05/09/2007

Forum

Big question: What's best for the kids?

By JERALD MURDOCK

The world is changing. I very much enjoyed Pulitzer Prize-winner Thomas Friedman's opening address, The World is Flat, in late March at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics annual meeting in Atlanta. The right education for our kids, their passport to successful lives, is an education that prepares them for their future, not our past.

I'm a retired high school mathematics teacher, still actively involved in exploring and understanding what tools and processes best educate kids. I know change can be frustrating. I believe changes in school mathematics over the past 15 years have been difficult on parents and teachers, though highly beneficial to our students.

Many of us learned traditional school mathematics that focused on computation procedures for whole numbers, fractions, solving equations, and even dividing polynomials.

We experienced very little inquiry or hands-on engagement. Our ideas about numbers and the relationships between numbers seldom carried over to the next word problem, math course, or science class. Too many kids couldn't remember what the teacher told them. Older kids were often bored and wondering or asking, "When will I ever use this?

In contrast, the Traverse City Area Public Schools programs emphasize making sense of the world by doing and using mathematics. Our local students are given opportunities to develop skills and procedures beyond memorization with inquiry, investigations, connections, communication, teamwork and problem solving. At every level, students are asked to think and build connections between their strategies.

A quick review of state, national and international best practices for mathematics preparation in high school, university and life-long learning supports the TCAPS math program. In fact, TCAPS has been recognized across the nation for its successes. Advanced Placement college credit increased from 11 students in 1997 to 195 students in 2006. Check the data.

Assessment results and data are good and should not be ignored.

It is vitally important for parents to stay informed of strategies that have a proven track record of making our students better performers in mathematics. A traditional or blended program is not the best solution for our kids. I cannot envision two distinct elementary math programs.

Yet, there is always room for improvement. Many of the concerned citizen requests we've heard or read about will be included in next iterations or editions of the TCAPS programs. These National Science Foundation-funded mathematics programs will continue to incorporate the latest learning research and should be at the top of the list for consideration as the district prepares for adoption.

Finally, math that focuses on critical thinking, collaborations and connections is, indeed, a challenge for students and the adults that support them (tutors, teachers, and parents). But pushing for traditional curricula that are simply more familiar would ignore the significant headway that researchers and TCAPS educators have made in the past dozen years.

We owe it to our kids not to strip the challenge from a sound math problem (or program!) just to avoid frustrations.

About the author

Jerald Murdock is a retired public and private high school math teacher who spent 40 years in the classroom. He continues to work with teachers and students as an algebra textbook author. He is a national-level Presidential Awardee for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching and a former president of the Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

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