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As soon as Darnell Boursiquot hits the hallways of a Florida middle school, he’s mobbed by starstruck teenagers.

When he steps into a classroom, Sharpie-wielding students line up to ask for autographs on their shoes, phone cases, and body parts.

In the main office, teachers rush over for photos.

But Boursiquot isn’t a politician, pop star, or professional athlete.

He’s a wildly popular online math tutor, whose surprising celebrity has been made possible by an explosion of new online learning models in Florida and across the country.

“Honestly, it’s surreal to actually get to see him in real life,” said Joselyn Espinoza-Guadamuz, an 8th grader at Conniston Middle School.

“I’m used to just seeing him on a screen. When I don’t get something, I just watch his videos, and he makes me understand.”

Boursiquot is one of the public faces of a project called Algebra Nation, which includes a library of web-based instructional videos featuring T-shirt-clad instructors who sprinkle in jokes and dance moves as they explain polynomial expressions. Launched in 2013, the free online-learning platform is now used by every school district in Florida, as well as schools in Alabama, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, and South Carolina.

The program is meant to supplement, not replace, regular classroom teaching. Participating schools receive paper workbooks and online quizzes for students and classroom activities and training for teachers. Researchers at the University of Florida run the program along with a company called Study Edge. They say it’s helped generate big gains in the numbers of students passing the state’s end-of-year math exam.

This year, more than 242,000 students have logged in to Algebra Nation. Boursiquot’s videos have been viewed more than 1 million times this school year alone. He is one of the most popular of Algebra Nation’s five instructors.

The 26-year old immigrant said he’s always had big dreams for himself. But he never imagined this is where his path would lead.

“I still get weirded out by the whole celebrity thing,” said Boursiquot, still smiling after the day’s final selfie.“But it’s phenomenal that these kids are getting this excited about math.”

High Expectations

Part of Boursiquot’s appeal—and his apparent effectiveness helping students learn algebra—is his ability to make failure seem like no big deal.

Born in Haiti, he grew up speaking Haitian Creole and French. As a boy, he dreamed of playing professional soccer.

Along with his two younger brothers, Boursiquot spent his elementary and middle school years at a prestigious Roman Catholic high school in the nation’s capital, Port-au-Prince.

Education has always been a family priority, he said. His dad, who has a degree in accounting, would drill him on multiplication tables. His grandmother, a teacher, would see a 95 on his exams, then ask why he hadn’t scored 100.

By the time he was a teenager, Boursiquot had relocated to Palm Beach County, Fla. He spent his first summer in the United States learning a new language and preparing to attend an American high school. His cram sessions consisted of watching Nickelodeon sitcoms and writing English-language book reports assigned by his aunt.

The adjustment took time. Real schools, Boursiquot discovered, weren’t quite as friendly as those on the popular TV show “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide.”

Fortunately, he said, one part of the transition was easy.

“The math I learned in 7th and 8th grade in Haiti essentially carried me through high school,” he said.

Tutoring Career Begins

As a student, Boursiquot said, he was a procrastinator, confident he could succeed without much studying.

Then he met Sue Devick, who taught biology and anatomy at Spanish River High in Palm Beach County.

“She’s the kind of person who wanted you to learn for the sake of learning, not for passing a test,” he said.

Inspired, Boursiquot entered the pre-med program at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

But by his sophomore year, his passion was waning. He switched fields from sports medicine to sports management.

Boursiquot landed an internship with the Orlando Magic. He quickly realized that becoming a front-office executive in the NBA was going to be an even longer, more uncertain grind than the one he’d just left.

By the time he graduated, Boursiquot wasn’t sure what he wanted to do.

Still, he remained upbeat.

He landed a summer job at Algebra Nation.

He found he had a surprising ability to reach young people.

When the summer started, one middle school student said he didn’t bother trying at math because he wasn’t any good at it. But as September neared, the young man told Boursiquot he couldn’t wait for geometry to start.

“He said, ‘I realized I’m not actually bad at math,’ ” Boursiquot recalled. “I thought that was the most amazing thing.”

‘He Just Makes Me Happy’

Five years later, Boursiquot is given a hero’s welcome each time Algebra Nation arranges a visit to classrooms like Jamie Ehlers’ 5th period Algebra 1 class at Polo Park Middle School in Palm Beach County.

All through the school year, Ehlers—popular and much-beloved—was the students’ primary math teacher.

Sometimes, she would ask her students to watch an Algebra Nation video before class, to become familiar with a concept. After school, students frequently turned to their phones and laptops, where they could watch and rewatch the step-by-step explanations of how to solve problems.

Most of the videos are simple. An overhead shot shows a math problem and the instructor’s hands. In the bottom-right corner of the screen, there’s a straight-ahead shot of the instructor, who narrates their problem-solving process.

