Wednesday, July 18, 2007

streamlining Washington's math curriculum

Not enough students are passing the math WASL, but that doesn't mean our standards are too high, according to an outside consultant.
"The bottom line is that Washington's math standards need to be strengthened," wrote Linda Plattner of the Maryland-based educational research firm Strategic Teaching, which was hired by the state to assess its math expectations.
The article notes some of the proposed changes. And who benefits--besides students and teachers, of course?
After the new learning requirements are written by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, guided by this report, a Board of Education committee will recommend three to five commercial math programs that fit well with the state's standards.

This will be a change in approach for Washington state, where at least 100 different math programs are used around the state, said Corrine McGuigan, assistant superintendent for research and education development at the state Education Department and a member of the state Board of Education committee working on the math action plan.

"That doesn't mean that a district can't go off and do what it wants," she added.
One can only guess what those 3-5 privileged curricula will be, as the standardization of Washington's state education continues apace.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

In Georgia we are in the process of changing our math standards. I teach HS but have had the chance to work on Middle School. The new standards attempt go into more depth in earlier grades, which means on level kids have essentially covered most of Algebra I by 8th grade