Not only math is "integrated" in Wayzata district

When I heard this year that the Wayzata School District had recently adopted the textbook, Vocabulary from Classical Roots by Norma Fifer and Nancy Flowers (Educators Publishing Service, Cambridge and Toronto), I was pleased.

I am a technical writer by profession, I love language, and insist that my own children learn to communicate effectively in writing and speech. So the study of Greek and Latin roots seemed to me a back-to-basics, classical approach to English instruction.

I was half right.

Classical Roots does indeed teach word strategies and etymologies, but I can also see how world views are being "integrated" into language arts as they have been in integrated math. These word usage examples are from the Fifer and Flowers Classical Roots book (the boldface word is the vocabulary word being studied):

• The perseverance and hard work of Spanish-speaking Mexican immigrants were responsible for the prosperous economy of the Southwest in the nineteenth century.
• History shows that although men have often expected women to be subservient, many women have resisted domination.
• Historian Elizabeth Longford writes that "as playthings or household slaves, women were distorted the world over."
• During his presidency, Jimmy Carter mediated disagreements between Israel and Egypt.
• Although twice elected prime minister of Great Britian, Sir Winston Churchill was considered an academic mediocrity as a schoolboy.
• Environmentalists say that at this juncture we must protect rain forests around the globe to prevent harmful atmospheric changes.
• Because of stringent budget cuts, some schools could no longer finance programs in music and art.
• The Jamestown settlers were long on visionary schemes but short on funds and common sense.
• The repertoire of folk singer Joan Baez includes songs in both Spanish and English.
• The Mexican rebel Emiliano Zapata advocated the rights of peasant farmers against powerful landlords.
• Recognizing the need to build new schools, the community assented to the higher property tax.
• Although the later works of the English writer John Dunne are sermons and serious religious verse, his youthful creations are witty and profane love poems.
• You profane a mosque by entering it with shoes on.
• Her friends and neighbors in the favelas, or slums, didn't realize that Carolina Maria de Jesus was a literary prodigy whose diary would become Brazil's all-time bestseller.
• Although she was a loyal Republican, her views on taxation differ ideologically from party policy.

We've come a long way from "First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen." These statements may be worthy of debate, but notice how they remain unchallenged since they appear in a language arts, and not a social studies textbook. Is the intent here to teach language, or something else?

Beacon Academy's success glossed over

If you were looking for mention of the Beacon Academy charter school of Plymouth, Minnesota on a recent KSTP-TV "5 Eyewitness News Investigates" segment about charter schools, and if you blinked, you may have missed it.

That's because the story focused on various charter schools that are violating Minnesota law, and on calls to overhaul those laws, so the story mentions Beacon Academy by contrast as a success story. According to the Minnesota Department of Education, their teachers are 100% licensed and 100% Highly Qualified per federal standards. They're playing by the rules, and must be doing something right, if the portable classrooms and waiting list are any indication.

Beacon Academy is a fast-growing, K-8 charter school, opened in 2004, with a current enrollment of about 400, with two sections per grade. Beacon Academy is based on the Core Knowledge Sequence and Saxon Math. Beacon's sponsor is Friends of Ascension, which sponsors over a dozen charter schools in the Twin Cities area.

Beacon provides a traditional math alternative to the integrated math delivered by local public school districts (Wayzata Central Middle School was a field test site for Connected Mathematics 2). Its Core Knowledge Sequence is a knowledge-based alternative to public school curricula that still contain remnants of the process-based, "fuzzy" Profile of Learning state standards that were repealed in 2003.

In short, Beacon strives to provide the kind of private school, classical education promoted on this blog, but at public school prices (that is, no tuition — charter schools are public schools).

Beacon Preparatory School, the grades 9-12 charter school I reported on a couple of years ago that was related to Beacon Academy, is now connected with Seven Hills Classical Academy charter school in Bloomington.

Beacon Academy's director, Jordan Ford, is a friend of mine. He has extensive experience as a public school teacher and curriculum director, and as a private school principal. Ford has the heart for kids and learning that you would want in your child's or grandchild's principal. Beacon's detailed 2007 state report card is available on the Minnesota Department of Education web site.