For each topic, students can choose which one of five Algebra Nation “study experts” they want to watch. The tutors, who make between $45,000 and $80,000 per year, take different approaches. Some make quicker videos, some go more in-depth. Some are funny, some more serious.

As Boursiquot worked the other side of Ehlers’ room, a group of 7th and 8th grade girls huddled at their desks. They said their preference was clear.

They all loved Darnell.

“I’m fan-girling over here,” 8th grader Shayna Thomas confided. “He’s like a math celebrity.”

The students said there’s no real secret to Boursiquot’s draw. He explains things patiently. He encourages them to keep trying, without making them feel bad. He’s funny. He’s relatable.

He even has a signature dance move, “dabbing” each time he tells viewers to pause the video and solve a problem on their own.

“He just makes me happy,” said Kenna Wioncek, also in 8th grade.

Reaching Almost 250,000 Students

Diana Snider, the director of secondary math for the Palm Beach County district, takes pains to point out the videos are an “ancillary” part of math instruction in her schools. She generally doesn’t want teachers playing the videos in class and she certainly doesn’t see them as a replacement for live teachers or hands-on math activities.

Boursiquot agreed, describing his primary role as making regular classroom teachers’ lives easier.

He just happens to have a platform that allows him to reach almost 250,000 students, instead of 25.

And his gift just happens to be convincing teenagers that learning algebra is no different from learning anything else.

Getting better takes practice. Sometimes, you have to go out and find other resources that will help. Failure is part of the process.

“Think about the very first time you started doing something you love,” Boursiquot said. “You were not as good then as you are now, but you made a decision to keep doing it.”

ORANGE PARK – Ridgeview High School might have the most helpful Algebra I student in the state and he won a prize because of it.

By racking up the most karma points on Algebra Nation, a math website where students can complete homework and tutor others, freshman Matthew Rodriquez earned himself a free iPad. Each month, Algebra Nation tracks its users’ karma points and whoever has the most at the end of the month wins an iPad. Karma points are earned by helping other users, which are also Florida students, with algebra problems.

“Algebra Nation doesn’t just let students say, ‘here’s the answer,’” Rodriquez’s Algebra I Honors teacher Amber Amato said. “If they do that, the post will get removed and the student will be told not to just give out answers but instead, help them work through the problem to get the answer.”

According to Amato, Rodriquez helped other students in Florida on Algebra Nation 70 times, which earned him 8,900 karma points.

“It helps me prepare for class more and I’m helping other kids prepare as well,” said Rodriquez, explaining why he strives to help so many. “It was never really about the iPad for me.”

The 2017-18 school year marks Amato’s fifth year teaching Algebra I and no tool has been more helpful for teaching the subject than Algebra Nation.

“It’s a really great thing for these kids to have and use,” Amato said. “They are working on their math skills while helping others, all while being incentivized by a prize to do more and logging volunteer hours. It’s so helpful.”

The EOC, or End of Course, exams of Amato’s students have been the highest they’ve ever been in the past five years and she gives a lot of the credit to Algebra Nation. Developed by the University of Florida and launched in 2013, Algebra Nation sought to help kids pass Algebra I, which according to the Algebra Nation website, is a key gateway to higher-level math courses and high-growth careers.

Since its launch, the Florida passing rate of Algebra I has increased by 7 percent. Even if the use of the program wasn’t recommended by the school, Amato believes that she would still be using it in her classroom, citing how resourceful and helpful it’s been in filling in the gaps in between lessons. She said it’s both for those students who are struggling and those who might not be.

“If you’re struggling, there’s expert professionals on the boards to help as well as the students like Matthew,” Amato said. “If you’re not struggling, there’s still incentive to go help which, in turn, helps you.”

Having won an iPad, Rodriquez no longer qualifies to win the prize again but that hasn’t stopped him from finding a place back on the boards helping students. If he finishes his homework early, he’ll hop on the Algebra Nation boards for a bit and do what he can to help those in need.

“It feels really good knowing that I was able to get the iPad just for helping kids out,” Rodriquez said, smiling at the brand-new Apple device in his hands. “It really isn’t about the iPad though. It’s about just helping people out and knowing that maybe they passed a test or got a 100 on an assignment because I helped them.”

With the help of a federal grant, researchers from around the country are updating an online tool for algebra students that will launch in Alachua County in January.

On Jan. 16, about 20 Alachua County Public School teachers will receive an updated version of Algebra Nation, an online program that helps students grasp Algebra 1, Geometry and Algebra 2 concepts, said Philip Poekert, project director of the Virtual Learning Lab. The Virtual Learning Lab, which is compiled of researchers from UF’s College of Education, the University of Colorado and Study Edge, are personalizing the Algebra Nation program with an $8.9 million-dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences.

With the new development, students will be given suggested actions based on their activity and data collected from past users to help improve their math performance, Poekert said.

“We’re just trying to take something that’s good and make it better,” he said.

