The most recent research from the U.S. Department of Education shows that American 15-year-olds are behind their International counterparts when it comes to problem solving and math literacy.
The report showed the U.S. ranks 24th out of 29 nations.
But a math program, gaining in popularity, is trying to change that.
The program is called Everyday Math.
Lori Rusch is a fourth grade teacher at Middleton’s Elm Lawn Elementary. This year she teaches an advanced math class.
On Monday, students in Rusch’s class were mastering fractions and percentages.
But her students began learning fractions and percentages in first grade.
“We’ve been incredibly successful with it,” said Middleton’s curriculum director George Marvoulis. “Our students on all of our comparative assessments like WKCE, Explorer Plan, ACT, our students score higher in math than any other subject area so we’ve been very pleased.”
According to Marvoulis, Middleton was one of the first school districts in the nation to use the Everyday Math program in 1994.
“The concept is kind of a toolbox of different tools they can use to solve a problem,” explained Marvoulis.
Related: Math Forum and Clusty Search on Everyday Math.
Everyday Mathematics is a fabulous program! I’ve used many of its best components in my first and second grade classrooms over the years. Too bad that the MMSD teachers who really believe in the program are discouraged from using it in their classrooms by “the math experts” and some administrators in our district. Little do they know, it fits into the four-block math instructional framework just fine!
This research-based curriculum plants the seeds for success from grade to grade. Yes, a teacher must trust the “spiral” as children proceed through the school year. There are wonderful student games that teach math facts and maintain students’ fluency in addition and subtraction, place-value, money and telling time.
I congratulate the Middleton-Cross Plains School District for choosing such a successful program for their students!
Just fyi – this was the information that Teaching and Learning gave to the Math Task Force regarding MMSD elementary math curriculum. They apparently surveyed the schools to find out what was being used. This info was from summer 2008, so I don’t know if it is still accurate.
School – Curricular Materials
Allis – Investigations
Chavez – CGI, Investigations
Crestwood – CGI, Investigations
Elvehjem – CGI, Everyday Math, Investigations Geometry, Singapore (2 -3)
Emerson – Everyday Math
Falk – Investigations
Franklin/Randall – Math in My World and Math Expressions
Glendale – Investigations
Gompers – Everyday Math
Hawthorne – Investigations
Huegel – Investigations
Kennedy – Everyday Math
Lake View – Investigations
Leopold – Everyday Math (K-1)
Lincoln/Midvale – Everyday Math and Investigations
Lindbergh – Investigations
Lowell – Everyday Math
Marquette/Lapham – Everyday Math/CGI/Investigations, two teachers use Saxon Math
Mendota – Everyday Math
Muir – Addison Wesley (Math Expressions Pilot)
Nuestro Mundo – Investigations
Orchard Ridge – Investigations and Math in My World
Sandburg – Investigations
Schenk – Investigations at 4-5
Shorewood – Everyday Math, Groundworks
Stephens – CGI, Everyday Math and Singapore at 2-3
Thoreau – Everyday Math and Investigations
Van Hise – CGI, Silver Burdett and Math Expressions Pilot
Given Jill’s list of schools using Everyday Math, in some cases seemingly, exclusively, wouldn’t be splendid to disaggregate the WKCE scores for each grade by school — comparing scores from schools using Everyday Math with those using the other curricula.
MMSD should have the data to identify which students go to which schools — you think? And, if there are other student math assessments, further analyses can be done.
Just an update on this…
Teaching and Learning recently (some time in the past few months) issued their “Elementary Core Resource Recommendation” for ordering math materials. The first paragraph in the section titled “Recommended Student Materials” reads as follows:
One single published instructional program currently on the market cannot adequately serve all students well. Given the diversity of our student population, the Teaching and Learning Department suggests parts of Investigations and Primary Mathematics. Each should be enhanced through the careful selection of problems and activities that meet the needs of individual or small groups of students. Ultimately, teachers should be designing specific problems and activities as needed based on professional development that supports their reflective practice.
Along with this document, apparently, came verbal instructions to create a school plan to transition by fall of 2010 from whatever materials are currently being used (e.g. Everyday Math) to the recommended materials. I only have a hardcopy of this document…I looked, but can’t find it posted anywhere on the district website.
Did MMSD K-12 teachers, who teach math, have the opportunity to work collegially with Teaching and Learning to look at/compare different materials with test scores in MMSD’s students? So, in other words, is this recommendation from MMSD’s Teaching and Learning supported by learning from what’s “in the field” and by the majority of teachers as well as T&L staff? Was the UW involved? Others?