The Latest in Amazing Tidbits

A group of mathematics educators, commisioned in 2000 to recommend policy changes in the teaching of math instruction across the state of Maryland, has issued its report. The Maryland Mathematics Commission, chaired by former NCTM head Francis "Skip" Fennell, has made twenty-four recommendations so that all elementary, middle, and high schools rearrange their priorities to make math a main focus, just as these schools have done for reading. Special teaching certificates were recommended for elementary and middle school teachers, and students should receive instruction daily. The following subjects' fundamentals should be stressed in elementary and middle schools: patterns, algebra, geometry, measurement, probability, and statistics. Teachers statewide would need to pass six math college units, a requirement already in place in Montgomery County. . . .

Also in Maryland, the MSPAP made its last appearance this spring. Administered to second, fifth, and eighth graders annually, the tests had been widely considered to have some of the more innovative open-ended questions of any standardized test in the country. But with open-ended questions came controversy in assessment, and many teachers involved with the assessment last summer voiced their displeasure. The result is Maryland will now join the parade of states with boring, fact-oriented standardized tests. . . .

On the textbook front, Fairfax County, here in northern Virginia, by a narrow margin approved a contoversial series known as "Everyday Math." Many private schools in the D.C. area have had trouble explaining and clarifying the goals and objectives of the series, as parents fear that their children will miss out on the basics. A minority of Fairfax School Board members, mostly Republicans, support John Saxon's series of books, which are much easier for parents and less experienced educators to understand. A compromise may be in order, and a study may be launched to assess each series' performance on the Virginia statewide tests. If that is the criterion, then the Saxon books will win! Click here for some background about Maryland and Virgina statewide tests.

(Source: Washington Post)