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Educational system: Rio de Janeiro Municipal Department of Education /
Grades using Innovamat: 1st and 2nd grade
Pilot: 5 public schools / Expansion: 159 public schools
Independent evaluation: Germina, funded by Fundação Lemann
Rio de Janeiro is a city full of life. It is also home to one of the largest public education systems in Latin America. In 2023, they set themselves an ambitious challenge: to improve the way children learn math from the first grades of elementary school.
The Rio de Janeiro Municipal Department of Education oversees more than 1,500 schools and supports the learning of hundreds of thousands of students. In a context like this, any educational change must be careful, measurable, and sustainable. That is why, when the city decided to explore new ways to teach math, the starting point was clear: begin with a small pilot, observe what happened in classrooms, and evaluate it through an independent lens.
This is how the collaboration between SME-Rio, Innovamat, Fundação Lemann, and the research center Germina began.
«Children are more interested, more motivated. They have faster logical reasoning, which even allows them to apply math in other subjects.»
Evelin, GRA agent at the 2nd CRE of Rio de Janeiro’s SME
The project began in 5 public schools in Rio de Janeiro, with 1st and 2nd grade students. The goal was not only to bring a change in classroom resources, but also to see whether a vision of math based on understanding, hands-on learning, dialogue, and problem solving could fit into the everyday reality of the city’s public schools.
Before starting, Germina, an independent educational research organization, analyzed the starting point. The reality they found was still common in many education systems: math classes mainly centered on a single resource, with little exploration, little mathematical conversation among students, and fewer opportunities to build concepts through experience.
The challenge, therefore, was no small one. It involved introducing new classroom practices in which students truly think, stay mentally active, explain their reasoning, discover strategies, and can enjoy math.
«Children can argue, reason, discern. So this is about solving problems. This is a great benefit for life.» – Simone Cabral, instructional coordinator at E.M. Capistrano da Abreu.
When Innovamat resources began to be introduced, classrooms started to work differently. Sessions invited students to use manipulatives, discuss strategies with classmates, and look for different ways to reach a solution.
Ana Paula Calmon, a teacher at E.M. Pedro Ernesto, sums it up with a very powerful image:
«Innovamat has enriched our classes even more. We have more options in terms of materials and more opportunities for practice and work.»
That change was not only visible in the activities. It was also visible in students’ attitudes. Children who used to participate very little began to raise their hands and explain how they had thought about it.
Math stopped being only a correct answer and became a conversation.
One of the aspects teachers valued most was that the proposal makes it possible to support different learning paces without giving up mathematical depth. Each student can approach the challenge from their starting point and, at the same time, keep moving toward increasingly efficient strategies.
One of the most important lessons from the pilot was that changes do not happen just by introducing a new resource. They happen when teachers take ownership of the proposal and turn it into a living experience in the classroom. In the words of Amanda Oliveira, instructional coordinator at E.M. Pedro Ernesto:
«When I see that my practice is changing, I believe we are growing.»
Germina’s evaluation showed that, in the schools that implemented Innovamat, the use of physical and digital resources increased, more active learning situations were proposed, and students received more structured feedback.
In other words, the way of teaching changed. And when the way of teaching changes, the way students relate to math changes too.
Teachers observed more engagement, more curiosity, and more willingness to persist when something did not work out the first time. Instead of waiting for a ready-made explanation, students began to make sense of things and explain that there could be more than one valid strategy for solving a problem.
«The pilot results, after two years of implementation, are among the most effective in the literature on impact evaluation of educational programs aimed at improving math learning in the first grades of elementary school.»
Marco Pepe, lead researcher at Germina
From the beginning, the pilot was designed with the condition that it had to be evaluated independently. Germina led the study using data external to Innovamat and a methodology that made it possible to compare the progress of the schools using the proposal with that of similar schools that were not using it.
The first results pointed to something important: during the first year, the most visible change was in the classroom. Teachers noticed a real change in the way they taught, which strengthened trust in students. And, after two years of implementation, learning results also arrived.
In the 5 schools in the initial pilot, 2nd and 3rd grade students showed significant gains in math: +0.16 standard deviations in 2nd grade and +0.20 in 3rd grade.
The conclusion was cautious, but promising: when implementation is supported, evaluated, and sustained over time, classroom changes can translate into better learning.
With the first results on the table, Rio’s Municipal Department of Education decided to expand the program from 5 to 159 public schools. It was about scaling an experience that had already shown strong signs.
«Today we can offer this project to more than 150 public schools across Rio de Janeiro. I am glad that we can support Rio in its goal of becoming the capital of math.»
Thiago Rossetto, General Manager of Innovamat Brazil
But this expansion also reflected a shared conviction: improving math education in a public system requires time, rigor, and collaboration. It is not enough to hand out materials. Teachers must be supported, schools’ needs must be heard, and what happens must be measured so the path can be constantly adjusted.
In the words of Andreu Dotti Boada, CEO and founder of Innovamat: «Because learning math is a global need.»
This change would not have been possible without the involvement, passion, and commitment of so many teachers who opened the doors of their classrooms to us. Their effort is the driving force that inspires us to keep working so that this mission reaches many more classrooms in Brazil.
