02/16/2007

Parents: 'Reformed math' a minus

By Christine Finger

cfinger@record-eagle.com

Record-Eagle/Tyler Sipe
Jeana O'Kane and her children, from left, Clare, 12, John , 6, and 10-year-old Maura.

TRAVERSE CITY — Jeana O'Kane figured she'd been left out of the equation when her daughter brought home her math homework from elementary school.

O'Kane, mother of three students in Traverse City Area Public Schools, didn't find the multiplication tables and other skill drills she learned while growing up. Her daughter had to explain how she learned to solve problems through "reformed math,” a teaching strategy that instead favors discovery and group interaction.

"I really struggled with what they were doing,” she said. "People want to be able to help their children, and many parents feel like they can't help.”

O'Kane plans to join We All Count, a group of concerned parents who are pushing for changes to TCAPS math curriculum. Members will meet at 7 p.m. on Monday in the auditorium at Central High School.

Petitions will be available at the meeting for parents to sign. District administrators and school board members also have been invited.

Board president Gerald Morris said he wouldn't attend and didn't think there was any reason for any board members to do so. He faulted the parent group for circumventing the district's curriculum review process.

"I think that they're going about this in an inappropriate way,” he said. "This isn't a process for changing curriculum.”

In the early 1990s, TCAPS started phasing out traditional math courses in favor of a reformed math curriculum.

The move drew a slew of complaints from parents who argued that reformed math shortchanged basic skills and left many students needing remedial math classes at the college level.

In 1998, the district started letting students in the ninth through 12th grades choose between traditional and reformed math programs. But elementary and junior high math classes are still based on reformed math.

Dianne Walker, a retired TCAPS math teacher, is leading the parent group. She also was instrumental in the fight to bring traditional math back to the high schools.

"Parents have been complaining for years about the elementary program,” she said. "There's got to be a curriculum out there that combines the best of both. This isn't just Traverse City. This is an entire nation dealing with this controversy.”

Walker said parents want the district to find a math curriculum that blends traditional and reformed math. The group also seeks a program that relies on textbooks instead of hand-outs, includes sample problems, addresses basic math skills and includes a glossary to help students and their parents understand the work.

Superintendent James Feil said test scores show TCAPS students outpace students other districts in math. But he acknowledged that not all students are achieving at the same level, and said district administrators and the parent group both want to change that.

"We really have much in common,” he said. "The challenge is trying to figure out how to address the concerns with limited resources.”

The district has a four-year cycle for curriculum reviews, and math is scheduled to be reviewed next year. But budget constraints could hamper any curriculum changes, Feil said.