The Kentucky Senate’s Education Committee heard testimony on mathematics instruction this morning and then voted out Senate Joint Resolution 19, which calls for the Kentucky Department of Education to revise the state’s mathematics standards and testing programs. The resolution is a reaction to continued poor mathematics performance in the commonwealth.
SJR 19 recommendations are based on three key documents:
• The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ “Principles and Standards for School Mathematics”
• The NCTM “Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through Grade 8”
Issued about two years ago to deal with interpretation problems with the “Principals and Standards.” And,
• The final report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel
This was a presidential panel convened to deal with the nation-wide deficiencies in math instruction.
Collectively, these three documents call for instruction to mastery of what many term “the basics.” The documents also indicate that algebra, rather than other, more esoteric subjects, needs to be the next focus as students progress. Esoteric math subjects should be dropped in the lower grades until these basic needs are met, first.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Math Resolution Hits Senate
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8 comments:
Richard,
Please keep us informed of the progress.
Jan 7-introduced in Senate; to Education (S)
Jan 8-reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute
Jan 9-2nd reading, to Rules
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Thanks so much.
For Dan Dempsy and any other readers,
The best way to stay up to date on any bill or resolution in Kentucky is at Kentuckyvotes.org. You can set up an account to automatically notify you of any bill activity.
Hi, Richard. It's me again. Yes, I work in the belly of the beast, so my perspective on all this may be skewed, but I've got to ask: what "esoteric" math subjects are we allegedly teaching in the lower grades here in Kentucky? And how, exactly, are the changes in SB 19 going to save us money? There are a plethora of changes/reforms/improvements that need to be made in our schools. I don't see how SB 19 addresses the core problems. Enlighten me.
Brushfire’s questions require a book-length report (actually, several of them) to fully answer, so please understand the following is just a brief overview.
RE: “What "esoteric" math subjects are we allegedly teaching in the lower grades here in Kentucky?”
I recommend reading the NCTB “Focal Points” and the National Mathematic Advisory Panel (NMAP) report (links found in the main blog item) for complete answers.
Very briefly, at the risk of oversimplification, here is what those documents indicate kids need, and in what order. Kids need to master addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, including the times tables and the standard method of doing division, first. And, they need to be able to do these basics automatically without using calculators (using calculators too early is one “esoteric” add-on that interferes with developing and understanding those basic skills). Next, kids need to get fractions down, again without calculators. That is a critical step towards preparation for algebra. Once fractions are in hand, students are ready to move on to algebra with a small amount of geometry.
Any other subjects introduced before kids get these core skills down pat just get in the way of effective math mastery and should be postponed until later in school. That includes a lot of what has been termed “fuzzy” math. Read the reports to learn more.
By the way, the scientific studies that guided the NMAP indicate that mastery of algebra is absolutely essential preparation for all higher level math subjects such as calculus and statistics. Get algebra down, and the rest follow relatively easily. Students who fail to master algebra will not generally be able to succeed in any higher level math course work.
RE: “How, exactly, are the changes in SB 19 going to save us money?”
I didn’t say anything about money in my post, but Brushfire’s comment misses an important economic point. There are really two parts to the economic equation: they are “Bang” as well as “Buck.” If our kids learn math better as a result of SB 19, that will be much better “Bang” than we get now for the same amount of bucks. That will provide us much better return on investment. In fact, as better educated kids make it out the top of the school system, we’ll see cost reductions in things like social programs and costs of the penal system, as well.
RE: “There are a plethora of changes/reforms/improvements that need to be made in our schools. I don't see how SB 19 addresses the core problems. Enlighten me.”
The recommendation that led to SB 19 was one of the very few to come out of the Assessment and Accountability Task Force that the Kentucky Department of Education ran last year. Clearly, that group considered the subject a “core problem,” as there was notable discussion on our “mile wide and inch deep” math curriculum prior to approval of the overall recommendation to review all of Kentucky’s education standards.
Also, as my graph in the main blog item points out, Kentucky’s biggest education challenge is in math, where we are falling behind the rest of the nation. And, math is crucial to the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math effort know as STEM. These factors also make this a core issue.
Now, I’ll ask Brushfire some questions. What do you think the “core education problems” are, aside from wanting more money (a standard “Beast” response)? If math isn’t a core problem, what is? How should we be spending what we can afford more effectively?
Richard,
Hi! I am Amy, and I am a member of the New Jersey Coalition for World Class Math. www.njworldclassmath.webs.com
We want our state math standards raised in NJ. We are looking at other states as to how they have accomplished this. We have been in contact with Washington State.
We are interested in every angle..DOE, State BOE and legislative.
I would appreciate it if you could contact me for more details. I am going to set up my account at Kentuckyvotes.org to follow your bill.
Thanks,
Amy
Thanks for the info, Richard. I will check out the links, and I honestly appreciate your effort to explain where this is coming from. I guess my intitial reaction came from knowing that our curriculum does in fact include all those things you mention, including teaching algebraic concepts early. The problem, as I see it, lies in instructional and classroom assessment techniques that don't instill these core ideas deeply in our students' minds (the use of calculators is an AWFUL impediment), and that we don't provide sufficient intervention for kids who are falling behind or enrichment for kids who are moving ahead (partly related to trying to cover too much; there is a need to winnow down the standards--I guess this is the same thing as emphasizing the "basics.")
I get the point about saving money. I was responding to Sen. Williams' suggestion that this was somehow an immediate cost-savings measure. Obviously, the better we do educating our kids early on, the less intervention and supports they'll need later.
I don't think throwing more money at our schools is going to fix our core problems, either. To me, the essential impediments in our schools are not related to the curriculum or the testing system, but to instructional practices and the culture of professional isolation and autonomy that keep teachers from working together to solve problems on behalf of students. Structural changes ought to be made to allow teachers more opportunity to work together on these issues, and the work culture of schools has to shift dramatically (including placing more emphasis on teacher accountability for student outcomes).
These are not necessarily changes that can emerge from state policy, so I am skeptical of anything that comes from Frankfort at this point that can improve our schools. The exception I would offer would be a meaningful school choice program that would hit public schools where it hurts the most. I have also done tours of duty in private education as well, and while there are problems in those institutions too, they are masters at doing more with less and, if placed on an even playing field with public schools, could compete and possibly force our public schools to take another look at their culture and structure.
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