Issues, Challenges & Next Steps For All of Us

1. Issues, Challenges & Next StepsFor All of Us TEAM Math Conference TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY September 11, 2009 Francis (Skip) Fennell Professor of Education McDaniel College Westminster, MD & Past President National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

2. Remembering…

3. Congrats on all you do AND on the support for the Elementary Teacher Leadership Academy…

4. The Competitiveness Thing

5. THE COMPETITION THING

6. And from the Secretary… • “We must encourage students to take more advanced math and science classes. Employers today need workers with ‘pocket protector’ skills – creative problem solvers with strong math and science backgrounds.” Margaret Spellings, June 21, 2007 Nerds Rock!!

7. The Obama administration has made clear that it is putting its own stamp on education reform. That will mean a new name and image for a law that has grown unpopular with many teachers and suburban parents, even though it was enacted with bipartisan support in Congress. NCLB… Washington Post – June 23, 2009

8. From the Secretary… • Common Curriculum Standards • ARRA funds • Title I • Race to the top (coming soon) • STEM stuff is important. Secretary Arne Duncan Nerds STILL Rock!!!

9. Encouraging… • Highest scores ever – grade 4 mathematics • Highest scores ever – grade 8 mathematics • Increasingly diverse student population • Need to increase numbers reaching proficiency • NMAP and NAEP

10. But… • PISA Results • High School Graduation Rates • NAEP Grade 12 • TIMSS – Advanced • What about TIMSS? An all too silent concern!

11. What do we do with this??

12. And, of course…

13. No Child Left Behind Challenges • Meeting AYP • Highly Qualified Teachers • Getting • Keeping • Math – All students, every day • Equity • Special Education • Overemphasis on high stakes assessments. • Life does not come at you in multiple choice moments

14. And, from my sister…* Madaline Fennell, the Nebraska teacher of the year: Teachers are asking for, • fully funding education and assessment programs that are federally mandated; • language that addresses the special needs of students with disabilities, such as implementing state assessment systems that track the academic growth of individual students; • replacing penalties against failing schools with methods to enhance achievement; • multiple methods of assessment that evaluate a student's progress over the entire year, instead of just through standardized tests. Ms. Fennell said that while there are positive aspects to the law, it is also "fraught with numerous deficiencies." The expertise of teachers who have been chosen as the best of the best in their states, she said, can help lawmakers craft a better version of the No Child Left Behind Act. "Teachers need to be included in this reauthorization," she said. "Please, leave no teacher behind." AND when will this happen? * NOT

15. Why Focus and Coherence? • Long lists of state learning expectations • “Mile wide, inch deep” math curriculum • Identify the mathematics that should be the focus of instruction and student learning, preK-8 • Mobility • International Comparisons • National Curriculum Clamoring • National Math Advisory Panel Recommendation

16. 4th-Grade Learning Expectations by Content Strand Reys, et al., 2006 AND, you???

18. Proportional boxes to multiply… • Draw a rectangle to show 46 x 7 = 322 7 40 6 280 42 46 x 7 = (40 x 7) + (6 x 7) = 280 + 42 = 322 Navigations 3-5, Number and Operations, 2007

19. Curriculum Focal Points: Help is on the way… • Grade Band Books for Teacher Leaders (grade 3-5 is out, 6-8 soon, PreK-2) • Grade-by-grade Books for Teachers (grades 3-5 completed). • And, just what is NCTM doing about High School?

20. Beyond the Focal Points… • Focus on High School Mathematics: Reasoning and Proof • Topic Books: • Algebra • Geometry • Data Analysis and Probability Vote for this dude!!!!!!

21. And now what? • Common Core Curriculum • High School Mathematics • Guiding Principles for Mathematics Curriculum and Assessment • Math Forum – October 4-6; Reston, VA • Next Steps – Accept High School, move toward K-8; but what about assessment?

22. Coherence - Who cares? • Congress • Publishers • United States Department of Education • NSB • NSF • Parents • 37 of 42 state coordinators of mathematics… • Others… • And most importantly, TEACHERS care!

23. Communication Three Views!

24. Parents and Others… First, the media…

25. September 12, 2006 Arithmetic Problem New Report Urges Return to Basics in Teaching Math By JOHN HECHINGER Critics of ‘Fuzzy’ Methods Cheer Educators’ Findings; Drills Without Calculators The nation’s math teachers, on the front lines of a 17-year Curriculum war, are getting some new marching orders: Make sure students learn the basics.

26. April 13, 2000 Math Teachers Back Return Of Education in Basic Skills By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS In an important about-face, the nation's most influential group of mathematics teachers announced yesterday that it was recommending, in essence, that the arithmetic be put back into mathematics, urging teachers to emphasize the fundamentals of computation rather than focus on concepts and reasoning.

