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November 26, 2012

Mathematics Education in Today's News

Teaching & Learning

Ways to incorporate math into children's lives
Websites such as Bedtime Math, Let's Play Math, Living Math and Math for Love are changing the way parents and teachers support math education, Bonnie Rochman writes. In this article, she highlights Bedtime Math, which provides daily math lessons to include in children's bedtime routines. The website's founder believes this practice reinforces not just lessons learned in school, but the importance of math and STEM education -- science, technology, engineering and math -- as a whole. Time.com/Family Matters (11/21)

Wash. district creates data system to find at-risk students early
Spokane Public Schools in Washington has developed its own data-analysis system. Called the Early Warning System, it uses students' attendance, discipline referrals and assessment scores to identify students, as early as elementary school, who are at risk for dropping out. Once students are flagged, teachers can use the data to offer appropriate interventions, such as extra assistance in reading or math, to help bring students' skills up to grade level. The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.) (free content) (11/23)

Curriculum

New teaching style boosts Calif. school's math scores
School officials in the Wiseburn School District in California say the number of students showing proficiency in algebra has more than doubled at Dana Middle School. They credit the school's success to its unique approach to teaching, which includes more active learning and less lecturing. Daily Breeze (Torrance, Calif.) (11/22)

Standards

What role do basic skill drills play in today's math education?
The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics generally call for a shift away from rote memorization and instead extol higher-level math understanding, writes economics teacher Mary McConnell. She suggests that drilling students in basic math skills has a place alongside lessons that help students understand why their answers are correct. The Deseret News (Salt Lake City)/Educating Ourselves blog (11/25)

STEM

Colo. collaborative encourages girls to study STEM
Officials leading University of Colorado's statewide initiative Colorado Collaborative for Girls in STEM hope the program will help to close the gender gap in science, technology, engineering and math. The program encourages STEM learning in earlier grades and seeks buy-in from K-12 counselors who can educate girls about opportunities in STEM fields. Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.) (11/24)

Policy & Legislation

Chicago teachers go off script to design lesson plans
The new contract agreed to by Chicago's public-school teachers includes more flexibility for them to design classroom lessons -- reversing a previous rule that in some cases required them to adhere to a template. Teachers now are writing their own lesson plans, and sharing them with their principals and sometimes the whole school. "The way my mind works, having a particular format, having to have a regulated format, would feel like it's too mundane, too micromanaged," said social studies teacher Erik Young. Chicago Sun-Times (11/24)

School-choice debate in Tenn. expands to public schools
The Tennessean (Nashville)(tiered subscription model) (11/26)

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