About two weeks ago, a teacher and friend in the Santa Barbara schools telephoned me to ask if I would be interested in talking to the Board of Education at their 26 September meeting. The meeting was on the MathLand curriculum, and she hoped I would speak in its defense. I explained that I had very mixed feelings about this curriculum, but would be very interested in going just as an observer, to learn what I could. I had looked through some of the material earlier in UCSB's curriculum library and found parts of it disturbing. As Chair of the UCSB Mathematics Department and the father of a high school student, I have a strong professional and personal interest in our schools making sound curricular decisions.
I did go to the meeting, and I must say that I was deeply shocked, both as an educator and as a citizen. Let me explain:
The discussion began with an historical account by two of my colleagues from the Mathematics Department. They explained the process by which MathLand was adopted. I listened closely for their strong endorsement of the materials, but didn't hear it - the closest they came was an assertion that, when the state focussed on particular choices, MathLand's material most closely fit the legal mandate of the California Framework.
This was followed by someone with the title of Director, Elementary Curriculum. I was appalled. Her presentation consisted of a description of a complicated and murky algorithm (the "Russian peasants' algorithm") for calculating 13 x 18 = 234. By cutting and pasting various strips of paper in various places she hoped to make clear why this algorithm (involving 3 divisions, 3 multiplications, a cancellation and then an addition of three numbers) worked. I eventually figured out what the point was, but I have a Ph. D. in mathematics. Most of the audience only regarded it with a sort of amused bafflement. Exactly the attitude which, in parents, is one the deepest problems in mathematics education.
This was not some sort of "enrichment exercise". Astonishing but true --MathLand does not even mention to its students the standard method of doing multiplication. This vastly superior algorithm (the one we were taught as children) requires, for the above problem, just two multiplications and an addition of two numbers. It is an algorithm whose underlying mathematical content is crystal clear, far more so than that of the "Russian peasant". Yet it seems to appear only once in the MathLand curriculum: a fictional sixth grade student uses it incorrectly and says it was something she learned "last year". Before MathLand, apparently, since it's not in their fifth grade material either. Skipping something so beautiful and basic will handicap MathLand victims for the rest of their lives.
Following the curriculum czar's weird presentation a few pleasant and well-intentioned teachers presented some testimonials. One showed a pretty rainbow picture, apparently created by MathLand's publishers, about how the curriculum is organized. She mentioned that, to try to make up for the defects of the curriculum, the District had bought even more material ("TuneUps II") from its publisher. Another pair of teachers showed a few cute projects students had done and added that there were some students who really have taken to this curriculum. From this we can conclude only that there are a few teachers who have a few students who have thrived in MathLand.
At this point public comment was welcomed, and at the top of the list was Prof. Noel, chair of QED. I'd never met nor communicated with Prof. Noel, but admired him instantly. Though he had not been invited, and was restricted to roughly 10% of the time spent by MathLand's meandering defenders, he presented the only hard data I saw all night. It was disturbing in the extreme, and confirms his and QED's predictions precisely.
As a mathematician I owe the public the information that this curriculum (and its analogues) are in fact deeply controversial among mathematicians.
As a citizen I feel I have the right to ask: Why was Dr. Noel not invited? His record of interest and seriousness on the issue is well-known and apparently appreciated by a large sector of the community.
Finally, as an educator, I offer the following advice: UCSB has been invigorated by the regular review of every department by outsiders. What is needed in the school district is a curriculum review by a panel not tied to the California 1992 Framework. Ray Franco has suggested something like this. Let's do it.
Martin Scharlemann, Chair
Mathematics Department
Univ. of California, Santa Barbara
MathLand was adopted for Department of Defense Dependent Schools (DoDDS) overseas last year. (Korea, Japan, Germany etc) Parents are very upset about their children's growing ignorance in math skills despite A+ grades. As one parent said bluntly, "Last year in MathLand my son learned nothing. It was a complete waste. I want to send the bill to the DoD for his tutoring when we go back to the states." Another has hired a local tutor when her son dropped from the 94th percentile in math to the 40th in one year. There is little quality homework associated with MathLAnds so the kids not only don't learn here but loose what knowledge they came with. Kids in the upper elementary grades are bored. The curriculum moves slow and is about a year behind from where many student were before they came here. Teachers were given very little training and many are frankly worried about what the kids are missing. Last year the teachers were not allowed to supplement and this year they are restricted to suppplementing twenty percent of the time. This twenty percent came in response to outcries from the parents.