27. Education Panel Lays Out Truce In Math Wars Effort to Fix 'Broken' System Sets Targets for Each Grade, Avoids Taking Sides on Method By JOHN HECHINGERMarch 5, 2008; Page D1 A presidential panel, warning that a "broken" system of mathematics education threatens U.S. pre-eminence, says it has found the fix: A laserlike focus on the essentials. The National Mathematics Advisory Panel, appointed by President Bush in 2006, is expected to urge the nation's teachers to promote "quick and effortless" recall of arithmetic facts in early grades, mastery of fractions in middle school, and rigorous algebra courses in high school or even earlier. Targeting such key elements of math would mark a sharp departure from the diverse priorities that now govern teaching of the subject in U.S. public schools. "Without substantial and sustained changes to the educational system, the United States will relinquish its leadership in the twenty-first century," reads a draft of the final report, due to be released next week by the Department of Education These benchmarks mirror closely a September 2006 report by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, which many viewed as a turning point in the math wars because it recognized the importance of teaching the basics after the group for years had placed more emphasis on conceptual understanding. Francis Fennell, president of the math teachers group and a panel member, said the group's specific recommendations could help parents determine whether their kids are on the right track.

28. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Friday, March 14, 2008 Opening Monologue: 9:46-10:11 Jay Leno: “And a blue ribbon panel of educators put together by President Bush. President Bush put these guys together. He’s determined that other countries’ kids are better at math because we try to teach our kids too much. Huh. That’s the problem. We’re teaching them too much. Teach them less and they’ll learn more. In fact don’t teach them at all, they could grow up to be President of the United States. “

29. Children should master the basic facts of arithmetic that are essential components of fluency with paper-pencil and mental computation and with estimation. • It is important for children to learn the sequence of steps – and the reason for them – in the paper-and-pencil algorithms used widely in our culture. PreK-4 – Curriculum and Evaluation Standards, NCTM, 1989, p.47 Importance of Computational Fluency, NCTM, 2000, 32

30. More and better mathematics for all students This is an imperative for America’s competitiveness. Do the kids care that Singapore is #1?

31. And yet… • Important, but NOT for me • Parents are aware of the importance of math, but remain complacent • Students pay lip service to the importance of higher level math…

32. Only in America!!!!!

33. The World is Flat! • …math and science are the keys to innovation and power in today’s world, and American parents had better understand that the people who are eating their kids’ lunch in math are not resting on their laurels. Tom Friedman, 2005

34. Learning Processes • Engagement and sense of efficacy for Black and Hispanic students can be increased in mathematical learning contexts. • Teachers and other educational leaders should consistently help students and parents understand that an increased emphasis on the importance of effort is related to improved mathematics grades. • Effort Matters! Value this subject! A pox on the PT Conference from… 34

36. The Parent Conference from … Well, I was never good in math either? Tell me, when will my child ever use this mathematics? Effort matters – NMAP The cultural thing…

37. Outliers The 10,000 hour rule “Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.” Rice paddies and math tests

38. Emerging Issues • What algebra? When? • Early childhood mathematics education • Intervention • Elementary Mathematics Specialists • Special Needs: ELL and Special Education • Urban-specific Needs • High School and College articulation • And one of my own…

39. nctm.org/intervention.aspx

40. We NeedElementary SchoolMathematics SpecialistsNOW! NCTM News Bulletin

41. mathspecialists.org

42. Learning As I Go… Topic: 4th Grade Division • 10 years classroom experience in 2nd grade • 4th grade teacher came to me to learn about division strategies/meaning/best practices • 2+ days of researching Van deWalle, TCM, Randy Charles, other MRT’s, other resources, etc. • Created chart of division example problems, types of problems and manipulative ideas • Shared with grade 4 PLC

43. Give Them What They NeedWrapped in What They Want I was invited by a principal to work with a veteran staff that was resistant to change and somewhat antiquated in their approach to math instruction. Additionally 80% of their student population was successful on state assessments (so the staff felt that they were successful). Through building relationships ongoing PD, wrapping what they needed in what they wanted me to do raised their capacity for better math instruction and reached the kids outside of the 50%.

44. What Algebra? When? • Grade level? • Background? • Who’s teaching? • The Misplaced Math Student – Lost in 8th Grade Algebra…

45. Hey frank, • The problem asked to write an equation that represented 4 more than 3 times a number.  He wrote 4 + (3 x n) and she was looking for 3n+4.  She said the 3n should start the answer and therefore his answer was incorrect.  I did write her a note today letting her know that based on the rules of the order of operations, parentheses always take precedence.  So left to right only comes into play after the parentheses have been worked.  I didn't get a response, but I'm sure I made her last day of school. • And then… May 22, 2009

47. Fractions are a major area of study in upper elementary school mathematics. It is time to shift the emphasis and redefine the goal of fraction instruction from learning computation rules to developing fraction operation sense (Huinker, 2002). • Do we do this?

48. NMAP - Student Preparation • The first question concerned the adequacy of student preparation coming into the Algebra I classes. The topics that were rated as especially problematic were: • Rational numbers; • Solving word problems, and; • Basic study skills. Final Report on the National Survey of Algebra Teachers for the National Math Panel, NORC, September, 2007

49. Fraction Sorting • Sort the fractions below as near: 0, ½, or 1 4/7 1/7 8/9 3/5 2/3 1/10 4/8 6/11 4/5 2/12 9/12 5/12 1/8 3/8 4/9 7/14 • What’s alike about all fractions near 1? Near 0?

50. Now what? • There are 25 students in our class. Each student will get ¼ of a pizza. Your job is to find out how many pizzas we should order. Be sure to show your work. • How many pizzas should we order? Fractions!