children in K-12 actively participate in youth sports, according to a 2020 National Center for Health Statistics survey, and many more are fans of local teams and athletes. 76% of young people regularly listen to music, according to a Harris Poll. These themes represent the most salient points of connection to the broader world for young learners.

In addition to academic outcomes, all programs are designed to generate social-emotional growth, specifically in the areas of self-regulation, peer-to-peer collaboration, and student-educator engagement. Learn Fresh programs have been proven to foster deep academic benefits. A 2023 statewide study conducted by the Wisconsin Association of Boys & Girls Clubs found that 79% of students participating in NBA Math Hoops achieved measurable gains in math fluency from pre to post assessment. These results were mirrored in a 2021 WestEd analysis of NBA Math Hoops pre-post data, which found that 73% of participating students achieved measurable gains in math fluency from pre to post assessment. As part of our 2022-23 Pacers launch, Indianapolis Public Schools introduced Math Hoops as the primary supplement at McKinley School 39. 57.6% of 6th graders achieved their math growth target, surpassing the school’s 2030 goal (45.8%). 

In 2023, Learn Fresh is on track to match or surpass our 2022 revenue
and net asset measures, while maintaining a consistently strong cash
position. As of October 2023, the organization has held access to at
least four months of runway for 33 consecutive months. 

Learn Fresh has a unique funding model as the vast majority of our funding is sourced through corporate partners and foundations, as opposed to relying on donations from private individuals. This structure has allowed our organization to rapidly scale over the last several years increasing our students served exponentially year over year.  A few notable partners: 

NBA: The league, NBA Cares, and NBA Players Association are founding partners of our organization. In addition to financial support, Learn Fresh is the only non-profit gifted with a royalty free license that allows us to use player likenesses and official branding within our program. 

Overdeck Family Foundation (OFF): OFF is the largest financial support of Learn Fresh and has committed nearly $5 million dollars over a five year period to our work.  Takeda Pharmaceuticals: Takeda US represents another leading funders committing over $1 million to expand Learn Fresh programming nationally. AT&T: Initially through the Aspire Accelerator, AT&T is a long-time partner of Learn Fresh contributing over $1 million since 2017. 

Because our core programming is intrinsically tied to professional sports leagues and teams, we have established long-term relationships with these funding partners that ensure the continued success of our program. However, to achieve our organizational vision we rely on contributions from new partners to expand our work and grow our impact. MIT Solve's funding will make a significant impact on Learn Fresh’s ability to reach more students without programming. Helping to ensure students have access at no cost.