Resources...
Good Web Sites
for Parents

www.goaline.org
Standards Work,
202-835-2000

This web site offers an eight step process for creating and attaining high academic standards in schools

This use of Saxon textbooks, now spanning from kindergarten through calculus and including physics, has resulted in documented success from higher scores on standardized tests to increased enrollment in higher level mathematics and science courses. Teachers have reported increased confidence and enthusiasm for mathematics following the use of the Saxon program.

Parents Raising Educational Standards in Schools (PRESS) is a group that provides a blueprint for effective parent-initiated school reform.

Looking At Your Child’s Math Program

In recent years children’s achievement in math has suffered due to low expectations and an alarming tendency in today’s instructional programs to expose children to too many topics in a shallow and repetitive way.  Many children are struggling in math, quite simply, because they are not being taught math well.  Instead, many textbooks emphasize visualizing math concepts, liberal use of calculators and group work over basic skills, formulas, and teacher-led instruction.  For example, rather than teach students how to figure the area of a circle or how to multiply fractions explicitly, teachers are encouraged to “allow students to bump into mathematics that is embedded in [word problems] as they work in pairs or groups.”  Your child could spend a lot of time on this sort of math before he bumps into the answer.

        One parent in Lake Oswego, Oregon, a community considered awash in great schools, tells of the day his daughter was sent home with a pack of flash cards. At first this father was thrilled that the school was emphasizing the importance of drilling.  But then he read the note which said, “Please practice with your child every night. We will not be covering this material in school.”  Notes and remarks like this are not unusual, and often come from teacher’s manuals designed by book companies.  The anxiety many parents are feeling today over children who don’t seem to grasp basic math concepts is often attributed to the child’s failings, not the math program.  Research is beginning to show the opposite – that our children are failing precisely because of bad programs or ineffective teaching methods.

        Urged on by parent outrage at some programs and a precipitous decline in student achievement, California recently adopted explicit math standards that make it difficult for schools not to teach math well.  For example, California students by the end of fifth grade should be able to do long division with multiple-digit divisors and to represent decimals, fractions, and mixed numbers on a number line.  By the end of seventh grade they should graph functions, use the Pythagorean theorem, and evaluate algebraic expressions.

        California’s standards ensure children are prepared for algebra instruction in the eighth grade.  Children who take algebra before high school score higher on the SAT and are admitted to selective colleges more often.  Postponing algebra until high school greatly decreases a child’s chances of reaching calculus in high school.  Although few American high school students take calculus, it is a common expectation for their peers in other developed nations.

        Good academic standards represent the first step to forcing schools to be accountable and to choose programs wisely.  Ensuring the delivery of good instructional programs also means that all children are more likely to be taught math well.  Poor children, who can succeed in math as well as anyone else, are often further disadvantaged because they’re offered less rigorous material.  Children in Lithuania, Slovenia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Italy (not to mention Japan, Germany, France and Russia) continually outperform our children on international math exams.  They all learn high-level math.  Those countries are home to higher poverty rates than the U.S. and demonstrate that there is no excuse for leaving children mathematically challenged. How can you make sure math programs work in your school?  Here are some tips from those who have done it and succeeded:

        Identify the book and program in use.  Ask for research proving its effectiveness.  Why was it chosen by the school or district?  When is the next review of math books and can you assist in the deliberations?

        How often is math taught?  Every day is not too much.  Is math class primarily games?  Is it drill and practice?  Are new concepts introduced before the old ones are learned?

        What is the goal of the homework?  Some schools send home lessons that are brand new and expect parents to recall third grade math.  Homework should be review and practice.

        When you have a full picture of the program, the approach and the assessment your school uses, do some independent research and comparison.  View California’s standards on Mathematics on-line, find other resources on the Center for Education Reform's Standards and Curriculum Page, and check out the other great material on the websites listed in the resource box to the left.

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