2026 Numeracy Acts & US Schools | Times Tables Software

When I looked into this properly, I was struck by just how far-reaching these mandates are. Georgia's HB 1030 (the Math Matters Act), alongside sweeping reforms in Texas and Louisiana, represents a genuine shift in how the US is approaching early numeracy. From the 2026-27 school year, K-5 schools in these states are required to carry out universal math screening, provide up to 60 minutes of daily math instruction, and put structured Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions in place for any student identified as falling behind.

That is not a recommendation. It is the law.

For schools in Georgia, Texas, and Louisiana especially, the pressure is real and the timeline is tighter than it might feel right now. Districts are already asking: what does a compliant Tier 2 math intervention actually look like? And, just as importantly, how do we make sure the extra support we are giving children does not tip them into math avoidance?

Here is what I keep seeing in conversations around math intervention: the compliance conversation and the wellbeing conversation are almost always happening in separate rooms. Schools focus, understandably, on what the law requires. But the children being screened and pulled into intervention groups are often already anxious. Add timed testing, additional pressure, and a sense of being singled out, and you can inadvertently make things worse.

The research on math anxiety in primary-aged children is consistent: high-pressure, test-like practice increases avoidance behaviours and damages long-term engagement with numeracy. This matters because a Tier 2 intervention that checks a compliance box but does not actually move a child forward has not done its job.

The question schools should be asking is not just "are we meeting our 60 minutes?" but "are those 60 minutes building confident, fluent mathematicians?"

From the schools and educators we speak to in our early conversations at XTables Champions, the tools that work share a few consistent qualities. They give children repeated, low-stakes practice that builds automaticity without the freeze that comes with sudden high-pressure testing. They provide teachers with clear, usable data rather than drowning them in dashboards. And they feel engaging to the child, so the intervention time is something students show up to rather than dread.

Tier 2 support, by its nature, is targeted. It is designed for children who need a bit more than the core classroom offer. That means the tool doing the heavy lifting needs to adapt to where each child actually is, not where a year-group average says they should be. A Year 3 child (or third grader, in US terms) who cannot recall basic multiplication facts confidently is not going to benefit from being rushed through content they cannot yet hold in memory.

Math fluency screener prep is another area where anxiety can creep in unnoticed. Screening is valuable, but children who have practised fluency in a calm, game-like environment before a screener tend to show their real ability far more reliably than children who meet timed questions cold.

As our founder Gal Darrash puts it, *"We built XTables Champions because we saw children who knew more than their test results showed. The goal was always to build the kind of quiet confidence that comes out under pressure, not to add more pressure."*

XTables Champions is a multiplication fluency programme designed for primary-aged learners. In the context of these new Numeracy Acts, it is particularly well-suited as a Tier 2 tool for K-5 students who need structured, consistent, confidence-building practice with multiplication and times tables facts.

What stood out to me when thinking about how we fit into this new legislative context is that our approach is genuinely designed around reducing math anxiety, not just drilling answers. The programme uses a competitive, game-based format that children actually want to engage with, and it builds fluency progressively so students are never asked to perform beyond where they currently are.

For Georgia schools preparing to meet HB 1030 requirements, or Texas and Louisiana districts working through their own reform timelines, that combination matters. A tool that generates genuine engagement, tracks individual student progress, and builds the kind of automatic recall that screeners test for is doing the real work of intervention. It is not a substitute for a skilled teacher. But it is a meaningful part of the support structure that the law is now requiring schools to put in place.

We are a young company, and I want to be honest about that. We are not claiming to be a silver bullet or a district-wide solution to everything these laws require. What we do well is help children get genuinely faster and more confident with their multiplication facts, in a format that does not feel punishing. For the specific Tier 2 goal of building math fluency, that is exactly what is needed.

If your district is in Georgia, Texas, or Louisiana, the 2026-27 school year is not far off. The planning conversations need to be happening now, not in August. A few things worth doing before the year turns:

1. Map your current screening tools against your state's specific mandate to check you have the compliance piece covered.
2. Audit your Tier 2 provision honestly. Ask not just whether you have an intervention, but whether children are making meaningful progress through it and whether anxiety is being managed.
3. Look at your daily math minutes across grades K-5 and identify where structured fluency practice can sit within the new 60-minute expectation without eating into rich problem-solving time.

The legislation is demanding more time and more structure around numeracy. That is broadly a good thing. But it needs to be paired with tools and approaches that treat children's confidence as a priority, not an afterthought.

If you are an elementary school leader, math specialist, or district coordinator working through what compliant Tier 2 math intervention looks like for your school in light of the new Numeracy Acts, I would genuinely love to hear from you.

Get in touch with the team at XTables Champions to tell us where your students are, what your state's requirements look like, and what you have already tried. We are in the early stages of building relationships with US schools and we are keen to understand the real-world picture on the ground. Visit xtableschampions.com to reach out or find out more about how we work.