The state of integrated math at Wayzata High School

Last week I attended an open forum, conducted by the PTSO, to hear about Wayzata High School's integrated math program. My son is a freshman at Wayzata, who is taking the "regular" integrated track, based on the Core Plus Mathematics Project (CPMP) from Western Michigan University. Wayzata also offers an accelerated or honors track, with the self-esteem neutral moniker of "X" track. In addition, Wayzata offers several other upper-level math courses, including calculus concepts (for those who complete the regular track), Adavanced Placement calculus (for those who complete the X track), Advanced Placement statistics, discrete mathematics, and intro to linear algebra and differential equations. For those who are hungry for more, actual college math is available via the PSEO program, notably the University of Minnesota Talented Youth Mathematics Program (UMTYMP, whimsically known as "UM-tee-ump").

The bulk of the meeting was led by Thomas Kilkelly, head of the math department. Kilkelly seems like a humble guy, but he helpfully started the forum by recounting the highlights of his curriculum vitae. I say helpful because knowing that Kilkelly is apparently one of the top math educators in the country (certainly in the state of Minnesota) put the evening and Wayzata High School's math program in context.

Kilkelly is a mathematician with a teaching degree, rather than a teacher with a few math credits. He also has a couple of years experience at 3M as a chemical engineer, a job he left when he realized how much he wanted to teach math. Since then, he has led the school's Math League teams to championship levels, traveled to Russia to exchange teaching techniques, and grew his department from ten to the current twenty-seven teachers just to meet the student demand for more math classes.

There were roughly forty parents in attendance at the forum, some of whom were engineers and others accomplished in math either in college or in their current jobs. Some are clearly grooming their kids for not only college, but to follow previous Wayzata alums to some of the top science and engineering schools in the country. A show of hands revealed that a sizable majority had concerns about the third-year honors math, known as "3X" at Wayzata.

What is integrated math?

There was some confusion by parents over just what is integrated math. Two things distinguish the integrated math curriculum: topics (algebra, trigonometry, geometry, statistics, etc.) that are revisited repeatedly ("spiraled") over four years, with more advanced material covered at each visit, and applications of mathematics to solve real-world problems (what we used to call "word problems").

There are strengths and weaknesses to this approach. For example, full mastery in any of the topics is not attained until graduation, but students are exposed to all of them early on. Due to the heavy emphasis on application, students rarely wonder, "Why would I want to know this in the real world?" Traditional math students may be better at solving equations but have a harder time figuring out how to solve a real-life problem from physics or finance.

The issue that I have always had with integrated math relates to how social studies are "integrated" into the math curriculum. When a political agenda finds its way into the word problems, is it real-world education or indoctrination? This also can be an issue in other subject areas, to varying degrees.

Curriculum and instruction

Kilkelly cautioned parents to understand the distinction between curriculum and pedagogy (or instruction). Most of the parents seemed to accept, if skeptically, the K-12 integrated math curricula used in the district, but had a tougher time with teaching that seems to skew too far toward constructivism and away from instructivism.

A simple definition of constructivism is where the teacher assigns students a set of problems without presenting the classic algorithm and examples, and leaves them to figure out how to solve the problems. A simple definition of instructivism (also known as direct instruction) is where the teacher, well, teaches a concept with examples, then assigns a set or problems based on the instruction.

Many of the 3X parents in attendance complained that their students were not getting enough instruction; in fact, they are already anticipating that their students will be behind the curve, so to speak, next year in the 4X class.

Technology

There is a debate about the use of calculators in lower grades, but the use of graphing calculators at the high school level seems to have enabled a much higher level of math learning than was possible in the era of graph paper and slide rules (although graph paper, slide rules, and brains were enough to get us to the moon and back several times). Kilkelly asserted that the use of these devices dovetails into the integrated curricula by enabling students to focus on applications and problem solving skills, rather than spending that time counting squares on graph paper.

The proof is in the pudding

There was some discussion about the survey of Wayzata graduates enrolled in colleges and universities, which asked about their college-level math experiences. I summarized the results of this survey on this blog, in "Integrated math: unloved, but is it working?" The study revealed that while integrated math was not popular among Wayzata grads, most reported good grades in their freshman math classes. There was also some discussion about a large group of freshmen from Wayzata (and other high schools) at Winona State University who were routed to a remedial math course after taking an incoming placement exam.

Integrated math is still controversial, but most parents aren't going to start a blog when their kids hit kindergarten and be activists for math education until they're in high school (ahem); they just want what's best for their child. The bottom line for parents seems to be to do what my fellow parents are doing: pay attention to your child's coursework and homework, and be an active partner with the teachers in your child's performance. Learn as much as you can about your child's curriculum and how older siblings of your child's peers are faring in their freshman math courses.

Longer term, if you are concerned enough about our country's leadership in science, technology, finance, economics, and other math-related areas, please participate in your district's curriculum review cycle, and engage your school board and the state (which sets academic standards) about math curriculum.

