The visual-puzzle math program ST Math has won the 2026 EdTech Breakthrough "Math Learning Solution of the Year" award. This supplemental program, developed by MIND Education, is used in thousands of Pre-K–8 classrooms to teach math concepts through spatial-temporal reasoning rather than traditional, text-heavy instruction. While the award highlights the growing popularity of non-verbal learning tools, educational experts urge a balanced approach that combines visual problem-solving with structured language support.
What Happened
According to the 2026 EdTech Breakthrough Awards announcement, ST Math secured the top spot out of more than 3,000 nominations. The program, which has been in classrooms for nearly three decades, rejects traditional text-heavy math worksheets. Instead, it relies on interactive, visual-spatial puzzles featuring a penguin named JiJi to guide students through mathematical reasoning. As we previously reported, this method is designed to build deep conceptual understanding before introducing symbols and equations.
The program's design relies on three core areas. First, it uses spatial-temporal reasoning to help students mentally manipulate objects in space and time. Second, it provides instant visual feedback so students see exactly why an answer is right or wrong. Finally, it guides students through a symbolic transition, slowly connecting those visual concepts to written numbers and symbols.
The Bigger Picture
To assess if these visual games yield real academic results, researchers evaluated Texas student performance during the 2024–2025 school year. According to the OSF pre-print study, students who met the program's target usage of 1,000 or more completed puzzles showed a 16.4 scale-score point advantage on state standardized tests compared to a matched control group. High-usage students also had a 4.3 percentage-point advantage in reaching the state's "Meets or Masters" proficiency levels.
However, educators looking at this data should note a significant conflict of interest. The conflict of interest disclosure indicates the authors of the study are employees of the MIND Research Institute. This means the study was funded and conducted internally by the vendor rather than an independent third party.
Beyond test scores, the program's pedagogy represents a shift in how educational technology is designed. Writing in EdTech Digest, Nigel Nisbet of MIND Education argued that schools must move away from edtech that uses extrinsic rewards like digital badges. Instead, he advocates for an "experience-first" model that centers on "productive struggle." In this model, students learn by working through non-routine visual problems and correcting their own mistakes.
What This Means for Families
For parents of multilingual and special education students, a visual math curriculum sounds like an ideal solution. However, classroom research warns against avoiding language entirely in math class. According to a review published in the Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, treating visualization as a "language-neutral" tool ignores the linguistic needs of multilingual learners.
Experts from Instruction Partners caution that math assessments still rely heavily on dense word problems and multi-step written reasoning. When schools oversimplify instruction to remove linguistic friction, they risk lowering the rigor of the curriculum. This can prevent students from developing the math vocabulary needed for advanced coursework. As reported by Education Week, schools that successfully support English learners combine visual conceptual tools with active, explicit vocabulary building, rather than using visuals to replace language instruction.
What You Can Do
- Monitor puzzle completion, not just time spent. If your child's school uses ST Math, check their progress dashboard. The program's measurable academic benefits are linked to finishing at least 1,000 puzzles per year, rather than just logging a set number of weekly minutes.
- Bridge the gap between pictures and words. Ask your child to explain their visual math puzzles out loud. Have them describe what the character "JiJi" is doing using math terms like "greater than," "fraction," "numerator," or "division."
- Encourage productive struggle. Resist the urge to give your child the answer when they get stuck on a digital puzzle. Ask open-ended questions like, "What does the screen show when you click that?" to help them learn from the program's instant visual feedback.