Little Rock Christian Academy is adopting a new math curriculum for kindergarten through seventh grade, expecting broad improvements in math to have a positive impact on the other three facets of STEM education — science, technology and engineering.

After a year of rigorous review, LRCA has embraced the new curriculum, called Math in Focus. The school describes it as an “authentic Singapore Math curriculum, with problem-solving as the center of math learning.” Concepts are taught, it said, “with a concrete-pictorial-abstract learning progression through real-world, hands-on experiences.”

Dr. Gary Arnold, LRCA’s head of school, said teachers had been training with math specialists to smooth the transition. “Our research tells us Singapore Math is a superior pathway to solid results in understanding and using mathematics.”