I decided to forgo the first half of the football game tonight (a real sacrifice since I’m from Buffalo) and go to the Board of Directors meeting to hear the presentation to the Board by the district’s curriculum professionals regarding the implementation of “Investigations” and the complementary “Action Plan”. Taylor was there too and we heard MJ Kitt and Pam Francis discuss the following items:
- The SCASD K-6 math web page has been revamped, with improved access to resources for parents.
- A District-wide “Math Night” for parents is planned for October 15.
- The District plans to create informational videos to help parents understand the K-5 math curriculum.
- A new program for computerized assessment is planned. Students would take tests on the computer in the classroom to verify that they have mastered a topic before moving on to a new topic.
- Other forms of assessment were discussed, including testing to be done at the beginning, middle, and end of the year to gauge progress. A report on PSSA and PVAAS data was promised for the October 12 meeting.
Board members asked a few questions of the administrators, most of which were along the lines of thanking them for their planning work, but asking when there would be some concrete results showing that this program is working. Dorothea Stahl did mention the fact that the recently released PSSA scores are “low”, but followed up with a suggestion that perhaps if the District were to examine which children in SCASD had the most exposure to “Investigations” in their elementary schools or if the number of hours spent on math were compared across districts, that some support might be found for continuing the use of this curriculum.
When the time for public comment came, I spoke briefly to give the address of this website, recount just how low the PSSA math scores are, and do a brief rundown of the reasons that we need a curriculum change. I reiterated what I said at a Board meeting last May, that improving communication with parents is a worthy goal, but that a lack of communication is not the problem here — TERC’s “Investigations” is.
