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| Em controversy; District adopts EM; parents object | |
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| Topic Started: May 15 2009, 12:58 PM (56 Views) | |
| IlikeLIvonia | May 15 2009, 12:58 PM Post #1 |
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Palo Alto school board will consider Everyday Math as new math textbook, facing objections from local parents By Diana Samuels http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12138069?nclick_check=1 Daily News Staff Writer Posted: 04/14/2009 12:32:05 AM PDT Updated: 04/14/2009 12:35:28 AM PDT A fifth-grade lesson from "Everyday Math" has students stand up and use their arms to form acute angles, right angles and parallel lines to better understand the mathematical concepts. Many of "Everyday Math's" lessons are like this — they encourage nontraditional ways of thinking about standard math problems, and its publishers say the curriculum leads to a deeper understanding of the concepts behind arithmetic. But the program also has opponents, who say its methods are confusing and fail to teach fundamental skills. The Palo Alto Board of Education is poised to consider adopting "Everyday Math" as the school district's elementary math textbook, and some parents have vowed to fight the switch. After months of evaluations and pilot programs, emotional community meetings, and lengthy discussions on Internet forums, the matter will reach trustees tonight. They will discuss the program in advance of a final vote slated for April 28, but it is so controversial some trustees say there is a lot of work to be done before any decision can be made. "I think everybody realizes we are not in the space we should be," Trustee Camille Townsend said. "This is not a comfortable spot to be in with such an important issue." "Everyday Math" was developed in the '80s and '90s at the University of Chicago in response to research that showed children were learning basic arithmetic skills but weren't really understanding them. Now, according to publisher Wright Group/McGraw-Hill, the program is used by 3 million-plus students in 185,000 classrooms nationwide. The program wasn't approved for use in California until 2007, after the publishers added a section on traditional teaching methods. But several districts, including Woodside Elementary, Portola Valley and Hillsborough City Elementary, received special waivers and have been teaching it for several years. More recently, it's been adopted by San Mateo-Foster City, Burlingame, Piedmont, and was adopted last month by the Menlo Park City School District. California schools must adopt new curriculum every seven years, and the textbook currently used in Palo Alto, "California Math," is no longer on the state-approved list, so the school district had to find a new program, Assistant Superintendent Ginni Davis said. Last fall, a committee of teachers and parents narrowed down a list of nine textbooks to two — "Everyday Math" and "EnvisionMATH" with a supplement called "Investigations," which they tested in classrooms. The committee decided in March to recommend "Everyday Math" to the school board. "We feel 'Everyday Math' is the closest match to support our philosophy, goals and instructional strategies," a document on the district's Web site reads. "We are particularly impressed with the development of problem solving and logical thinking skills and opportunities for teaching the academic range of students." McGraw-Hill's Web site showcases research supporting the curriculum. The federal Department of Education's "What Works Clearinghouse" named "Everyday Math" as the nation's only math program with enough data behind it to show it has a positive impact on students' performance, and says it can raise that performance by an average of six percentile points. Critics, however, say the curriculum and its nontraditional algorithms are confusing. "Everyday Math" follows a "spiraling" method, where students move quickly through new concepts and may not necessarily learn them the first time around, but they revisit them over and over again in different formats or applications. They also say it encourages students to use calculators too often. They never develop mastery, said R. James Milgram, a Stanford University math professor who sat on a state curriculum review committee in 2000 when the state rejected "Everyday Math." "The mathematics these kids are seeing is hardly mathematics at all," Milgram said. "They learn a mush of things, most of which are just wrong." Milgram said that while the program at its core makes sense, there are only 500 or 600 elementary teachers in the state with the expertise to teach it properly. He said he has seen enrollment in "Everyday Math" districts contract as parents pull out their students and send them to private schools, and said that could happen in Palo Alto. "Who are the kids who are going to be leaving the system? It's going to be the high-end kids," he said. "All that will happen is the kids at the low end are going to become even more disadvantaged." As of Monday evening, an online parent petition opposing "Everyday Math" had about 300 signatures. It asks the district to seek a state waiver to delay its math textbook adoption and consider parents' favored alternatives — "Singapore Math" and "SRA Real Math." In recent days, the district has posted an extensive frequently asked questions section on its Web site, and is offering parents the chance to sit in and observe a classroom this week as it tests "Everyday Math." The district is planning another community information session April 21 at Nixon Elementary. Trustee Townsend said "this kind of controversy is generally not a good sign," and reminds her of the mid-1990s "math wars," which pitted Palo Alto teachers against parents in a debate over traditional versus conceptual methods of teaching math. "When a community is so polarized ... For me, it's distressing to find that we're at that point that I remember so vividly in 1996," she said. Townsend said she would be looking at the program with "significant scrutiny" and expects a crowded board meeting tonight. "This is important," Townsend said. "This is an important adoption. And if people are concerned, they should be there." E-mail Diana Samuels at dsamuels@dailynewsgroup.com. OPTIONS Everyday Math: Uses nontraditional approaches to teach concepts behind the math. Example problem: If you don"t remember that 5 x 8 = 40, the book says, you can try drawing a picture of eight groups of five objects, or count by fives eight times. Singapore Math: Singapore Math has been highly touted by local parents, who say it teaches both basics and a conceptual understanding. A 60-second arithmetic drill each day is a major part of the program. It is used locally by the private Keys School. SRA Real Math: Publishers say SRA Real Math focuses on "five strands of mathematical