Math in Spokane

Laurie Rogers, one of the original members of the newspaper’s Parents’ Council, asked us to post this on the blog:

On May 27 at 7 p.m., Spokane school administrators are scheduled to address the school board about proposed teaching materials for mathematics.

I’m asking parents and teachers to go the board meeting and demand that the district replace its failed math curricula.

Spokane’s current math curricula are “reform,” which means they focus on estimation, writing, calculators, and multiple ways to solve problems. They downplay the need to practice the most efficient algorithms (necessary for advancing in math, and needed in college, business and the trades). They emphasize constructivism (“discovery”) where students work in groups to try to teach math to each other.

In 2008, just 45.9% of Spokane 10th graders passed the math WASL. Many high school graduates must take several remedial college math classes, even arithmetic. For 20 years, parents, math teachers, professors, business owners, STEM professionals (science, technology, engineering and math), and math advocates have fought against reform math. In 2008, the National Mathematics Advisory Panel called for more traditional content and increased rigor across the nation.

Please come to the board meeting. Bring your students and high school graduates. They have the right to be heard. I’ll bet they have a lot to say about their K-12 math experience.

To contact Laurie, please e-mail her at wlroge@comcast.net or check out her blog: ” Betrayed .”