By Angela Burton, member of the Pelham Math Committee: I tried to quickly skim the Investigations handout that came home on Friday, which is supposed to give parents an idea of what our kids will be learning in the coming weeks. I basically stopped reading after the first item, which discussed the use of calculators. Yes,…
The Pelham Patch today featured a story on the Community Math Night we hosted Tuesday evening. The article reports: “(Professor) Ocken said one major flaw with Investigations and similar curriculum is that it deals with special cases at the expense of general procedures. Although it’s important to be able to illustrate initial computations to students at times,…
The Daily Pelham today reported on the Pelham Community Math Night we hosted last night, leading with: “Three professors, who are considered experts in math education, spoke to numerous parents of children in elementary and high school Tuesday night at the Daronco Town House about what they said were necessary skills for students to learn…
Investigations’ publisher has long touted the program’s effectiveness when it comes to student learning and achievement. But it turns out, there wasn’t one single independent study the publisher could point to prove that—something cited on the respected federal government website, What Works Clearinghouse. But there is compelling research that disproves it. A multi-year study by…
Two women in Maine wrote to Jennifer and Rich through the American Math Forum email list asking if we’d be videoing our Math Night—they even said they’d help underwrite the cost—because they want to hold a night of their own. You can read a profile of one of the woman, Anna Collins, in The Portland…
One reason the Board of Education and others have cited for keeping “Investigations:” Pelham’s test scores remain strong. Unfortunately, that’s not really true. While our district-wide average score remains near 700 in most elementary grades, that average hides the fact that 24.5 percent fewer students in Grades 3 through 5 scored a level 3 or 4…
Three prominent university professors, experts in math education, will talk during the first Pelham Community Math Night on Tuesday, Jan. 24, starting at 7 p.m. at Daronco Town House at 20 Fifth Avenue. The event, sponsored by the Pelham Math Committee, is designed to give parents and all Pelham residents insight into the math skills…
One big attraction to “Investigations” to some school districts was its low cost—replacing workbooks and non-reusable materials for a class of 24 first graders cost as little as $823 in 2010-11. Other grades might cost a little less or a little more. At the least, using “Investigations” cost no more than adopting most other programs…
One of the debates about “Investigations,” Pelham’s K-5 math curriculum, is around the issue of how much backfilling teachers need to do to provide the kids with what “Investigations” neglects to teach. In fact, the subject came up at a school board meeting in the fall and focused on how much fifth graders are, or are not,…
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