Modern Classrooms Project Announces Founding Research Advisory Board for Its Free Math Curriculum

WASHINGTON D.C., NOVEMBER 12, 2026. Modern Classrooms Project today announced the founding members of its Research Advisory Board. The eight researchers will advise the team building the Modern Classrooms Math Curriculum, a free Tier 1 curriculum for grades 6 to 8 that launches in summer 2027, with high school to follow in 2028.

The Modern Classrooms Project is committed to building a math curriculum aligned to learning science. The Board's founding members study how students learn math and how to teach it well, across cognitive science, neuroscience, psychology, intervention, assessment, and mathematics. They advise Modern Classrooms Project throughout the build process to ensure the curriculum is aligned to the latest evidence.

"Learning scientists have spent decades figuring out how students learn math, and too little of that research has made it into real classrooms at scale," said Kareem Farah, CEO and Co-Founder of Modern Classrooms Project. "This Advisory Board, composed of some of the leading researchers in the field, ensures every lesson we build reflects the strongest evidence on how students learn."

Founding members

• Barbara Oakley, Distinguished Professor of Engineering Emerita, Oakland University
• Dylan Wiliam, Emeritus Professor of Educational Assessment, UCL Institute of Education
• Daniel Ansari, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience & Learning, Western University
• Paulo Carvalho, Robert E. Kraut Assistant Professor, Human-Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
• Alex Kontorovich, Distinguished Professor of Mathematics, Rutgers University; Founder and Executive Director, Rutgers Math Corps
• Sarah Powell, Professor, The University of Texas at Austin
• Paul Riccomini, Professor, The Pennsylvania State University
• Benjamin Solomon, Associate Professor of School Psychology at the University at Albany, SUNY

"Modern Classrooms is built on the neuroscience of how learning really happens. Every lesson shows it - with wit and verve to match!" said Barbara Oakley, Distinguished Professor of Engineering Emerita, Oakland University, co-creator of Learning How to Learn and author of A Mind for Numbers.

"I am really excited to join MCP's Research Advisory Board because this work has the potential to make significant improvements to student outcomes worldwide," said Dylan Wiliam, Emeritus Professor of Educational Assessment at the UCL Institute of Education in London, United Kingdom.

"My research has convinced me that how students practice matters as much as what they practice," said Paulo Carvalho, the Robert E. Kraut Assistant Professor at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. "The Modern Classrooms Math Curriculum is built around that insight. Spaced retrieval, daily skill checks, and a commitment to practice over passive instruction are grounded in the science of learning, not just good intentions. I'm thrilled to support a project that takes that science this seriously and is determined to put it in the hands of every teacher, for free."

Full bios and statements from every member are on the Research Advisory Board page.

About the Modern Classrooms Math Curriculum

The Modern Classrooms Math Curriculum is a free, research-informed Tier 1 math curriculum for grades 6 to 8. It is published as an open educational resource and is free to every teacher, school and family. Each lesson follows the same sequence: whole-group fluency, explicit instruction on one new skill, blocked practice, a skill check, and spaced practice that brings earlier skills back. Teachers can run it with a paper workbook or on screen. Modern Classrooms Project secured $12 million to build the curriculum, and the middle school curriculum opens to everyone in summer 2027.

About Modern Classrooms Project

Modern Classrooms Project is a nonprofit organization that empowers educators to transform their classrooms and schools to meet the needs of every student. Our educator-led, mastery-based instructional approach, grounded in the science of learning, is the foundation of a growing movement of tens of thousands of educators worldwide. Together with our curriculum- and standards-aligned tools, content, and resources, we are reshaping how teaching and learning happen across the country. Learn more at modernclassrooms.org.

Media contact: Kevin Briody, Chief Marketing Officer, [email protected]