National School Improvement Alliance

We bring the excitement to math.

MathFest is NSIA's national math achievement program for 1st–8th graders — built to feel like championship day, so students practice harder and believe they belong in the room.

See how it works Our national growth plan

Students at a MathFest event raising their completed answer sheets

Who's behind it

Led by an educator who's done the job.

Dr. Ron Boykins founded NSIA in 2006 after seeing how much math achievement work stopped at teacher training and curriculum reform — and never reached students directly. He built MathFest as a motivational platform instead: a program tied to state standards, aimed at mastery of the basics, and open far wider than the usual "best and brightest" competition.

Dr. Ron Boykins

Founder & National Director, NSIA
Current Teacher · Former Principal · Former District Superintendent
College Assistant Professor · Former Military Officer

The national math improvement strategy

Reform math curriculum and raise standards
Strengthen teacher training and support
Tutor and support students who are falling behind
Add new initiatives and events for high-achieving math students
Expand equitable access and parental involvement in STEM
Bring in outside experts beyond current practitioners
Focus competitions at middle school and above

Our story

Fifteen years of turning practice into a reason to show up.

Traditional math competitions kept advancement limited to a few students — usually starting in 8th grade, with no feeder program for younger kids and no real path in for students who weren't already confident. NSIA built something else: a broad, inclusive event with the pageantry of a pep rally and the feedback loop of a good classroom.

NSIA is founded to improve math achievement through a motivational platform built on state standards, mastery of basic skills, and 1st–8th grade participation.

A competitive event between Dr. Boykins' Georgia elementary students and a North Carolina elementary school makes the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, documenting NSIA's early impact on math performance.

Newspaper coverage of an early NSIA math competition

MathFest runs Regional and National events across the South, with an immediate feedback system and events built for every skill level — not just the students already ahead.

Students at a MathFest event working on math sheets

Bring MathFest to your school or district

Let's give more students a reason to love math.

National School Improvement Alliance · Regional and National MathFest events held throughout the year.