Center for Mathematical Talent (CMT) at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University. (February 6, 2012)

Mark Saul, director of The Center for Mathematical Talent (CMT) at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, coordinates activities for students in the New York City area. And he wants more mathematics than is included in the usual mathematics classroom. The Center consolidates and supports existing programs for students with mathematical talent, develops new programs serving these students, these teachers and their schools; and extends the reach of such programs to include populations of mathematically talented students not yet served by such programs.

However, for Mr Saul as Katherine Lee writes in Science's MemberCentral:

[T]he challenges of teaching kids who are low-performing as well as high-performing holds a particular allure. “Kids in the middle are much more predictable. They know their limits. The high-achieving kids are unpredictable, and one can almost say the same thing about low-achieving kids,” he explains.

But in addition to working with the kids, the Center for Mathematical Talent is working to get teachers and school administrations to reassess how they are teaching maths.

In Mark Saul's words:

Once kids have passed standardized tests, there is no institutional incentive to go further. We want teachers to stop seeing math as something to get through because that attitude is communicated to the kids. We want to show teachers what levels of understanding to look for, and to say, ‘Here’s a part that’s hard for the kids.’ We want teachers to ask, ‘Are they learning what we think they’re learning?’...Our ultimate goal is to get [CMT] institutionalised so that everyone can see that kids everywhere can do math. If you can help a child reach that joy of achieving and learning something, then you’ve done your job.