… in Columbia, Missouri. Read these newspaper articles to see how this happened in another college town. Evidently it took “years”, but their district finally dropped “Investigations” and similar programs after a new superintendent took the initiative. They have a great school board candidate there as well (who was eventually elected):
With a strong interest in math, Pruitt is happy the district is moving past the controversy that has surrounded the math curriculum for the past several years.
“Everyone wants students to understand math and be able to do math,” Pruitt said. “I think the balance was a little too far away from actually knowing how to do the problems opposed to the emphasis on conceptual versus procedural.”
Pruitt’s view is based on research that shows that reading and math instruction that focuses on content has been shown to be more effective, especially for students who might not have support outside of school. As a board member she would focus on using data to evaluate district programs and to follow up on expenditures to see if they really accomplish district goals.
“The math curriculum was leading to falling test scores for six years, and the district was ready to stick with the status quo for another six years. That’s why Columbia Parents for Real Math sprang up,” she said. “The school board has an oversight role to play in evaluating whether our resources are being used effectively. That’s what I would do as a board member.”
(emphasis added)
The similarities are eerie.
Yes, a very interesting coincidence is that both towns are college towns. Both may be heavily influenced by their local colleges of education (ie, faculty grants that explore some aspect of using “Investigations” math, like studying the effect of professional development , etc.). Having lived in both places, I wish only the best for residents of these towns. I hope that State College can extricate itself soon from radically constructivist math.