Comments on: School Districts Abandon Math Investigations

By: Anon2009

Anon2009 — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 01:33:42 +0000

I bet the top performing countries in Math/Science are not doing Math Investigations!!! Why are we not using the math programs those countries are using?

By: sceptical

sceptical — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:08:32 +0000

I certainly am; My son in 2nd grade has just finished Singapore 2A doing multiplication and division in 2nd grade.

He enjoys it, it challenges him but also reveals weakness in his math recall due to lack of practice.

By: Mad Mama

Mad Mama — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 03:04:22 +0000

Both of my kids are struggling with MI. My husband who was a Math and CS major at Virginia Tech reviewed the program and it is his belief that PWCS are failing our kids by teaching them improper math structures, formulas and processes.

His comment about MI - “It is just English with numbers.” “That program is not about math and it does not teach the kids what real math is all about.”
“Pull out my math books and we’ll start working with the kids.” “I’ll be damn if they end up failing advance math in MS and HS because thier ES failed in teaching proper mathmatic formulas, processes and structures.”

So, I was just wondering….how many parents are subsidising their children’s education at home because our school system is failing to do their job?

By: Monster_Mom

Monster_Mom — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:56:33 +0000

Funny question - Exxon Mobile is funding the 26 PWC teachers getting their TERC math specialist designation. Those teachers have been promised positions as math specialists once they received their TERC certificate - which means PWC will have to hire 26 new classroom teachers to replace the 26 who will be TERC specialists and no longer be assigned to a classroom.

That’s about $1.3 million in additional salary expenses each year to provide TERC specialists. I wonder, will Exxon Mobile be paying for that, our will PWC has to cut another program so that we can have 26 TERC specialists?

By: wineplz

wineplz — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:16:38 +0000

Good thing I was a good math student…I have a good chance at teaching my children the traditional math skills that will stick with them into adulthood. I feel bad, however, for other parents that aren’t as strong in math and will be frustrated that they cannot help their children when they bring home this pathetic excuse for math curriculum. Guess a lot of parents will be in the market for good traditional math tutors soon.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:13:46 +0000

The program was brought to PWC by the math department. They are the ones who subverted the textbook selection process to ensure that Investigations was selected, they are the one who have mislead the school board and the public about Investigations performance in PWC and content, and they are the ones who are pressuring teachers to keep quiet. They are also the ones leading the defamation campaign against the parents who have dared to stand up to them.

The Superintendent was hired after the textbook selection process was well underway, however, his reassurance that Investigations had been highly successful in his old school district did convince a few board members (Mrs Ramirez among them) who were worried about how controversial the program is. He has also allowed and even encouraged the PWCS staff to willfully misrepresent the program as blended when there is no blending going on at all.

By: Leatherneck

Leatherneck — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:51:08 +0000

Central Office staff? Probably OK, although they probably are burrowed-in brown-nosers, at least in part.

School Board members? Yeah, they bought into this farce.

Teachers? Hard one. Some yes, some no. They’ve grown used to kissing so much butt that they (at least some) probably have no capacity for independent thought any more.

To answer your question more directly, I have to point the finger at Don Richardson and his ilk.

Look: I don’t have a dog in this fight, since my kids are grownups. But they were educated by PWC schools and did OK in college. From what I’ve seen and read and heard from my younger co-workers at the Pentagon, this program is a loser. Whomever bought it and pushed it should be–well fired is probably the worst allowed.

Leatherneck

By: ateacher

ateacher — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:32:35 +0000

Leatherneck,

Define “professional educators”. Central office staff? School board members? Teachers? If you fire them all, if by definition you mean all three listed above, then with whom would you replace them?

By: Leatherneck

Leatherneck — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:27:53 +0000

“Professional Educators” are the problem–not the solution. Fire them all.

Leatherneck

By: sceptical

sceptical — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:12:34 +0000

And the trouble is that the math department is so enamored by MI that they threw out all the good stuff and forced the teachers to do it their way.
It has taken 3-4 years for seasoned teachers to get back on track but the new ones are never going to figure it out.