Parents have been advised by the curriculum czars in Washington DC that we must wait three years to see results. We all feel our children are guinea pigs in a bad experiment. I don't know if DOD would launch a weapon system so untested!!! Additionally, we have been told to rest assured the rest of the country is headed this way and everyone fully supports the NCTM pedagogy. Those of us who have found your site are lucky indeed.
I do feel Mathland has some engaging activites that could supplement a more rigorous traditonal approach. Additionally, it will fufill the NCTM's goal of "appreciating math" because so few will actually be able to do it in the future. Salaries of those with mathematical ability ought to rise as the laws of supply and demand take over.
Who will be running DOD's research, engineering and testing facilites in the future? Who will they send to the Naval Postgraduate School or the Air Force Institute of Technology? Will the service academies have to be "dumbed down" in the future to accomodate the new new math?
Parents who are transferring overseas should bring appropriate materials to supplement their children. People who came over unaware of the current problems are contacting family and friends for texts and other materials. There are a few tutors available but it depends on your location.
Unlike stateside schools, we do not have an elected school board that we can vote out. Our schools are run out of Washington D.C. Those of you living in local communities should treasure your vote and vote wisely.
Thanks so much for the information on Mathland. I know I haven't really voiced my opinion but I am very appreciative of all the efforts on the behalf of anti-reform. I have never been so convinced of the dangers of some reform efforts since living through the experiences of my daughter XXXXX in Kindergarden and first grade.
Here are a couple of examples of the kind of things that have upset me:
1) XXXXX brought home a paper titled "TEST". She was to continue various patterns of colored squares. The first problem was
RED YELLOW REDXXXXX's response was to follow this with:
RED YELLOW RED RED YELLOW REDThis was marked wrong and she was given a low grade on the paper. The teacher was looking for the response:
RED YELLOW RED YELLOW RED YELLOW REDAside from the issue of calling this a test and assigning it a grade (this was in Kindergarden) it raised a concern which has since been further substantiated. That is, regardless of the possible merits of MATHLAND assignments such as this, it is unlikely that teachers at this level have the conceptual maturity to implement it.
I discussed this problem with the teacher and explained to her at length why XXXXX's response was correct and why many other responses are possible. The teacher, while friendly, refused to acknowledge any significance in this matter and ended the discussion by saying, "The only pattern we've discussed so far is ABAB, so she couldn't have known of any others".
2) XXXXX brought home another math paper on which she had been given the lowest grade possible with a comment that indicated she was in dire need of help. Here's the problem:
The teacher places two piles of blocks in front of her. One pile contains five small green triangles and the other pile contains five larger yellow hexagons. The teacher reads the following sentence without deviation or clarification: "A student claims that there are more yellow blocks than green blocks. What would you say to that student?" The teacher then writes down verbatim what the student says. XXXXX said: "There are 1-2-3-4-5 green and there are 1-2-3-4-5 yellow, but the yellow are more". The teacher then tries to match the students response to a list of possible responses provided in the MATHLAND package.
Here again I was impressed by the inadequacy of the teacher to do anything more than follow a recipe she had been given. When I questioned XXXXX it was clear she understood the difference between number and size. The problem was one of language. She didn't understand that "more" in this context was a reference to number. This brings up another concern. That is, a child may not have the sophistication in language to accurately express concepts that they have internalized (especially, if noone helps them to clarify).
What worries me most of all is the attitude XXXXX is already developing toward math. That is that math is a very nebulous subject (fuzzy, I think is the right word) where she usually does not guess correctly what the teacher is thinking and is therefore marked down. At home we play math games involving addition and subtraction facts and identification of shapes. She loves these games and it is easy to see how mastery of these provide a natural basis for confidence and self-esteem (She's learning something too).
In trying to decide what to do I am reminded of the Jehovah's Witnesses that I went to school with who were excused from saying the pledge of allegiance based on their religion. I have thought of asking that XXXXX be excused from MATHLAND on the grounds that we don't believe in it. I suppose, however, I'll take a calmer approach for the moment and do a little research. So thanks again for the information. I'm sure it will be very helpful.
