Success adds up in Math 1 classroom

Whiteboard tables drive 4.5% boost in performance at Sandburg 

Imagine a math classroom where students are on their feet, talking through ideas, 

working together, and the furniture itself helps math come alive. This is the new reality at Carl Sandburg High School, where teacher Leanna Pitsoulakis’s classroom has resulted in a measurable 4.5% increase in student test scores over last year.

Thanks to a $1000 grant from the District 230 Foundation, traditional rows of desks have been replaced by collaborative whiteboard tables. These writable surfaces allow students to think deeply, work together, and own their learning. Research and real-world experience show that when students work on whiteboards together, they become more engaged, more persistent, and more confident in tackling challenging problems. They stop just mimicking steps and start thinking for themselves.

Pitsoulakis says, “With whiteboard tables, both standing and sitting, we give students the space and tools to collaborate, move, and share ideas freely. It’s not just about making math more fun; it’s about helping students develop skills that last a lifetime: teamwork, communication, and creative problem-solving.”

The shift in the classroom environment has led to academic gains. When comparing summative performance across seven topic tests from last year’s Honors Math 1 class to this year’s Honors Math 1, student scores saw an average increase of 4.57%. While the sample size is small and there is just one semester of data comparisons, Pitsoulakis hopes to see the results continue.

She reports that students are more willing to tackle complex problems and stay engaged longer. The "low-stakes" nature of a whiteboard—where mistakes can be easily erased and corrected—has reduced anxiety during tests as well. 

“The whiteboard tables have completely transformed my classroom! The students love using the whiteboard tables every day and complain the few times I ask them to write on paper. It gives them the opportunity to take more risks in their learning, because they can quickly erase or change something in their thinking or work if need be,” Pitsoulakis said.

For the students in Pitsoulakis’s classroom, the impact is personal. Freshman Fatima Wardeh said, "I hate paper now. There is very little space on it, and the whiteboard tables are much clearer and larger for me to see my work. I did a problem during a quiz on the paper, checked it, and I was wrong. Ms. P told me to try it on the whiteboard instead, and then I got it right!" 

Freshman Anna Mraz agreed and said, "I like using the whiteboard tables because it allows me to show my work better and more clearly. It allows me to learn better because I actually am doing the work myself and not just copying it into a note packet. For tests, the whiteboard tables give me more confidence that I am doing it correctly, because I can draw it out and label it more clearly. Today, I drew out a big triangle on the table and was able to expand out the lines to see other angles, which helped me to solve for missing parts. I wouldn't have had that space on the paper."