Tacoma School Board made a commitment to Tacoma May 13 that they have finally found an elementary math curriculum that works.
After close to a month of review and community input, the school board approved the use of Math Expressions teaching materials for students at the elementary-school level.
Out of 150 parents and community members who formally reviewed materials, 89 were in favor of Math Expressions over other options.
The same was true for 61 out of 93 Tacoma Public Schools staff.
“But we didn’t just take the top vote-getter,” Deputy Superintendent Carla Santorno said. “We really believe these are the top materials based on a lot of variables.”
The debate between whether to use conceptual math practices or basic arithmetic skills at the elementary-school level has been ongoing since the implementation of a conceptual-style math series in 2001. After that led to parent complaints, the district took a different approach through a new series, adding the basic-skills-style Saxon math books in 2007.
Throughout the district’s attempts to get it right book-wise, Tacoma students have continued to struggle in the math department.
Officials believe the purchase of the new books is urgent to get student learning where it needs to be, and Math Expressions offers a good balance of conceptual and basic skills math, they say.
“We are not just going to hope this works. We have evidence that we have a balanced curriculum,” Santorno said. “What we’re doing now is not working. What we are going to do is going to work.”
Officials will be reporting the results of the new math books to the board on a quarterly basis, but expect about a two to three-year turnaround for significant improvements to be noticeable.
Teachers will be trained on how to use the $1.3 million worth of materials before the new school year begins, and will be offered ongoing professional development opportunities throughout the year, as well as grade-level teacher networking and support groups.
The board also
approved the purchase of new Prentice Hall math books for all middle-school students at a cost of $350,000. The Prentice Hall books are currently used for algebra instruction in Tacoma with good feedback from middle-school algebra teachers and students.
Both books have been approved to align with state math standards.
“It is really the first time in a long time we can bring to you an aligned set of standards,” Superintendent Art Jarvis told the board, which approved both selections unanimously.
