It's Time to Turn the Page on Math in Seattle Schools
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SeaMaCo has developed three
platforms, which are reinforced by common sense, research studies, and
Seattle’s own experience in recent years:
Guest Post by Rick Burke
Days are
getting longer, the weather is warmer.
The smell of spring is in the air.
But if you inhale deeply down by JSCEE, there’s another smell. It’s the smell of math. After years of sideways movement, the
stars are aligned for systemic changes to math instruction in Seattle Public
Schools.
When you
look at Seattle kids’ math achievement against other urban districts, Seattle
might seem to be doing OK. As a
district-level statistic, we’re not too bad. But closer inspection of disaggregated data and the view
from inside the system prompt a cry for help. Seattle still has a large number of struggling students and
a persistent achievement gap which we can’t shake. Outside tutoring has become commonplace, with math as the
most frequent remediation subject.
However, recent national and state developments have identified common
ground and outcome-proven methods which can serve as a model for Seattle.
This brings
us around to a community support initiative for math education. Seattle
has a math-focused School Board, and Seattle’s new superintendent, Jose Banda,
came to Seattle from proven math success with a diverse student population in
Anaheim. Recent news reports are that staff at JSCEE are planning a K-8
math instructional materials adoption soon. Examples of success are scattered through Seattle classrooms
and it's time for those successes to take root across the district.
A passionate and dedicated
group of Seattle citizens has formed the Seattle Math Coalition (SeaMaCo) to advocate
for action, proven policies, and no excuses. If you are a parent,
teacher, tutor, school administrator, or proponent of sound math
education, please join our effort by coming to one of our Welcome Meetings and
the kickoff of our 2013 initiatives.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR - The community meetings will feature
an informative presentation followed by a Q+A opportunity.
North End Morning Session:
March 23, 10am – 11:30 pm Greenwood Branch Library
8016 Greenwood Ave N
http://www.spl.org/locations/greenwood-branch/gwd-getting-to-the-branch
South End Afternoon Session:
March 23, 4:30pm - 5:45pm Douglas Truth Branch Library
2300 Yesler Way
http://www.spl.org/locations/douglass-truth-branch/dth-getting-to-the-branch
North End Morning Session:
March 23, 10am – 11:30 pm Greenwood Branch Library
8016 Greenwood Ave N
http://www.spl.org/locations/greenwood-branch/gwd-getting-to-the-branch
South End Afternoon Session:
March 23, 4:30pm - 5:45pm Douglas Truth Branch Library
2300 Yesler Way
http://www.spl.org/locations/douglass-truth-branch/dth-getting-to-the-branch
1)
Put
effective instructional materials in the classrooms
Textbooks ARE important. Period. Anybody
who tells you otherwise is trying to maintain the status quo. What is the single common resource used
by teachers, students, parents, tutors, etc? What shapes district-wide classroom content delivery more
than any other document? Yes,
that’s the textbook. The
lowest-hanging fruit to systemic improvement in math is to put good books in
the hands of the kids and teachers.
2)
Reinforce math content expertise for K-8
teachers
It’s undeniable that you can’t teach what you don’t
know. Every math teacher needs to
know, at minimum, the subject matter for their grade, the grade above, and all
the grades below. That means to
really know it - to recognize how the concepts build, why the algorithms work,
and how to apply the math to complex problem situations.
3)
Focus on appropriate student placement and
interventions
What’s the advantage to any student to put them in an
environment where the subject matter is significantly mismatched to their
knowledge level? Math topics
develop sequentially. If a student
is missing part of the sequence, it doesn’t just grow back – these topics need
to be explicitly presented to students, and they need to learn and practice
them to mastery.
Acting on these focus areas
doesn’t need a lot of money. It
just requires good decision-making and prioritization by JSCEE leadership. Help make that a reality. Share your thoughts here on the blog,
come to one of the meetings on Saturday and discuss in more detail. We’re at a turning point, and just need
to be sure the ship turns in the right direction.
Comments
Tutoring alone will not solve the problem. It is not a substitute for a fundamentally sound math curricula. The text heavy approach in discovery textbooks is very confusing for students who are ADHD or have English as their second language. Even students who get good grades in math can test into remedial math in college.
I felt so strongly about this issue that I volunteered for Marty McLaren to get onto the school board. When I met Superintendent Banda at a recent fundraiser for SchoolsFirst I asked him to improve math. He said it was on the list of areas they would be looking into.
I urge parents to keep asking for better math. It is an area of weakness that could certainly be improved with better instructional materials.
Georgi Krom
Why does this not apply to math? Why do we age-level group kids and teach to the middle, causing kids to give up on themselves because they "just aren't good a t math", or to become bored and learn to hate math? Is there any such thing as a leveled math curriculum?
Don't tell me the answer is differentiation; I don't believe in flying ponies either.
Try these 5th Grade problems:
1. There are 350 Pigeon eggs in Mr. Eggy’s stall. There are 100 fewer pigeon eggs than duck eggs. There are 500 more chicken eggs than duck eggs. Find the ratio of the number of duck eggs to the number of chicken eggs in its simplest form.
2. A tank has 20 gallons of water in it. A tap is turned on and more water is added to the tank. After 20 minutes, there will be 520 gallons of water in the tank. What is the rate at which the water is flowing from the tap?
3. After Jason spent 7/10 of his money and Marcus spent 5/6 of his money, they each had $15 left. How much money did they spend altogether?
Post your answers below. Show your work! Oh, no algebra permitted and no inefficient guess and check strategies! Extra points for completing your work using a single mathematical expression.
- Snippety