February 10, 2011 in Opinion

Editorial: Neutral site, moderator could solve math problem

Students in Spokane elementary schools are familiar with a program called Character Counts, which encourages them to treat others with respect and to deal with disagreements peacefully.

Miss Manners would approve.

She wouldn’t feel the same about many of the adults – conspicuously including several Spokane Public Schools administrators – who were at a community forum about mathematics instruction on Monday evening.

The session was marked by angry verbal confrontations, sarcasm and interruptions. Lots of rudeness, little enlightenment. The presentation was loosely structured to begin with, and it quickly deteriorated into a hockey game without referees.

The disorder was regrettable, given the seriousness of the subject. Public education in general, and math in particular, are under a microscope. Global economic competition will trample mediocrity. Communities must convene serious discussions about these concerns.

It isn’t a new issue. Seven years ago, when Spokane Public Schools added a math credit to graduation requirements, a district administrator noted that half of the students who went on to community college had to take developmental math, and “we have to change that.” But change hasn’t come.

Occasionally – and plaintively – a few parents and grandparents could be heard trying to share the personal experiences that drew them to Monday’s meeting where they expected to hear about an alternative approach. Too often, they were drowned out.

So a community conversation needs to happen. But critics can’t deny educators a voice in the process, as organizers of Monday’s meeting wanted to do that night. Nor can educators stifle concerned citizens who challenge the status quo, although that was the effect of the district representatives’ behavior.

Neither side has all the answers, or all the fault.

It would be difficult but helpful if the district and its antagonists called a truce, chose a neutral site, identified an independent moderator and held a public forum about this critical issue.

If members of Congress can intermingle across party lines for the State of the Union Address, surely Spokane’s educators, parents and other community members can have a civil conversation about children’s education.

It would be a measure of their character.

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10 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

hawken on February 10 at 7:57 a.m.
This should be required by the Democrat party for all incoming freshmen Congressmen and Senators, federal and state.
fishinjay on February 10 at 8:15 a.m.
Sure, this issue only applies to one party. Your singling out one side clearly shows that you are part of the problem.
hawken on February 10 at 8:41 a.m.
If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and looks like a duck. It’s a duck. The liberal left is the “grand, exalted ruler” of vitriol.
One need only look at the public record.
hawken on February 10 at 8:54 a.m.
Followup: Actually, one need only look at this blog.
wooglin52 on February 10 at 12:11 p.m.
The problem with our math education starts with TEACHER education. With very few exceptions, teachers have created their own cozy little courses in the Colleges of Educ. They teach things called “Math….for teachers”; “Chemistry…for teachers”. My college advisor told me to avoid those college of education courses because they are too watered down to learn what I needed to learn.
In some cases, they even let pyschobabble degrees take precedence over the real course material. Example: a few years ago, a young teaching grad and his girlfriend came to buy a bed we had for sale; they were moving to a S. central Washington school district where he was to teach 7th grade math. I said I was glad that some were still majoring in math, and were teaching it. He said “Oh no, my degree is in Sociology….but the books are so good now, they almost teach themselves”. That is a direct quote. And we wonder why the schools and their grads are so pathetic.
Alfredo on February 10 at 12:47 p.m.
Hmm, I guess I’m glad I was educated in another state where school funding a little better. For the most part, I had wonderful teachers who knew the subjects they were teaching very well, in fact, many of the classes had a book but if you wanted to try to follow along in the book to what the teacher was lecturing on, you’d have a hard time finding the information from the book very easily (not because the information wasn’t in the book, but because the information from the teacher was coming from their knowledge and actually teaching the course instead of reciting from a book).
Case in point, I had a teacher in high school that really irritated me, for the most part I was one of those students that felt under-challenged in class. I would often drift off into space because I found that teaching me something once was enough and to go over materials again and again would bore more but I understood it was necessary in order for the rest of the class to really catch on. On some occasions, I would drift off and miss some morsel of information that was needed for a homework assignment and I would find myself at a loss that evening because it would take me a very long time to track down my answer in the “book” because we never really used the “book” in class.
wooglin52, I’m sure you could agree that one statement from one teacher does not represent all of teachers as a whole. Do you really think that most people go to college, get a degree, have a mountain of debt, only to take a job as a teacher because of the money or benefits associated with it? Most get into teaching because they want to and because they like helping kids, not because they think they’ll get rich doing it.
wooglin52 on February 10 at 1:00 p.m.
Alfredo: To be honest, there is very little in your post with which I CAN agree. Please go on line, and look at the education courses at WSU, UI, EWU, BSU, UW etc etc; look in the college of education courses, then come back and we’ll talk. I’m sorry but it seems in your post that you”re “talking around” my assertions with some ‘warm fuzzy’ platitudes. BTW, are you a Sociologist by chance?
Alfredo on February 10 at 1:37 p.m.
As I said, I grew up in a much more “education friendly” state. One that places an emphasis on education and the need for a better future for our children. I guess I will have to take your word for it since I’ve noticed Washington State does not seem to be very friendly toward the education of our youth.
And to answer your question, no, I am not a sociologist nor am I a teacher.
teachexplicitmath on February 10 at 2:53 p.m.
This is not just a Spokane math problem. I applaud these folks for opting out of KUMON and instead insisting that math be taught explicitly. The data already indicates this works well for all kids and especially ELL, Special Ed, blacks, and Latinos. (Take a look at the amount of money being spent on explicit instruction at private tutors!) It’s excellent that this group is hosting a forum to discuss the problem. The library is a nice neutral place to have a meeting. The district talking heads should sit quietly and listen up since they failed to apply relevant research which indicates explicit math instruction over “fuzzy math”. Read the National Mathematics Advisory Panel 2008 Foundations for Success Report. It’s the definitive work to-date on this issue. It’s not a reasonable people disagree issue. It’s a failed methodology heaped upon the students and families for decades now and it’s to the point where remedial math at the college level is the norm. The district job is to educate. That includes using the best practices which is explicit math instruction. It’s pretty silly when you have to be a math activist to get the over-paid administrators to do their jobs creating math programs that work, but that’s the case so I applaud these folks for organizing people to demand math instruction that works. Bravo!
teachmath on February 10 at 5:34 p.m.
It’s obvious that the writer of this editorial was not at the meeting. This WAS a public forum, and it WAS at a neutral site (Shadle Public Library). The hosts of the forum did NOT attempt to stop educators and district administrators from speaking, simply asked them to wait until members of the community had shared their concerns first. Many employees of the district refused to comply with this request and were downright rude and arrogant about it. This is a very important issue and the hosts are planning more public forums in an attempt to discuss math education in Spokane. Time will tell if the district will allow the discussion to begin or if they will continue to disrupt these forums.