New York Returns to Conventional Math Sequences after using an Integrated Math Variation - 21 March 2005
After four years of experimenting with a new math curriculum New York State's Education Department has decided to go back to more traditional math - such as algebra, geometry and trigonometry. The state Board of Regents last week agreed to toss out the new Math A and Math B curriculum. The decision was met by cheers from many parents and math teachers who for years have questioned the convoluted math curriculum.
The Board of Regents thought the new curriculum would help more students pass a state regents exam. The plan was to combine algebra, geometry and trigonometry into a math series that got more difficult each year.
Three years of math were divided into two courses, A and B, each of which lasted a year and a half. Students who needed extra help could extend the Math A course to a full second year. In this way, the Regents said at the time, all students would be prepared for the math Regents.
But in 2001, when the first set of Math A tests were given, fewer than half the state's high-schoolers scored a 55 or better, jeopardizing their graduation. The Regents tossed out the test and set up a committee to look into problems with the exam. The conclusion was that the course was too broad, the students had forgotten too much because of the course's length, and teachers had no idea what the students needed to know to do well on the math Regents.
A second committee then recommended a return to clear-cut, single-subject courses.
_______________________________________________________________
The President's Plan to Improve America's High Schools - 8 March 2005
In response to lagging achievement and completion rates in the nation's high schools, the president's High School Initiative would hold high schools accountable for teaching all students and provide timely intervention for those students who are not achieving at grade level. The goal of this initiative is to ensure that every student graduates from high school with the skills to succeed in either higher education or our globally competitive workforce. In addition, the president's budget shifts more decision-making power to states by consolidating programs dedicated to a specific purpose and reallocates that money to states to use in order to get better results. In the FY 2006 budget request, the president includes nearly $1.5 billion for the two key components of the High School Initiative: A High School Intervention program that would provide $1.24 billion to support specific interventions, including performance plans for each student, designed to improve the academic achievement of students at greatest risk of not meeting challenging state academic standards and not completing high school; and A new High School Assessments proposal that would provide $250 million to add, by the 2009-10 school year, annual assessments at two additional high school grades, which, along with the one grade currently required by NCLB, would ensure that students are assessed at least three times during high school. Coupled with the current testing requirements of NCLB, students will be tested every year from grade 3 to grade 11.
The president's 2006 budget also includes more than $400 million for related proposals to strengthen high school achievement, including $200 million to expand the use of research-based interventions for high school students who read below grade level and thus are at greater risk for dropping out of school; $120 million to accelerate the mathematics achievement of secondary school students through research-based professional development for math teachers; $51.5 million to increase the availability of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs in high-poverty schools; $12 million to encourage students to take more rigorous courses through the State Scholars program; and $33 million in Enhanced Pell Grants for State Scholars as they start their higher education pursuits.
_______________________________________________________________