Further parent-oriented information about math instruction:

NYC HOLD National (Honest Open Logical Decisions on Mathematics Education Reform)

Mathematically Correct

Where's the Math?

Illinois Loop

If you have had any contact with secondary math education (especially in the Wayzata Public Schools), as a student, parent, teacher, administrator, or post-secondary math department faculty, I and my readers would appreciate your comments in the comments section.

Texas pulls funding from Everyday Mathematics curriculum

The State of Texas has pulled its funding for the third grade unit of the integrated math curriculum Everyday Mathematics (the University of Chicago School Mathematics Program, a.k.a. "Chicago Math," or just "fuzzy math"). The state board of education charged that the program leaves Texas public school graduates "unprepared" for college math.

As The New York Sun newspaper reported, "While supporters of Everyday Math applaud it and other so-called progressive programs for their emphasis on problem-solving and group work, opponents charge that the best way to teach math is still through rote memorization of facts, calling anything else 'fuzzy math.' A recent entry by the federal Department of Education into the debate cleared up little, judging Everyday Math more effective than some more traditional programs but calling its impact still just 'potentially' positive."

Texas public schools can still receive funding for the other grade units in the grades 1-5 series, or even use local funding to purchase the third grade Everyday Math unit. But some anticipate that most Texas schools will choose another curriculum rather than spend the extra money, or fill in with another curriculum just for the third grade.

According to The New York Sun, the Texas decision has national implications:

Since Texas is one of the country's largest buyers of educational textbooks, the advocates said its decision could force textbook publishers and school districts to rethink their position in the battle.

"What happens in Texas has ramifications for the whole country," a longtime Texas activist for traditional curricula, Donna Garner, said. "It's a huge movement."

Merry Christmas from Scholar the Owl

Thanks to all of you who read Scholar's Notebook now and then, subscribe to our RSS feed, or just find us by entering "integrated math" into Google. I have gone from continual blogging during the Profile of Learning repeal battle with my friends at EdWatch (who are still doing yeoman's work for freedom, by the way), to joining Cheri Pierson Yecke in the academic standards battle, to raising awareness about integrated math. Now other projects and raising teenage children has taken more of my time, but I am no less committed to knowledge-based curricula and local control of education than I was on day 1.

Through it all, I have learned a lot from many of you smart, good people who are so selflessly dedicated to preserving this country's founding principles of freedom. You are the bedrock of our nation.

Although my posts have been infrequent, I will continue to blog at this location until further notice, as well as on "my other blog," North Star Liberty, and operate my old Minnesota Education Reform News web site. Keep the faith, have yourself a merry little Christmas, and have a happy 2008.

Matt Abe, a.k.a., Scholar the Owl

Radical Math: like "integrated math" on, well, we're not sure what they're smoking

At last, truth in advertising from the integrated math crowd.

According to the movement's web site, "Radical Math Teachers was launched in April 2006 by Jonathan Osler who teaches Math and Community Organizing at El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice (www.elpuente.us), a public high school in Brooklyn, NY.

"Radical Math Teachers are educators who work to integrate issues of political, economic, and social justice into our math classes, and we seek to inspire and support other educators to do the same."

Fox News reported:

DAVID MILLER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: ...Sample lessons posted on a Radical Math Website for teachers suggests the following assignments: Calculating the average number of casualties in Iraq, computing baseball stats to determine if all star voting is tainted by racism, and exploring how much tax money is spent on government agencies, including 30 percent for the military. Seattle high school teacher Larry Steele says "Radical Math" is an effective way to teach kids not only arithmetic but also how to make important decisions in their lives.

LARRY STEELE, HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER: We look at both sides. I mean, how do you feel about wearing shoes that were probably made by a person who makes a dollar a day? Do you feel OK about that?

MILLER: Critics of "Radical math" say the program unfairly imposes left-wing values on students.

SOL STERN, MANHATTAN INSTITUTE: A social justice agenda, meaning a conclusion that America is a racist country, America is an exploitative country, America is an imperialist country, and that our capitalist system is per se unjust.

I don't imagine you'd complain about Radical Math much if you were already sending your child to an Academy of Peace and Justice and enrolling her in Community Organizing classes. You probably think that mathematics is nothing more than a social construct meant to perpetuate the economic and social differences in our society.

But for the rest of us, if a group of Radical Math Teachers attempts to bring this far-left brand of integrated math to your school district, be prepared to loudly resist any attempts to steer math education any farther away from math than it already is. As the Radical Math Teachers already know, the way math is taught — or not taught — today will change the future of our country for years to come.

