saxon math : Back to basics on kids’ math
After hearing endorsements both for and against a new math program, Tacoma School Board members Thursday night approved the purchase of a supplemental textbook that emphasizes practice of math facts.
District officials hope the Saxon Math program will help improve students’ math performance, which they say hasn’t increased enough with the district’s current program.
But officials say teachers will decide how much, if at all, to use the book in combination with the district’s existing “integrated” math program.
“I was around when we adopted IMP (Interactive Math Program),” said board member Debbie Winskill. Despite a lengthy selection process and giving teachers considerable training, she said, “It’s been a dismal failure.”
Integrated math focuses on teaching students the concepts of math, such as why multiplication is important and how to apply multiplication. The more traditional Saxon Math program emphasizes practice and review of such math skills as multiplication.
New Superintendent Charlie Milligan is so concerned about students’ low math performance he proposed buying the book and shortening the regular curriculum selection process to select the program. The new program will cost about $1.8 million or less.
Milligan said earlier that it takes six weeks to receive the books, so they might be in classrooms as soon as October. The district plans to train teachers in how to use the new texts.
Community members expressed a variety of viewpoints to the board on the proposed program and the “fast track” process.
Tacoma resident Kyle Price said Tacoma’s elementary school math program isn’t the best fit for the district but that “a $1 million Band-Aid approach is not the answer either.”
He cited research that blending two math programs usually damages the integrity of each program and results in lower test scores.
Parent Alison Golder said she was concerned that the district was moving too quickly. She and Price said they’ve heard Saxon Math does not submit its program to the state for review because it’s so poorly aligned with state math standards.
But several other speakers urged the board to buy the traditional math text.
Chris Karnes, a Foss High School graduate who now attends the University of Washington Tacoma, recalled how he and others had raised concerns about the integrated math program four years ago, just after the district adopted it. The protests prompted the district to give high school students a choice of studying the integrated math program or traditional math. Most high school students take IMP.
“So many (students) were sacrificed for such a meager increase in WASL scores,” he said. “We need to implement traditional mathematics as quickly as possible.”
Mount Tahoma High School teacher Clifford Harris told the board he successfully taught sophomores Saxon Math in another school district four years ago, and their Washington Assessment of Student Learning have continually climbed. The program gives students plenty of chances to review material so they retain their skills, he said.
That’s not the case with IMP, he said in an interview.
“It’s not working because kids are not learning enough math facts,” Harris said. “It’s hard for parents to help them. If they miss school for a week, it’s hard for them to catch up.”
But he thinks it’s a good idea for teachers to be able to use both IMP and Saxon Math, giving students material from either program based on their individual needs.
Sondra Bright, the district’s curriculum and instruction director of math and science, said IMP and Saxon Math will work well in combination.
A district committee that’s been monitoring the implementation of the integrated math programs has found that teachers wanted materials that would give their students more practice in basic skills, Bright told the board. The committee has also found that parents need easier-to-understand math textbooks so they can help their children with homework. Saxon Math should meet both needs, she said.
DEBBY ABE; The News Tribune
District officials hope the Saxon Math program will help improve students’ math performance, which they say hasn’t increased enough with the district’s current program.
But officials say teachers will decide how much, if at all, to use the book in combination with the district’s existing “integrated” math program.
“I was around when we adopted IMP (Interactive Math Program),” said board member Debbie Winskill. Despite a lengthy selection process and giving teachers considerable training, she said, “It’s been a dismal failure.”
Integrated math focuses on teaching students the concepts of math, such as why multiplication is important and how to apply multiplication. The more traditional Saxon Math program emphasizes practice and review of such math skills as multiplication.
New Superintendent Charlie Milligan is so concerned about students’ low math performance he proposed buying the book and shortening the regular curriculum selection process to select the program. The new program will cost about $1.8 million or less.
Milligan said earlier that it takes six weeks to receive the books, so they might be in classrooms as soon as October. The district plans to train teachers in how to use the new texts.
Community members expressed a variety of viewpoints to the board on the proposed program and the “fast track” process.
Tacoma resident Kyle Price said Tacoma’s elementary school math program isn’t the best fit for the district but that “a $1 million Band-Aid approach is not the answer either.”
He cited research that blending two math programs usually damages the integrity of each program and results in lower test scores.
Parent Alison Golder said she was concerned that the district was moving too quickly. She and Price said they’ve heard Saxon Math does not submit its program to the state for review because it’s so poorly aligned with state math standards.
But several other speakers urged the board to buy the traditional math text.
Chris Karnes, a Foss High School graduate who now attends the University of Washington Tacoma, recalled how he and others had raised concerns about the integrated math program four years ago, just after the district adopted it. The protests prompted the district to give high school students a choice of studying the integrated math program or traditional math. Most high school students take IMP.
“So many (students) were sacrificed for such a meager increase in WASL scores,” he said. “We need to implement traditional mathematics as quickly as possible.”
Mount Tahoma High School teacher Clifford Harris told the board he successfully taught sophomores Saxon Math in another school district four years ago, and their Washington Assessment of Student Learning have continually climbed. The program gives students plenty of chances to review material so they retain their skills, he said.
That’s not the case with IMP, he said in an interview.
“It’s not working because kids are not learning enough math facts,” Harris said. “It’s hard for parents to help them. If they miss school for a week, it’s hard for them to catch up.”
But he thinks it’s a good idea for teachers to be able to use both IMP and Saxon Math, giving students material from either program based on their individual needs.
Sondra Bright, the district’s curriculum and instruction director of math and science, said IMP and Saxon Math will work well in combination.
A district committee that’s been monitoring the implementation of the integrated math programs has found that teachers wanted materials that would give their students more practice in basic skills, Bright told the board. The committee has also found that parents need easier-to-understand math textbooks so they can help their children with homework. Saxon Math should meet both needs, she said.
DEBBY ABE; The News Tribune
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