By: ateacher

ateacher — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:05:49 +0000

It’s not the teachers but the curriculum gurus in central office who decide to introduce the newest and greatest method to solve the problem of low test scores. In my 12 years of public school teaching I’ve undergone countless training for the newest system for teaching reading and math. And just as teachers wrap their minds around one curriculum system a “newer and better” way of teaching pops up, and there is a new round of curriculum to learn, new supplies (which are many times the same supplies already owned by the schools) to purchase, new training sessions to go thru etc. It’s like re-living the Emperor’s New Clothes every 4 years or so. However, the best teachers that I know are the one’s who just take the newest system, pull out the parts that they know will work, combine them with the best practices they know already work, and continue to use a blended system. Good and seasoned teachers smile and nod, do what they know works, produce good test scores, and are not bothered by administration to adhere to a single curricular format. They know that when the high paid consultant from the publishing company comes to observe, you do the dog and pony show. Then go back to using what years of experience has taught really is effective. If PWC or any other jurisdiction really wants to make an impact on test scores, they will pull their most effective teachers together and have them write up the methods by which they teach their subjects well. Those teachers would then educate other teachers about what really works. Then the county could save millions in supplies and consultant fees from publishing companies, and teachers, especially the new ones, could have some ideas of good lessons, lessons that have been proven to be successful in their own school system, with the students that they work with. I’ll get off my soap box now:)

By: sceptical

sceptical — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:04:00 +0000

But it was not needed with traditional math. Basic addition facts do not normally need to be drilled at home. Times tables, yes.
There was time in a day under the previous math program; my other child went through it.

By: anon

anon — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:46:17 +0000

“Why are the schools asking 2nd grade parents to teach math facts at home?”

Maybe because there isn’t enough time in the school day to drill these facts over and over.

And maybe it’s because that what GOOD parents do anyway - without having to be told.

By: Loudoun Insider

Loudoun Insider — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:09:52 +0000

What a crock. Public education these days is a trainwreck and is being led by special interest lobbyists. This Math Investigations BS is just another example. Keep up the good work fighting this, PWC.

By: AWCheney

AWCheney — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:22:58 +0000

“It seems only Johns, Covington and Trenum have any common sense.”

It should be noted that Betty Covington has a long history with the Prince William County school system as an educator before her retirement…which speaks volumes to the fact that she is not enamored with MI. Given this fact, it is not surprising that she is a board member to whom the teachers opposed to Investigations turn…she would know exactly why those teachers are reticent to voice their opposition publicly.

By: FOIA

FOIA — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:12:53 +0000

The math teachers have been told to support MI or find another home. This school district is run like a totalitarain government with Walts at the top and a bunch of puppets acting as a board.

By: sceptical

sceptical — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:35:42 +0000

As do I. I hardly have to ask my son to work on it and his 5th grade sister loves playing teacher with him. She can teach from it so I’m sure our teachers could manage it..
He is doing multiplication and division in second grade and learning his times tables. In MI, they have been memorizing doubles so they can get close to the answer. Pathetic.
And board members that are engineers and math teachers can’t figure this out?

By: Monster_Mom

Monster_Mom — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:10:55 +0000

I’m the daughter of public school teachers and seriously considering home schooling. I’m not sure vouchers will get here in time to help my children.

Oh - the math program that’s shown such tremendous results is Singapore Maths. It’s never been submitted to or reviewed by the VA DOE for content match with our standards, but I use it at home to teach my children and it’s wonderful.

By: freedom

freedom — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:57:41 +0000

I don’t have school-age children and therefore, I can’t speak to the problems or successes of Math Investigations. However, I CAN speak to experimentation with a child’s education…get ‘em off on the wrong foot and they’ll just never catch up. I have an adult nephew who grew up in California public schools and to this day, can hardly read due to an experimental reading program back then. Phonics? Nope…”word shape” was the new thing of the day and it failed miserably — the “lab rats” never recovered, never!

This whole thing is really so much larger than Math Investigations. As every day goes by, I get sicker and sicker of the attitude, “We’re government, we know what’s best, we’ll take care of it.” I wonder when you parents are all going to realize that when your children turn five, your job is to turn ‘em over to “the professional educator,” shut-up, and “spectate”!! Of course, if we had a school voucher system, things would be a bit different, wouldn’t they?

By: CONVA

CONVA — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:34:35 +0000

If these brain surgeons are so bent to change to a different math curriculum, why not incorporate those that the Chinese and Japanese use? Their students have been at the top of every international survey since they have been taken. Or maybe they need teachers that understand the traditional method to the degree necessary to be able to teach the subject.