Was choice of Everyday Math predetermined?

The St. Michael-Albertville Schools (STMA) are currently in Year 1 of a several-year long curriculum review cycle for their math curriculum. As in many school districts, the process attempts to bring the various stakeholders together (teachers, the curriculum director, parents) to look at the current curriculum, assess needs, and select a new curriculum (often the latest edition of the current product).

So are these curriculum reviews merely an exercise to endorse a predetermined outcome? Or is there genuine openness to new ideas?

While we all assume that everyone has the best interests of education and the community at heart, once you get involved in one of these processes as a parent or community member outside the "educracy," you may wonder if your voice is making a difference. I think it all depends on who's at the top. When I sat on the Minnesota Academic Standards Committee for Social Studies, I knew that then-Education Commissioner Cheri Pierson Yecke did her best to ensure that all stakeholders, the entire state actually, had a say in our work. No one claimed that our final product was perfect, but a continual review cycle at least provides the opportunity for continual improvements.

A Scholar's Notebook reader on the STMA math curriculum review committee, Jill Schwarz, shared her impressions of the process in a letter to the editor of her local newspaper, the Crow River News:

A few things regarding the choosing of Everyday Math have not been addressed in any official documents for the public, including school board minutes, committee meeting minutes, etc. I will try to address some of them, and give you the parent view. There were two parents — I am one of them — who dedicated a great deal of volunteer time to attending meetings and pouring over information and materials in hopes of having an impact on what math is chosen for the elementary students at STMA.

After all of the many vendor presentations and additional meetings following these presentations in the spring, comments were make that convinced us both that most if not all of the teachers on the committee were never intending to consider any other curriculum and that the much celebrated "parent involvement" in curriculum choosing was convenient window dressing.

The other parent wisely formally resigned, and I foolishly stayed on. I had already compromised, as I am a strong supporter of traditional math, Saxon Math in particular. There was a compromise curriculum, called SRA Real Math, that the other parent and I mistakenly believed would bridge the gap between what the parents and teachers/administrators wanted. SRA blends the reform math (lots of real world word problems, for instance) and parent friendly aspects like using common math language and problem solving techniques that all parents had to learn in school themselves. There are many more problems to work towards mastery, the basic facts are integrated instead of how we have to add that in with Everyday Math, calculator use is much less, and estimating is not overdone. Basically SRA seems to understand that some kids do learn by being creative and discovering, and group work is sometimes ok, without taking these ideas to the far extreme and forgetting that repetition and drilling and basic facts are just as important to reach all of the kids.

I was thrilled to discover a program that used only one method for solving long division for instance, and that it's the method we all already know and can teach our kids if they need help. I was thinking "hooray — no more parent workshop meetings in the evenings to teach us how to help our kids with their homework!" However, this hope was soon dashed. All of the arguing and suggesting and discussing brought us right back where we started — with the choice that was already made. The new edition of Everyday Math has become more teacher friendly but sadly we are all going to be getting parent letters to read and save so we have a clue as to what our K-5th grade kids are doing in math. It will inform us as to why in the world our kids are running around the house counting clocks (so they can discover that clocks are in the real world) and cutting and gluing pictures of foods (to realize that prices are in the real world)...these are not real math activities.

The irony is, the MCAs are written according to the state standards, which are rumored to be moving away from this reform math and more to the middle...like SRA Real Math. So get that tutor company phone number handy, it's going to be another booming 7 years for them. Or choose to homeschool like I plan to do. Better yet, make a fuss with the school board, send them your stories and evidences you can find. Perhaps for probably the first time ever the pilot year for EM can be it's last year in a district.

I will never know if it would have made a difference to attend the school board meeting where this decision was accepted by the board. I felt is was more important to get my son to the doctor and on meds for possible pneumonia right away, and I could not do both that night. He is now well, but the state of math in our district is far from it.

Integrated Math: An Inconvenient Truth

Parents and educators from Washington state's Where's the Math? have produced a wonderful 15-minute video that shows why many parents and math educators believe that integrated math curricula like Chicago Math/Everyday Mathematics is a fundamentally flawed curriculum, in spite of what you might be hearing from your child's teacher or district curriculum and instruction people. The video is hosted by Seattle TV meteorologist M. J. McDermott.

If your eyes glaze over at the discussions of integrated math on this blog or elsewhere, check out the video. McDermott gives the whiteboard talk with examples that you might find yourself wishing someone had presented at your school's curriculum night.