proficiency" "” understanding, computing, applying, reasoning and engaging. Like "Everyday Math," "SRA Real Math" is published by McGraw Hill. During the review process Palo Alto teachers had hoped to pilot it, but were told that the publishers were pulling the program out of California for lack of interest. SOURCES: Wright Group / McGraw Hill Web site Palo Alto schools to get 'Everyday Mathematics' 'Failure is not an option,' supporter says before school board's 3-2 decision on controversial textbook series by Chris Kenrick Palo Alto Online Staff http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=12159 In a contentious 3-2 vote, the Palo Alto school board early Wednesday voted to adopt the Everyday Mathematics textbook series for use this fall in all K-5 classrooms. After five hours of debate, board members opted to go with the enthusiastic recommendation of the district's textbook-selection committee, despite a petition signed by more than 700 residents, mostly parents, urging them to postpone adoption for a year in order to pilot test other textbook options. Board members Barbara Klausner, Barb Mitchell and Dana Tom supported Everyday Mathematics. Melissa Baten Caswell and Camille Townsend voted against the adoption. Superintendent Kevin Skelly said Everyday Mathematics is right for Palo Alto because it teaches rich problem-solving concepts as well as procedural skills and practice and has worked in other top-performing districts. Acknowledging controversy around the program, he said he was confident Palo Alto would succeed because the district has strong teachers and the series will come with extensive staff training. "This is going to call upon the highest level of professionalism of our teachers," Skelly said. When his own children experienced Everyday Mathematics in the Poway school district, their experiences were closely tied to teacher quality, he said. "In the hands of a teacher that is not very skilled, my kids' experience was not as good as when they had a teacher who was very skilled," Skelly said. "Was it the material or the teacher? I think it was the teacher." Board member Dana Tom said that after talking with school districts that have used the textbook he concluded Palo Alto has what it takes to carry out a strong program in Everyday Mathematics. "We're dealing with children, and in that sense, failure is not an option," Tom said before he made the motion to adopt the series. Voting against the adoption, Baten Caswell said community confidence would improve if Palo Alto took another year to "look at where the gaps (in Everyday Mathematics) are and how to fill them. "I was going back and forth," she said. "A 'yes' vote would support our teachers and staff. But I worry that a 'yes' vote will make many parents feel disenfranchised at this point. It doesn't model the rigor that we expect in this district. "I don't think we've been thorough enough in making sure we understand all the stakeholder interests and I think it's hurting our civic responsibility right now." A parade of parents, including former school board member Mandy Lowell, urged the board to wait a year. "Our children's education is in your hands," said Lisa Jiang, the mother of a 6-year-old at Juana Briones School. "How will teachers fill the gaps? How will the school district train and educate parents so we can help our students at home? With all these concerns plus the signatures of over 700 community members, are you really comfortable to vote yes for adoption?" Jiang asked. PTA Council President Dan Dykwel said the PTA takes no position on the textbook itself, but that he was "concerned that there was insufficient communication with parents along the way. "The number of signatures on the petition is a significant percentage of parents and their request for delay should be seriously considered," Dykwel said. "I ask you to give parents an opportunity to participate more rigorously in this adoption process." Parent Rajiv Bhateja said: "I don't often quote Nancy Reagan, but, 'Just say no.'" Board member Klausner, a lawyer and former district math specialist, said she has pushed for modifications to Everyday Mathematics so the program fits closely with Palo Alto's vision. "Significant modifications and changes have been made, so I am 100 percent comfortable with the feedback I'm hearing from staff at this point," Klausner said. "I have confidence in our teachers, who will be working with our students 180 days a year. I am confident the process has played out in terms of choosing materials that will work for our students. There is no guarantee that it will work for every single student or that it's a perfect program. There is no perfect program out there. "I know this is a controversial choice at this time but I do think it's a reasonable one," Klausner said. Board chair Mitchell listed 10 reasons why she supports Everyday Mathematics, among them that Palo Alto has "world-class grade-level mastery standards and assessments" and a promise of "rigorous implementation with embedded evaluation measures. "Teachers make the greatest difference," Mitchell said. "It's very clear to me that teachers want to develop our elementary math program. This is the linchpin to me. It's our secret sauce as a district. "Any textbook from the California-adopted materials would succeed here because they're our secret sauce. Our teachers use a variety of tools. The math textbook is only one of those tools." Board member Townsend said Palo Alto has failed to use due diligence in researching the pros and cons of Everyday Mathematics. "I have no confidence that we can be successful with this," Townsend said. "To bring in a math book with this level of dissent when we know we can do better gives me great pain." The district's math battles of 1996, when she had to fill in holes in Palo Alto's textbook with her own children, "are still burning in my gut," Townsend said. "For those who say everything is OK even if we don't know all the answers, I say, 'I know better.' "If this is such a great program, we can wait for a year." Skelly called Everyday Mathematics "a leading math program for the top-performing districts in California and the nation. "Our students are among the highest-level mathematics students in the world," he said, placing the average Palo Alto high school student in the 89th percentile on the mathematics SAT. "The students here are achieving at national and international levels," he said, adding that Everyday Mathematics has the depth to challenge at that level. Mastery of basic concepts is a challenge for only about one-sixth of Palo Alto students, and the program can address those concerns, Skelly said. "For the vast majority of students here, mastery of basic facts is not the issue," Skelly said. The goal is building conceptual skill and, if properly implemented, Everyday Mathematics does that very well, he said. Edited by IlikeLIvonia, May 15 2009, 01:02 PM.
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