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Fuzzy Math
in North Andover
Last week, North Andover Super-intendent of Schools, Dr. Harry Harutunian, presented his recommended school budget to the School Committee, the Board of Selectman, the Finance Committee and the rest of the community. One issue of concern and interest is the line item for math. North Andover schools are piloting three math programs in the elementary schools, one of which will be voted on by the School Committee. The three piloted programs are Everyday Math, Houghton Mifflin and McGraw Hill. Right now, Dr. Harutunian has budgeted $276,000, to cover the most costly of the programs, McGraw Hill. Everyday Math would cost the taxpayers $128,000, while Houghton Mifflin would be budgeted at $116,000. There are also future recurring costs involved as well. Everyday Math would cost $30,000 annually, Houghton Mifflin $27,000 and McGraw Hill $26,000. For months, several Valley Patriot columnists have issued warnings to the public against “Fuzzy Math” programs, which emphasize “critical thinking “like Everyday Math. These columnists stressed adopting a math program that teaches standard basics of arithmetic like multiplication, division and fractions. Programs like Houghton Mifflin, Singapore or Saxon fit that bill. These programs also avoid having students in the elementary grades develop a dependency on calculators. As a parent of a child in a second grade everyday math pilot program, I can say first -hand how disappointed I am with the program. My child continues to bring home assignments which require calculators. They play games in class that use calculators. Even as I type this, my daughter is asking me for a calculator to do her homework. No kidding! Over the past three years, The City of Newton has witnessed its students’ MCAS scores steadily decline. Today, 32% of sixth graders in Newton are now in the “warning” or “needs improvement” categories in math. The only factor that has changed for the worse is the implementation of “everyday math”. Newton’s demographics have remained constant and per-pupil spending has increased over this period. A recent study by EDSTAR, Inc., an independent consulting firm, of 428 schools throughout 24 school districts in California, Missouri, Illinois and South Carolina, compared Houghton Mifflin to numerous other math programs. In 2003, the researchers found that the Houghton Mifflin districts had significantly greater percentages of students scoring at or above grade level. The differences were statistically significant and the results held true in different states and on different tests. North Andover already has disturbing math MCAS scores. In 2004, 12% of 8th graders failed MCAS math, while 28% were in the “needed improvement” category. For 10th grade, 8% failed math and 19% needed improvement. Even at the Sargent School, 4th grade MCAS math scores in the categories of “failing” and “needs improvement” have unfortunately increased over the past three years. In 2002, 30% of Sargent 4th graders either “failed” or “needed improvement” in MCAS math. In 2003, that percentage increased to 37%, and in 2004, almost half the Sargent 4th grade students (46%) failed or needed improvement in MCAS math. These scores are a direct result of North Andover’s use of another “fuzzy math” program: TERC. We cannot afford to become Newton and parents demand performance. We want our children to excel in math and we want our School Committee to ensure they have the tools they need to succeed. We must encourage high expectations and elect representatives to the School Committee who support those expectations. Next month, the North
Andover School Committee will pick a math program. The
right thing for the North Andover children is for our
School Committee to pick a math program that focuses on
the development of solid mathematical foundations. *Send your comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com |
The budget
process is underway in North Andover, in antici-pation of
Town Meeting in May.