Algebra Nation initially launched in January 2013 as a free online program tailored specifically to Algebra 1 students in Florida, aiming to improve end-of-course exam scores. Since then, it has grown to include Algebra 2 and Geometry courses and has expanded into South Carolina, Michigan, New York, Alabama and Mississippi, Poekert said.

Follow-up research found that students who consistently used the program performed better on their end-of-course exams, said Carole Beal, a UF education professor and principal investigator for the Virtual Learning Lab. She believes these results can be improved even further by making the experience more personalized.

“There are a lot of resources available but the student chooses what to do, and sometimes students don’t always do the most effective thing,” Beal said.

Based on the videos students watch, practice problems they complete and other activity, the program will identify what course of action would be the most beneficial to that student, she said.

“Sometimes students don’t balance watching videos and solving problems very well,” Beal said.

Katelyn Snell, a 7th grader at DeLand Middle School in DeLand, Florida, said her Algebra 1 teacher frequently uses Algebra Nation in the classroom. While the 12-year-old said she doesn’t use the website much outside of school, the new personalization aspect may prompt her to log in more often.

“If I’m struggling with something and tutoring isn’t that day, then I can do that instead,” she said.

Justin Lessem, a UF accounting senior, helps moderate discussions on Algebra Nation. The 21-year-old answers questions posted to the website by guiding students through problems and explaining concepts, he said.

Lessem said he is looking forward to the personalization because he believes the suggestions will help to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses. Lessem said once students have identified areas of weakness, they can work more effectively.

“Throughout the year you see the same students on there and then after a couple months they’re the ones helping other students, so it’s really great to watch them grow,” he said.

University of Florida researchers are using pizza parties and tropical cruises as an incentive to get ninth-graders to study for the
Algebra I end-of-course test.

For the second time, UF is sponsoring a two-week study challenge through Algebra Nation, a free online teaching tool aimed at helping
students pass the required exam.

The Florida Legislature allocated money last year to make Algebra Nation available to students in all 67 school districts in the state.

According to preliminary research, high school students who used Algebra Nation had a 10 percent higher pass rate than those who did not.

Still, about half of Florida’s high school freshmen failed the Algebra I test last year, and will have to re-take it in order to graduate.

“We wanted to do this again because teachers told us how helpful it was to motivate their students,” Algebra Nation co-director Melody Pak
said. “Believe it or not, students like it a lot better than doing problems on paper.”

Algebra Nation is accessible by computer, tablet or smartphone, and practice tests for its 12 sections of algebra curriculum are available
year-round.

The practice tests closely resemble the actual end-of-course exam, Pak said.

But for the two weeks leading up to the statewide test, students can enter a raffle by earning 80 percent or higher on any of the practice
tests.

Students can have as many as 12 entries — one per section — but can try for the qualifying score on a practice test as many times as
they need to.

The point is to help students learn the material, and to get them comfortable with the test, Pak said.

Each student entry also carries an entry for their teachers.

This year’s practice test challenge runs through Sunday, and Algebra I end-of-course testing begins on Monday.

Last year, Pak said there were 55,000 student entries during the two-week period.

More than one week of the current practice test period has ended, and almost 50,000 student entries have already come in, she said.

Algebra Nation posted 50 pizza party winners to its website Tuesday, and the remaining 50 pizza party winners will be posted next week.

Ten students will win an iPad mini, and five teachers will be given a Caribbean cruise for two.

“We like to acknowledge that teachers are really crucial,” Pak said.

To enter the contest, students can log into Algebra Nation at algebranation.com or through the smartphone app and go to the practice test
section.

For help or concerns about the contest, email help@algebranation.com.

FORT WALTON BEACH — Math’s magic was used to excite countless students at Okaloosa County middle and high schools this week as the district prepared them for an upcoming state end of course exam.

After seeing dismal pass rates statewide the first year of the exam, the Florida Department of Education formed a relationship with an online tutoring group called Algebra Nation. Current high school students must pass the Algebra EOC to graduate.

Wednesday and Thursday two officials from the company stopped at a dozen schools from Baker to Fort Walton Beach.

“We teach them in a way they want to learn the material.” said Algebra Nation’s Zach Stepp. “It’s getting them to enjoy math.”

The visits were used as an opportunity for students to not only ask math questions, but to learn more about the program, which also offers a practice EOC for them.

At Pryor Middle School on Wednesday, students asked about everything from the discriminant to what they considered the hardest part of math.

“Y 3x + 1, what do you do? Stepp asked the students. “Nothing. I have to give you something called directions (first).

“Read the directions, that’s the hardest part.”

Students have been receptive to Stepp and his co-worker Amy Adams, according to Stephanie Thetford, the Fort Walton Beach High School math teacher who escorted them around the county.

“It has helped a lot with the new standards,” Thetford said of the program.

Students were impressed with Algebra Nation.

“I really did like it,” eighth grader William Huerta said.