Parents Rise Up Against A New Approach to Math

Greg Barlow with his son Christian, 8, at their home in Prince William County. Before beginning home schooling, Christian was exposed to a controversial math curriculum that de-emphasizes memorization. (By Susan Biddle -- The Washington Post)
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But many parents are lobbying the School Board to kill the program. Opponents have submitted a petition with 1,000 names and started a Web site, http://www.pwcteachmathright.com . They have been checking out a video called "Math Education: An Inconvenient Truth."

"I don't know what happened in Prince William. Have the parents visited the classrooms? This has to be a decision made by everyone that's affected by it," said Cathie Dillender, a senior Pearson executive who handles math issues. "We have a lot of happy customers out there. We're all educators, too, and we certainly wouldn't publish a program that would not work with the kids."

In the Classroom

One recent day at Springwoods Elementary School in Woodbridge, third-graders used a mix of methods to solve word problems. Some had difficulty grasping what skill to apply for which problem. For instance: "There are 28 desks in the classroom. The teacher puts them in groups of four. How many groups of desks are in the classroom?"

Ilana Cooper and Audrey Mishler teamed up on the problem. Audrey drew hash marks in groups of four on her paper but stalled. She broke out a set of plastic cubes. Maybe her tactile senses could help.

"How about 4 times 28?" Audrey asked Ilana.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Ilana said.

The teacher, Rhonda Ellington, came over. She put cubes into groups of four. A few minutes later, Audrey and Ilana used their fingers to count the groups of cubes. They arrived at 7, the correct answer.

Jesse Mishler, 33, a financial services manager, said that he and his wife, Priscilla, initially sought to persuade Audrey to memorize flashcards, but she resisted.

"We were trying to teach her to memorize things like 2 times 2 is 4. It created some frustration and anxiety on her part," he said. "We've changed gears. I came to the conclusion that she shouldn't be put in that spot. We felt it was best to partner with the teacher."

Prince William officials cite research from the "Investigations" publisher showing that the percentages of students using the curriculum who are passing state exams have increased in school systems in 20 states. Prince William's data showed that 80 percent of second-graders who used "Investigations" in the past school year were proficient in all 10 skill areas of a Stanford Diagnostic Mathematics Test.

But skeptics say results from the Stanford test show that second-graders ranked average nationally and that first-graders ranked slightly below average, well below parents' expectations.

The critics also point to test scores in the Greece Central School District in Upstate New York. Steven L. Walts, now the Prince William superintendent, presided over the implementation of "Investigations" to schools in the Greece district during his tenure there as superintendent.

Elementary and middle school math test scores rose in 2006 and 2007 in the Greece schools, but results in various grade levels still ranked the district much lower than most of the other 17 districts in its county, according to research by a retired Greece principal, Douglas Skeet.

Debates over math curricula have flared in many parts of the United States. In Ridgewood, N.J., an incoming superintendent who supported math alternatives such as "Investigations" was recently forced to back out of the job after parents complained. In the Alpine City school system in Utah, officials scaled back "Investigations" under pressure from lawmakers and parents, though test scores improved.

In the Washington area, Arlington has been using "Investigations" at all elementary schools for the past two years. Ann Wilson, PTA president at Ashlawn Elementary, said parents initially were apprehensive but have since been positive. In the 2006-07 year, 56 percent of Arlington third-graders scored "advanced" on the state exams, and 90 percent passed.

In Fairfax, most elementary schools use traditional books, but teachers are increasingly using "Investigations" as the main text as they get comfortable with it, said Frank Atchison, math coordinator for the county schools.

As for Greg Barlow in Prince William, the former fighter pilot with college degrees in aeronautics and astronautics, he finds himself in a new role: home-school dad. He has spent about $100 at Sam's Club and Costco on math textbooks.