PowerMyLearning

10/01/2026

We loved joining Grape Street Elementary families for Meet the Teacher Night and celebrating the launch of the California Family Math Initiative! 💛

Together with Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, Raising a Reader National, and the Center for Family Math, we’re connecting young learners’ math experiences in school and at home. PowerMyLearning’s MathVoice helps students explain their thinking and gives families and teachers a window into how children understand math.

Thank you to the Grape Street community for welcoming us!

Photo courtesy of Partnership for Los Angeles Schools.

09/29/2026

A great conversation about the future of education, technology, and nonprofit leadership!

Arun Ramanathan joined Christina Greenberg on the Hire Ground Podcast to talk about leading across the education ecosystem, building organizations for growth, and the opportunities and responsibilities that come with AI in education.

They also discuss why accuracy, privacy, security, and trust need to be at the center of how we build and use AI EdTech.

Give it a listen!

Most nonprofit mergers happen because one organization is failing. Dr. Arun Ramanathan has led the other kind: strategic mergers between financially strong organizations looking to scale their impact.Arun is CEO of PowerMyLearning, a national nonp...

09/22/2026

What if pediatricians asked about math the way they ask about reading?

Our CEO, Dr. Arun Ramanathan, explores that question in a new Forbes Q&A with Jim Cowen—and makes the case for recognizing math as an important part of children’s development and well-being.

From the questions families ask at home to the ways educators and healthcare providers can support children, there are opportunities to help every child see themselves as a math person.

Read the full conversation in Forbes:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimcowen/2026/09/21/getting-pediatricians-to-weigh-in-on-math-a-qa-with-arun-ramanathan/

The article was also picked up by Yahoo:
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/getting-pediatricians-weigh-math-q-174102868.html

Math literacy should be treated as essential as reading literacy. Arun Ramanathan of PowerMyLearning says pediatricians' trusted advice could help.

08/21/2026

We’re excited to be back-to-school in Los Angeles! 📚🌟

PowerMyLearning was proud to join GPSN for LA Believes: A Celebration of Our Schools and Community, an afternoon celebrating the educators, students, community organizations, and leaders who make Los Angeles public schools so special.

It was wonderful to hear remarks from LAUSD Superintendent Andrés Chait and to celebrate the inaugural LA Believes Awards honoring standout schools, community organizations, and youth leaders.

We’re grateful to be part of such a committed education community and to have the opportunity to reconnect with partners who share our commitment to educational equity and stronger outcomes for Los Angeles students.

And always great to spend time with our colleague and LA education community connector, Randell Erving! 🙌

08/18/2026

California passed landmark literacy legislation. But passing a law is only the beginning.

In a new EdSource commentary, PowerMyLearning CEO Arun Ramanathan asks an important question: Is California doing enough to ensure that districts can identify and implement the highest-quality, evidence-based literacy professional development?

With more than 35 programs recommended for approval, Arun argues that California risks placing the burden of sorting through an overwhelming number of options on districts—particularly smaller districts with fewer resources.

California has shown it can conduct rigorous, expert-driven reviews. Now, the state has an opportunity to apply that same standard to literacy professional development.

Read Arun’s full piece in EdSource: https://edsource.org/2026/california-literacy-reform-implementation/764009

“Ultimately, this isn’t about winning a bet. It’s about making sure California’s students get the benefit of the reforms the state promised them.”

At its September meeting, the State Board of Education has a chance to ensure that California’s landmark literacy legislation is implemented as intended.

08/12/2026

In a recent ISTEE+ article, educator Nardi Routten makes the case for moving beyond surface-level math instruction to give students more opportunities to reason, collaborate, explain their thinking, and make sense of problems for themselves.

We wholeheartedly agree! When students talk through their reasoning, they give teachers a window into what they understand, where misconceptions may be forming, and how to move learning forward.

Strong math learning goes beyond getting the right answer to understanding why. PowerMyLearning’s Foundations of Numeracy framework explores how skills like explaining and sense-making are foundational to building lasting math understanding.

Check out the full framework here: https://powermylearning.org/foundations-of-numeracy/

Read Routten’s take on why that work needs to start early:
https://ascd.org/blogs/to-improve-math-instruction-get-kids-thinking-earlier

What does giving students more space to explain their thinking look like in your classroom or district?

A stronger foundation for early elementary math skills starts with small changes to make learning stick.

08/06/2026

Cast your vote to help bring our panel “Read, Talk, Count: The Family Learning Equation” to life at SXSW EDU 2027!

We’re teaming up with Raising a Reader National, National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement, and Collaborative for Student Success to explore how everyday family interactions can strengthen early literacy, foundational math skills, and school readiness.

Vote by August 23!

PanelPicker® is the official SXSW user-generated session proposal platform. Enter ideas and vote to help shape Conference programming for SXSW and SXSW EDU.

08/05/2026

A student reads: “Lena has 7 apples and buys 5 more.” She writes: 7 − 5 = 2.

The answer is wrong, but the mistake is useful. It suggests she chose an operation before making sense of the problem.

In our latest blog, Chief Product Officer Emily Amick unpacks what the science of learning tells us about spotting genuine understanding and why "illusions of learning" can mislead even the most experienced teachers.

When has hearing a child explain their thinking changed your understanding of what they knew?

Explore how the science of learning shapes MathVoice and helps teachers look beyond right answers to better understand student math reasoning.

08/05/2026

Governors want the American Academy of Pediatrics to issue guidance urging parents to use games to help children build numeracy skills.

07/30/2026

“Thanks for watching!”

That’s how one first grader signed off after explaining how she knew the value of five coins pulled from a bag. She spoke with confidence and clarity, as though she were hosting her own show.

Her teacher, Ashley Landry of Reynolds Elementary School in Spring ISD, partnered with PowerMyLearning this year to implement MathVoice and make play-based learning and math discourse a regular part of her lessons.

In a new article for eSchool News, Ashley reflects on what student explanations can reveal that written work often misses and why giving young learners the space to share their thinking matters so much.

📎 Read “First graders need a chance to explain their math thinking”:

Research shows that young students build stronger math understanding when it connects to their everyday lives.