Middle school math project approved by board

MAT-SU -- The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School Board voted to use the Connected Math Project as the core math program in middle schools district-wide, but has tabled the adoption of a district-wide curriculum for grade-school math.

Connie Lutz, the district's executive director of curriculum and assessment, spoke to the board about aligning math curriculum throughout classrooms in the district. Based on information provided by the curriculum council, district administration recommended to the board adopting both the middle school Connected Math Project and the grade school Everyday Math program. Both programs are used in some classrooms already in the district.

"Consistency makes sense. At this time we have students changing their math program each year because there isn't consistency in our schools," said Lutz.

Connected Math is a problem-centered curriculum that addresses mathematical ideas through "investigations" said Shelley Heiserman, a teacher who already uses the program at Teeland Middle School.

"It poses the hook that gets kids involved," said Heiserman. "It's like reading a story -- math comes alive with this program."

Everyday Math is used in 24 percent of all districts nation wide, and uses conceptual learning to solve problems instead of just memorizing equations -- the type of curriculum most parents remember.

The program is used school-wide in 11 district elementary schools and is used in three schools by individual teachers. Jackie Johnson, who teaches fifth grade at Pioneer Peak Elementary, spoke highly of the program.

"It assumes kids can do a lot, and allows them to work at their level," said Johnson. "With Everyday Math, thinking with math becomes as natural as thinking with language."

There have been some questions about the programs brought up with their adoption.

Some say there is a need for supplementing basic math skills with Connected Math, that the programs could take away some individual teacher planning and that parents would have to re-think the way that they do math in order to help their children with assignments.

The argument against Everyday Math was much stronger than the adoption of the Connected Math Project, and so the board decided to approve Connected Math and table the decision of adopting the elementary math program until receiving more information from the curriculum council, which initially recommended the program's use in the district.

"The board has expressed a desire to hear from the curriculum council again," said district public information officer Kim Floyd. "They would like to know the cost of materials if the program is approved district-wide."

Contact Jen Ransom at jen.ransom@frontiersman.com