Posted on 10/30/2003 4:13:10 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
A school system study, released quietly in February, showed that students in a small mathematics pilot program did significantly better than their peers who were not in the program.
The study examined the second year of student performance in four elementary schools that used the Singapore Math program during the 2001-2002 school year. The four elementary schools were College Gardens in Rockville, Charles Drew in Silver Spring, Highland View in Silver Spring and Woodfield in Gaithersburg.
Singapore Math was developed by the government of that southeast Asian country. It became popular in the United States after students in Singapore ranked first in international comparisons of mathematical abilities in 1995 and 1999.
The Singapore Math curriculum relies heavily on helping students master basic math facts before moving on to more theoretical concepts. Many critics of the county's regular mathematics curriculum have faulted it for "being a mile wide and an inch deep" -- trying to teach too many things without giving students a solid foundation.
County researchers compared the four elementary schools using Singapore Math with schools that did not have the program. The study used school system tests and the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills. It also compared which middle school mathematics courses students enrolled in after two years of Singapore Math.
The study's authors were unambiguous about the success of Singapore Math.
"The results from Year 2 implementation of the quarterly assessments mirror the trends seen in Year 1 implementation. For every assessment, at every grade level, students in the Singapore Math pilot schools performed significantly higher" than schools that did not have the program, the report states.
The Singapore Math schools also scored higher, generally, on the CTBS mathematics and mathematics computation tests, the report states.
And the two schools that implemented the Singapore program more fully scored higher in both areas than the other two schools using the curriculum, according to the study.
(Excerpt) Read more at gazette.net ...
No, really? What a concept! Of course we can't have something like that going on in OUR schools ...
You'd think its future would be rosy, not hazy
Bump!
CW, There is a GOOD chance that these schools are attended by a majority of "disadvantaged" {they get lunch money} students. But, not necessarily. Nancy Grasmick's {State School Superintendant} teams have shut down any and all programs that succeed in actually teaching.
Maryland was one of the first systems to ENCOURAGE the use of calculators in the first grades. Now, my niece {in high school} says of the functional test she must pass to recieve a diploma, "If they would allow me to use a calculator, I could pass the stupid test." She has been "trained" well. Peace and love, George.
Despite high praise from the study's authors, the program faces an uncertain future in the county. The school system will not pay for the materials or teacher training after this year, forcing schools to pay for those things out of their own budgets.
"We'll always teach the elements of Singapore Math," said Eileen Macfarlane, principal of Drew Elementary School.
Drew Elementary dropped the Singapore Math program last year because the county's new curriculum is more aligned with the state tests, Macfarlane said.***
FWIW, the high-end programs such as Huntington and Sylvan use this approach. They start students of any age where ever there is a skill weakness, fill in that skill, demand perfection of the basics, then move on.
The junk preferred in classroom now puts kids in sharing, team experiences that integrate all of the skills they haven't mastered, just so they can get a passing grade on a test and learn how to relate to others in a team environment. Most aren't all that proficient; they just know what they're supposed to fill in, and to rely on a consensus rather than individual thought.
Maybe the teachers like it this was because it's all procedural, with lots of minute planning but very little independent curriculum development.
They learn facts in Singapore?
What a backward place!
I do in every election, without exception. We need to get others to adopt the philosophy of reflexively rejecting any proposal from anyone who want's to do anything "...for the children."
I thought that was the definition of education.
Cram Schools ***For the second year, Shirley's sons are attending a Korean cram school in Queens. Each afternoon, she and the boys ride the subway to a storefront. There, the boys, along with 45 other students, study for three hours with certified math, English and science teachers. On Saturday mornings, they make the trip again. The boys study for four more hours.
To solve students' math problems, eucators go to school - Boosting teacher skills seen as key*** The report also recommends that colleges and universities boost their math requirements for education majors. Many schools require no more than a single math course for future teachers. ``It's a vicious cycle,'' Fortmann said. ``People don't learn math very well in school, they avoid math in college, and the cycle continues. What we're hoping to do here is break the cycle.'' ***
Seriously. Everyone knows that mastery is much less important than feeling good about yourself, and how are they ever going to boost their students' self-esteem with a program like that?
Music to my ears.
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