MARK YOUR CALENDAR:
The Math Committee report will be presented at the
Monday, April 23 BOE meeting
The website for parents in the Plainview - Old Bethpage school district who are concerned about the TERC Investigations Math curriculum and its impact on our children

Is the Fox Guarding the Chicken Coop?
BOE Meetings and Middle School Parent Math Nights
March 27-30, 2007 

Spring is here and so is budget time, the primary focus of two Board of Ed meetings this week (Monday was a general meeting and Wednesday was budget-only). It was no surprise that Monday night’s Public Participation predominantly addressed math concerns, which still weighs heavily on most parents’ minds. 

  • “I told you so – Investigations would fail” – one parent spoke of her frustrating experiences of trying to bring the short-comings of this non-traditional approach to  math to the attention of the BOE years ago, only to have her concerns fall on deaf ears. She interestingly noted that a smaller petition had also circulated at that time that was ignored. Read her recent letter to the BOE and administration and Roberta Silver’s response http://legacy.pobmath.com/letters.html.
  • The BOE was asked to do some research by a parent who has been studying the effectiveness of teaching approaches. He presented evidence that direct teaching instruction (such as showing traditional math algorithms) is superior to discovery-learning (constructivist methods supported by Investigations). His full speech can be read http://legacy.pobmath.com/Larry_letter_boe.html and the basis of his research is at http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~adiep/ft/151toc.htm.
  • A parent explained how her first grade child, who knows his math facts mentally with accuracy and fluency, has begun to use his fingers to explain how he arrived at an answer to a simple addition problem. She is concerned not only that he is not challenged by the Investigations curriculum but that he is moving backwards in his mathematical thinking.
  • The view that the Investigations visual and group discussion approach can be successful for some children who might otherwise find math more difficult was presented.
  • When will the decision actually be made on the math direction our district will take and will that would happen prior to the May 15th election? Superintendent Dr. Martin Brooks said that while the recommendations of the Math Committee will be heard at the April 23rd BOE meeting a decision would not be made at that time.  Several Board members disagreed and a lively discussion ensued, the outcome of which still remains unresolved.

Class sizes were asked to be kept down and consideration given to adding another class at Stratford Road where current numbers in third grade are very high. Another day of elementary assistant principals (bringing AP coverage back to their former schedule of 3 days of a six-day cycle per school) and an AIS position to work with grades 7-8 were added to the proposed budget. 

Mattlin and P-OB Parent Math Nights (Tuesday and Thursday) left some parents feeling short-changed since the Integrated Algebra discussion needed to be finished by a certain time and the verbose presentation did not leave time for sufficient parent question and answers. While sympathetically addressed, roundabout answers did not always adequately answer the concerns brought up.

The explanation of test grading by Roberta Silver, Math Chairperson left some audience members wondering if our district’s view of math was that a good story about the wrong answer was better than getting the correct answer. One parent asked if showing a simple mathematical statement such as 11+4-5=10 would gain the same credit as a pictorial explanation and was told yes.  There seems to be more than one way to skin the cat on these state exams and as long as the answer isn’t just computed mentally, it was admitted that simplistic, traditional reasoning with a numerical and symbolic representation gets full credit also. While parents won’t argue that understanding math is important, following through to a correct answer is also.

The pressing question that remains on everyone’s mind and was asked at both sessions is how does the school district plan to make up for the 5-6-7-8 graders who are behind? What is the plan for that? We’ve heard that the appropriate approach to math in fifth grade needs more class time, an easy fix in a flexible elementary setting but much harder to address with the constraints of a middle school schedule. Can this be accommodated? Pulling middle school children who scored 1 and 2 on state exams from select classes, such as Home and Careers, to attend AIS has also been presented.  That doesn’t show an effort to assist children who scored 3 (meeting standards) to become 4 (exceeding standards). It also seemingly punishes children who are missing what might be deemed a more enjoyable class to work on something less desirable. There is also concern that certain teachers might feel their curriculum is overshadowed by math. Answers to the community’s math concerns are not easy. But they deserve attention and creative, workable solutions that will provide options and be flexible for each student’s individual needs.

What creates trust in a system that does not have a great track record? There needs to be a detailed plan to gain the confidence of parents who believe their children were innocent victims of a large oversight in our school’s math curriculum. We must have an overall plan of math wellness that holds our school district accountable to raising and maintaining the standards of high quality math education in P-OB. Administration claims to be listening but doesn’t seem to be quite so open to changing course as they continually defend the virtues of reform math that just isn’t doing the job. While admitting obvious inadequacies of our current state of math affairs, they pose an incomplete solution, filling obvious gaps but leaving out the more difficult pieces of the puzzle.

Is administration’s role on the Math Committee one of the fox guarding the chicken coop? Can they present an unbiased view of the very program that the superintendent feels so strongly about? Actions speak louder than words. Administration has been sending mixed signals of blended approaches with obvious favoritism towards Investigations’ side of things. So far, only Investigations’ publisher has made a presentation to the Math Committee.  The teacher’s union position is clear about that: don’t buy it. Don’t purchase the second edition of Investigations but rather use what we have and look into purchasing traditional materials and texts. Almost one thousand concerned parents have signed a petition demanding we remove Investigations and bring back direct instruction of proven math facts and time-tested algorithms to our classrooms.

For some parents bringing up their concerns about Investigations has been like a déjà vu nightmare. For others the discussion is newer, yet just as valid. All parents agree on raising academic standards and not settling for “meets standards” as the bar for achievement in math and every other area of the curriculum. P-OB minimal math requirements should be higher than those set by the state. We want our children to exceed standards and have a solid foundation in a well-rounded education that will serve them well as they tackle higher education, careers and life. Administration has had multiple opportunities to step up and address these concerns in the math curriculum. Something is still missing.  The Board of Ed needs to responsibly oversee the quality and accountability of the math curriculum by asking the right questions and demanding a solid, workable action plan they can monitor. Settling for partial solutions with empty promises of future resolution when the community has spoken so loudly and passionately about this issue will not be acceptable.

Feel free to contact our parent advocacy group to express your concerns via email: info@pobmath.com

 Have you registered to vote?  http://legacy.pobmath.com/voteform.pdf

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:
The Math Committee report will be presented at the
Monday, April 23 BOE meeting
7:45 pm, Mattlin Board Room (Washington Avenue. Check legacy.pobmath.com for updates.

This page is brought to you by a group of concerned parents in the Plainview-Old Bethpage School District. For more information about this website please contact info@pobmath.com