Restore Tradition of Excellence in K-8 Math Education in Ridgewood

  • Author:
    n/a
  • Send To:
    The Board of Education and Superintendent of the Ridgewood Public School System
  • Sponsored By:
    Concerned Parents' Math Committee
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For more than a decade, mathematics programs across the country have been under reform from within the educational system. These reforms are based upon standards not widely accepted by the very individuals who use, advance, teach, and rely upon mathematics for their careers. Mathematicians, university professors, engineers, and scientists have derided reform math programs for abandoning the foundations of mathematics. Investigations in Number, Data, & Space (TERC), Everyday Math, and Connected Math Program 2 are all members of the reform math group. All are in use to varying degrees within our school district, within individual schools, and within individual classrooms.

    These programs do not provide ...
  • ... for those children who need logical sequencing of topics.
  • ... for those children who are more mathematical than verbal in their development.
  • ... for those children who need to work from the building blocks of a topic before transitioning to the abstract and larger picture.
  • ... for those children who gain confidence from the how in mathematics and are therefore willing to undertake the process of learning the why.
  • ... for those children who can advance on to further mathematical topics at a pace greater than allowed by the group and discovery model.
  • ... for those children who need direct guidance to learn clear & concise standard strategies for problem solving & critical mathematical thinking.

It is time to provide a choice in mathematics education for these children. Only then is our public education system truly for all.
    The undersigned
  • ... support the continued excellence from our dedicated educational staff.
  • ... declare a vote of no confidence in the following reform materials to prepare our children for the 21st century; TERC or Investigations in Number, Data, & Space (1st, 2nd Editions), Everyday Math, Trailblazers, Connected Mathematics Program, Connected Mathematics Program II, and Integrated Math (Core-Plus).
  • ... request the reform math materials not be used as the source for our childrens mathematics education.
  • ... advocate for the benefit of our children to have a district wide curriculum for grades K-8 that is based upon world class guidelines, contains clear, concise, and substantive mathematical content per grade level, and requires consistent usage of textbooks, workbooks, and study plans across all of our schools (e.g, Saxon Math, Houghton Mifflin, Singapore Math ).
  • ... seek to have a cooperative and open environment, inclusive of parents, restored to our public school system.
  • ... request the Board of Education to intervene on the behalf of parents and taxpayers and return accountability of this adminstration back to the parents and taxpayers.

Math programs do exist that have well designed materials for student and parents, that do utilize the powerful language and vocabulary of mathematics, that require computational fluency and understanding of the underlying mathematical ideas and principles, that recognize these parts are all intertwined in the study of mathematics, and that are not on the bleeding edge of the "math wars" like TERC, Everyday Math, and Connected Math Program 2.