Innovat's empire grows: it is implemented in a third of Catalan schools and receives the endorsement of California

Barcelona"I collapsed trying to do Innovamat problems with my daughter"; "Innovamat makes difficult what used to be easy"; "Students haven't grasped basic concepts and get overwhelmed with addition." These are just some of the thousands of comments made on social media since Innovamat's materials began appearing in Catalan math classrooms in 2017. Now, eight years later, the Catalan company's methods are used in more than 800 schools and institutes in Catalonia—approximately a third of all schools—reaching nearly 200,000 students in primary and secondary education.

The growth of this math publisher hasn't been limited to Catalonia; it has also reached 2,600 educational centers in nine different countries, impacting over half a million students worldwide. Furthermore, in recent days Innovamat has reached the United States and has become one of the fifteen publishers—Innovamat is the only one not based in the US—authorized by the California government for use in classrooms in schools and colleges throughout the state.

Despite this explosive growth, doubts among families and some teachers about a method for teaching mathematics that is drastically different from what has been traditionally done remain prevalent. "We are concerned because we see that new teaching methodologies are being used without any evidence that they are better than those used before," warns Professor Jaume Franch, former dean of the Faculty of Mathematics at the UPC (Polytechnic University of Catalonia). The mathematician asserts that "sometimes it's difficult to grasp the logic of the algorithms used in Innovamat, and therefore, teachers may find it difficult to understand this new way of performing operations and approaching problems." Conversely, Jordi Balbín, head of Innovamat in Catalonia, argues that the objective of their method is precisely "to understand mathematics before simply repeating it mechanically." Thus, what they propose is an initial phase based on comprehension. "I want to understand what I'm doing, starting with manipulating the material, understanding it, discussing it…," he explains. "What has always been done in the math classroom is extremely important; we can't stop being good multipliers, we can't stop being good at operations, it's absurd to set it aside, but what doesn't make it so is to actually do it without understanding it."

Mistrust among families

However, the fact that this method of teaching mathematics is so different and has coincided with a decline in educational outcomes in Catalonia has led to significant distrust of Innovamat. In fact, Affac—the federation that represents most of the public school parent associations in Catalonia—has already requested that the Department of Education evaluate the schools where Innovamat is being implemented. "We consider it dangerous to leave the decision to adopt a pedagogical tool to the discretion of individual schools without the department establishing criteria or oversight," they told ARA. Furthermore, they insist that the implementation of Innovamat in classrooms requires "careful analysis and critical review," and warn that "the education system should not be a testing ground, but rather a safe, equitable, and robust environment for children's learning."

Here, Raül Fernández, head of Innovamat and future president of the Federation of Entities for the Teaching of Mathematics in Catalonia (FEEMCAT), warns that it "makes no sense" to link poor educational results to Innovamat's emergence. "When the poor PISA results came out, we were singled out, but there isn't a single student who took the tests and had learned with Innovamat because the tests were administered in 2022 to fifteen-year-old students, and we hadn't even arrived yet," Balbín argues. Similarly, Fernández also emphasizes that many other factors are behind the poor results. "We depend heavily on each graduating class, but what do you think has a greater impact: that a third of my students have special needs in the classroom, or the influence of a publisher that hasn't even reached 50% of schools?" he asks.

In fact, FEEMCAT, which represents more than 700 mathematics teachers at all educational levels in Catalonia, views Innovamat's approach to teaching mathematics favorably. "Their proposal aligns with ours, with that of the Department of Education, and with the recommendations of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in the United States, on which the Catalan curriculum is based. But it's true that it's bolder and riskier, and that puts many people off," admits Fernández. The mathematics teacher explains that one of the problems is that, to teach effectively with Innovamat, as a teacher, "at least initially," you need to prepare your lessons extensively. "You have to invest two hours to prepare just one hour of class, and many people aren't willing to do that," he describes.

Regarding the usefulness of Innovamat's approach, Fernández insists that "this method of not performing so many calculations and reasoning much more is slower, but it allows for richer and more reliable learning." "You can spend an hour doing a division, but in this process you're approximating, you're subtracting... In the end, it's the process that matters. What's important is that they understand why the algorithm works," the teacher asserts. He argues that by the end of their education, students' math skills can be the same or even better. "Every year we have to repeat concepts that they're supposed to have already learned and forgotten because they haven't consolidated them. Doing it this way might be slower at first, but you solidify the knowledge so that you can expand on it in subsequent years."

Beyond what happens in the classroom, however, the former dean of the Faculty of Mathematics at the UPC also warns that another problem is that with this new approach, "parents can't help their children with their homework because they don't understand it either." On this point, Innovat maintains that the publisher is trying to "take a back seat." They assert that the school, the teachers, and the management team should be the main players, and they believe that "it's not a good approach" for Innovat to meet with families. For his part, Fernández asks: "Who do I assign homework to? The student or the parents?" and insists that, if they want, families can observe how it's done in class and try to adapt. "They can also teach it using the methods they were taught forty years ago, but what they can't do is discredit what's done in the classroom," he urges.

California, the acid test

Several mathematicians consulted by the ARA assert that Innovamat's problem is the lack of sufficient evidence to prove the method's effectiveness, and also the absence of evidence demonstrating that it is not a good strategy for teaching mathematics. In this regard, the publisher has conducted internal tests on students learning with its materials and explains that the results are good, although they admit that the fact that these tests are internal to the company may make it more difficult for outsiders to trust their veracity. From FEEMCAT, Fernández argues that the upcoming use of the materials in all educational centers in California could serve as a litmus test for Innovamat's effectiveness: "If all the centers use it, that's where we'll see if it holds true in the external tests administered to these students," he concludes.