WW-P school officials will be spending considerable time in the coming years to redesign the kindergarten through eighth grade curriculum to offer a full Algebra I course for all eighth graders, based on recommendations from the math program review this past year.##M:[more]##
School officials are also considering increasing the time allotted for math at the elementary level from 40 minutes to 60, decreasing the amount of content to focus more on the rigor of its elementary programs, implementing a quarterly benchmark assessment to track student progress, and implementing a professional development plan. Angela McIver, president of Math Foundations, LLC, the consulting firm that worked with a committee of district officials, presented the recommendations at the school board’s August 26 meeting.
At the same time, board members weighed the input the consultants gathered from parents, an overwhelming majority of whom said they feel the current curriculum is not challenging enough, particularly at the elementary level, with the feelings of students and teachers, who agree that 40 minutes is not enough time for math instruction.
With a few exceptions, McIver said the report found that there seemed to be a high level of satisfaction from students, parents, and teachers. McIver also pointed out that the WW-P district is the first time that “a really highly functional, high achieving school district has come to us” for an evaluation, as opposed to those schools that are struggling.
Still, there were five recommendations out of the 15 listed in the report that Math Foundations and the committee of school officials charged with doing the math review think are priorities for improving the math instruction district-wide.
The first was to redesign the K-8 curriculum to prepare all students for Algebra 1 by eighth grade, the recommendation that caused the most tension during discussions and review, because officials questioned whether some students or all students should have Algebra I by eighth grade before coming to the conclusion that it should be offered for all of them.
“One of the reasons is that if we were to add an additional algebra course to the eighth grade level right now, there are a lot of students whop could take that course starting next week, when we start school, and be ready for that course,” McIver said. “It requires very little in terms of looking at the K-8 curriculum. Where that becomes problematic is in that lower group of students who might not make it to Algebra I.”
Further, “if we reframe the recommendation that Algebra I be offered for all in eighth grade, that means we need to look at the K-8 curriculum very deeply,” she explained. “And it can address some of the other recommendations in the report.”
Steve Mayer, the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, explained that the recommendation means that a full, authentic Algebra I course that would be offered to ninth grade students should be implemented at the eighth grade level. While eighth grade students do currently study algebra in eighth grade, the district currently offers the specific Algebra I course only as an honors track course in eighth grade. “Logic would say that we have algebra for all, but it’s not Algebra I,” he said, explaining the current situation.
When McIver’s company conducted focus groups with parents, it found that virtually all of the parents felt that students should have Algebra I in eighth grade, but she said it is unclear whether they understood the difference between the “authentic” algebra course, or algebra for everyone. Middle school teachers also said they felt that more students would benefit from a non-honors algebra I course.
Those teachers felt that “a lot of students are ready for Algebra I, but not at an honors algebra course,” McIver explained. “By providing an authentic honors algebra course and then an authentic algebra I course, you are able to capture all of the students.”
The second priority would be for officials to revise the elementary curriculum to decrease the amount of content, increase the rigor, and focus on the critical foundations of algebra, McIver said. “One of the feelings that came out of the teacher focus groups is this feeling that there is so much content, there is so little time, and they are just rushing through.” This can have a really negative impact as students move up through the grades, she said. “Teachers feel students are not as prepared as they’d like.”
And one reason is the amount of content in the elementary math curriculum. Traditionally, many philosophies suggest getting students to learn many different concepts before moving up through the grades. However, often this does not allow them to master each concept because not enough time is spent on each one, she explained. The report also found that 71 percent of all parents at the elementary level say elementary math should be more challenging. McIver said, though, that this is an issue concerning perception.
This parental perception drew some discussion between board members and members of the review committee, who said they felt that school officials could do a better job of communicating with parents about what their students are learning.
David Argese, the district’s elementary math supervisor, said he spends considerable time in the classrooms and sees the important concepts the children are learning. Parents might have a different perception for “challenging.” He said seeing whether or not children can multiply in the first grade is not something school officials see as a measure of how challenging the curriculum is, but whether the students develop a deep understanding of it. “When you look at what they really understand versus memorize, we just need to do a better job communicating that with parents,” Argese added.
McIver also said that the report was not intended to be an “indictment” of the elementary program, and a big piece of the parental comments are perception. “If the elementary programs were not preparing students, then you would not have as high of a level of achievement as you’re having,” she explained.
Barbara Braverman, the district’s middle school math supervisor, echoed the sentiment. Recently, several new students who registered with the district came in to take assessments for course placement and told school staff that they had taken an algebra course elsewhere. “I gave them some of our assessments that we’re doing in the classroom here, and the kids do fine on the computation pieces of it, but they’re not doing well in the other things like problem solving,” she said. It is this deeper understanding of the material that officials want to instill in students, she said.
Committee members explained that this is the reason why the amount of content needs to be narrowed down. Some school board officials said they were concerned, however. Randall Tucker said if the content would be reduced, he wondered what it is the district would be tossing out, and whether there was any value in it. “If the answer is yes, but not appropriate in where we’re heading, my question is where is my student able to pick up that content?” he asked. “If it isn’t of value, then I would question why my kid spent time on it up to this point.”
Committee members maintained, however, that often, because of the elementary curriculum, teachers are not able to go as deep into certain concepts as they should. “Once there is a benchmark process in place that really looks at mastering, and conversations start happening at the elementary level, and teachers are dealing with less content, they really will be able to help all students be ready for Algebra 1,” McIver said.
The next priority was implementing the quarterly benchmark assessment program to track student progress, and this is mainly because it will help teachers prioritize in terms of helping their students meet the requirements and to identify students who are struggling.
And in revising the elementary curriculum, officials should increase the allotted time for math from 40 minutes to 60, “especially if you want to increase the rigor and make a target of Algebra I for all students in eighth grade,” McIver said. She pointed out that only 31 percent of elementary teachers felt 40 minutes was a sufficient time period for math. School board emphasized the need to carefully look at the implications of adding 20 minutes of math to the school day, and from which periods the time would be taken.
The district should also implement a professional development plan to support teachers in meeting high expectations for all students, McIver said. “If you are to implement a more rigorous elementary program, that requires a lot of support.”
Board members asked whether students and parents at the high school level were satisfied with the instruction, as they did not see much mention of the high school level in the presentation. Committee members, including South Principal Chuck Rudnick, said that by changing the elementary curriculum to offer all students the Algebra I course, it will allow more students to be prepared to take higher level courses in high school, like AP Calculus, because their foundations will be stronger.
Mayer said the next step in the process is that the committee will continue meeting to discuss a course of action for proceeding with implementing the recommendations and will report back to the board.
Board member Richard Kaye asked the board and officials involved in reviewing the curriculum changes to be patient in coming up with a program that does not hurt students.
“The truth is most of our parents would like all kids to finish algebra by grade 6,” he said. “They’d like them all to begin introduction to calculus by grade 9, because they’d like them to at least graduate from our school with better than a bachelor’s degree in advanced study from Princeton.”
He said district officials are faced with the challenge of having parents who “believe that every child is more than gifted and talented,” and that students themselves tell officials that sometimes, the pressure is “merciless.”
“Then we pressure our teachers, and when every student is not able to be at advanced post-calculus by a certain grade, that teacher’s failing,” he added. “We forget the developmental needs of children; we forget the factor of time.” He urged the district to move forward patiently to get the process done properly.