XXXXX's Father
I appreciate all that you have done to provide us parents with valuable information. Here in (Northern California) we're using Mathland so I especially appreciate seeing all the information on Mathland. I could go on and on forever about my concerns over this program. To this date (two months in to school), the teacher, principal, Director of Curriculum, District Math Mentor and Superintendant have not been willing to answer my questions regarding the math curriculum. A sample of questions sent in writing to my daughter's teacher are as follows. I asked that he be VERY specific in answering my questions. These were his written responses:
Question: What will you base my child's math report card grades on? How much of her grade will be based on homework, group work, Mathland materials, tests (if any), subjective assessment, supplemental materials (if any), math journals, Arithmetwist books, etc?
Answer: Performance on a variety of experiences, both in class and at home. A rubric is used for many of the in class tasks. Basic facts quizzes are graded on % correct. Some of the tasks are to be brought home, others go into the students portfolio to be shared at parent conferences (Note: as of the date of this letter, there was nothing in my child's portfolio to show me what she was doing in class). Ongoing student observation, journal responses and teacher anecdotal notes are also considered in the grading process.
Question: What are you doing to supplement the Mathland curriculum? (Note: Our district has agreed that this program needs to be supplemented, but no program is in place to ensure that it is. It's up to each teacher to decide whether or not they will supplement the program)
Answer: Reviewing, testing previously learned skills using teacher made worksheets. This involves whole group instruction followed by independent work. With respect for the "newness" of the Mathland material, I will be providing ongoing opportunities for all students to pursue mathematic skills in a manner that is more familiar to them.
Question: What percentage of the time has been spent and will be spent in the future teaching Mathland curriculum vs. supplemental materials? What percentage of the time will be devoted to direct teacher instruction (non-group work) with an emphasis on teaching the basic skills vs. you in the role of a "facilitator?"
Answer: Basic skills span the eight strands of Mathematics. Regardless of what mathematics program is considered, basic skills are found in all of the strands. The curriculum guide of the xxxxxxxxxx School District reflects the areas of emphasis for the fourth grade.
Question: What percentage of the time do children spend working on their own during math rather than in a group or partner setting?
Answer: 20-30%
Question: Is the work that is being sent home for homework being taught in class? (Note: This teacher's idea of supplementing the program is to send home basic skills worksheets for homework, but not teach the same in class) Why is the work that is being done in class not coming home?
Answer: Homework is sent home on Fridays. Much of the classroom work is kept in a portfolio to be reviewed at anytime (with parents and students) and shared at parent conferences. (Note: In the same letter asking these questions, I mentioned that we were concerned that after 8 weeks of school the only piece of paper in my daughter's portfolio was an assessment of a group activity. NOTHING to show us what she had learned in class!)
We asked in our letter for very specific reponses to our questions and feel that we got very evasive (at best!) responses. The only thing that appeared very clear was that my child was spending 70-80% of the time working in a group during math!
There are so many things about this program that have us upset
A parent in our district provided the school board and the Superintendant with an overwhelming amount of controversial information about Mathland and the Framework. The district choose to ignore it and went ahead and spent $xxxxxx to purchase Mathland materials. The saddest thing of all is that the Director of Curriculum for our district stated that they expect to see math scores drop the first one to two years under the Mathland program. As a parent, I feel this is unacceptable... to set my child up for failure.
Unfortunately, there are not many parents that are even aware that the math curriculum has changed. How can they be? The district has done nothing to alert them.
A final note: I have worked in my daughter's class one day a week, every week for the past four years. I was working in my daughter's class this year one day a week, during math time. Since I have expressed my concerns about the math curriculum, I have been asked by my daughter's teacher to no longer work in the class until "a workable solution to my concerns" can be reached. The teacher feels that my concerns about the math program are making him feel like he's "under the microscope" and that it's effecting his teaching. (The principal at the school supported his feelings.) If Mathland is such a wonderful program (the district obviously thought it must have been to justify spending money on it), then I would think that the teacher, principal and the district would encourage parents to be in the class (regardless of their feelings about the program) during math time.
My hope is that parents will take the time to evaluate Mathland for themselves. Thanks to your web site, there's plenty of information to help them evaluate whether or not they feel Mathland or any other Framework approved program is what they want for their child.