For the Garland Independent School District, a tournament was the tipping point. With too many of its students failing the math portion of state-mandated exams and in danger of being held back, the suburban Dallas district was determined to raise scores. The students lacked motivation, and Garland was seeking a better method of engaging them.…

Preparing students from low-income, minority families to graduate is a challenge that begins as early as elementary school but becomes a particular concern at the secondary level. Low-income students are twice as likely as higher-income students to be poorly prepared for grade-level work and 1.3 times more likely to have learning disabilities,…