Teresa Williams
September 28, 2008 05:03 pm
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By Teresa Williams
teresa.williams@gaflnews.com n
THOMASVILLE — Area schools are calculating the implementations and results of state-mandated math curriculum changes.
Georgia Performance Standards — GPS — for mathematics were adopted in 2005 by the Georgia Board of Education to replace Quality Core Curriculum — QCC — with implementation to occur over a multi-year period: sixth grade in 2005, kindergarten through second and seventh in 2006, third through fifth and eighth in 2007, and ninth through 12th during 2008-2011.
Dr. Dale Graham, math coordinator for Thomasville City Schools and Thomasville City Schools Scholars Academy director, said middle school students used to “add, subtract, multiply, divide, do fractions and percents with a little pre-algebra, with a small group taking algebra 1.”
“Now, every middle school student, by the time they complete the eighth grade, will have pretty much finished about 90 percent of what used to be algebra 1 and about 70 percent of what used to be Euclidean geometry,” she said. “The curriculum has been accelerated and this is a huge change.”
GPS was developed by teachers and educators with input from leaders in government, business and industry, a release from Georgia Department of Education said. The curriculum is closely aligned to standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the American Statistical Association, Achieve, and the College Board.
Dr. Scott James, director of research and accountability for Thomas County Schools, said changes in math curriculum are “lean,” “rigorous” and “coherent.”
This means there are fewer topics at every grade level — sixth grade went from 53 to 18 — a more depth of understanding and less repetition.
James said a main reason for these curriculum changes was Georgia students were not performing as well on mathematics portions of standardized tests, even though they were taking “as many, and sometimes more,” math courses than students in other states.
“Compared to changes in the other content areas, the changes in the math curriculum may have been the most dramatic,” James said.
He said the goal of these changes is to enable students to be “better prepared for each successive year in our schools” and “to pursue their futures after graduating from high school.”
GPS is designed to “achieve a balance among concepts, skills, and problem solving,” a GADOE release said, as well as prepare more students to be successful in higher-level courses such as accelerated learning and advanced placement.
“In addition to the new standards being taught, more application is required of the students, showing not just knowledge but also the ability to think and find ways to apply that knowledge in tasks,” said Norma Chick, an eighth-grade math teacher at Washington Middle School.
This year’s ninth grade class has dealt with the changes since sixth grade, when the first new standards were implemented.
Cairo High School’s Hunter Morrison, 14, said it has been “challenging.” He is in math I and just learned about quadratic functions and equations.
“It’s definitely challenging since we’re learning stuff we wouldn’t usually learn in ninth grade,” he said. “It’s a bunch of work and you sometimes wish you didn’t have to do it all, but it is going to help you in the future.”
Graham said by the time students graduate they will have covered “everything but calculus, but will have seen some precursors to it.”
“There are still concerns for the lower 25-30 percent of scoring students, but we’re offering as much support as we can. They are being asked to reach quite a distance, one they’ve never been asked to reach before. We’re all looking at ways to support the curriculum so it can be successful, using the right blend of skills and problem-solving that will make students mathematicians for tomorrow.”
This means a lot of hard work for teachers, too.
Chick said there is always resistance to change and teachers, students and parents have expressed concerns with GPS.
“In the case of these standards, there is a great deal of concern about making sure that absolutely everything in the standard is covered and covered in such a way that there are no gaps in the child’s learning and ability to understand the language used on formative assessments. We are truly trying to teach students to ‘think’ as opposed to just regurgitating information.”
“Our teachers are doing an awesome job of trying to implement that standards-based curriculum and make it as painless as possible,” Tammy Donalson, instructional coordinator at CHS, said. “Rather than a teacher at the front of the room lecturing, students are performing tasks hands on and the teacher is more of a facilitator.”
Morrison said he enjoys the new classroom approach.
“I learn better when I’m doing the problems or helping teach it to other people,” he said. “Students get to help each other actually understand how to do the problems. I think this new curriculum is going to help all students get higher grades instead of slacking around.”
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