Dan Genz, The Examiner
2008-02-08 08:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

WASHINGTON -

Angry parents persuaded the Prince William County School Board on Tuesday night to re-examine a new math program for elementary students after presenting a petition with more than 1,000 signatures asking to scrap the program.

The Math Investigations program is designed to make early math classes more entertaining and better building blocks for the lessons ahead in middle school. But it has irked parents who say students are not learning core skills.

While teachers and administrators defended the two-year-old program for kindergarten through third-grade students, board members asked for a special session to study the issue further.

“If you have a large group of people saying, ‘It’s very frustrating,’ we need to take time to re-evaluate what we’re doing,” said School Board member Denita Ramirez, of Woodbridge.

Neabsco School Board member Julie Lucas described one girl who struggled with an addition question asking students to add and then draw nine squirrels. The girl needed an hour and a half to draw all the rodents.

“I sure hope we’re not doing something that sounds like an art project,” Lucas said.

The program fails military families, argued Glenn Hecht, who is concerned his child will struggle when the family transfers in a few years. “My children will move to places with traditional math classes,” he said.

While adapting to the new system has some hurdles, the program should not be scuttled because it pulls students into lessons and teaches them how math works, Math Investigations supporters said.

“Math Investigations helps to meet all of the learning styles of our children,” math resource teacher Joy Marcell said. “If we continue to go with the traditional way, we are going to get what we always get, and what we’ve been getting is falling test scores.”

Board member and Math Investigations advocate Michael Otaigbe, of Coles, said a successful education involves challenges.

“I think frustration has gotten a bad rap,” he said, “When we are frustrated learning a new skill — if we don’t give up — that’s when learning takes place.”

But parents say it’s not just a frustrating system, but a failing one.

“I want my son’s lost year back. I want real math back in Prince William County schools,” said Greg Barlow, the father of a third-grader.

Math problems

Examples cited by teacher:

»  Question: 25 + 26 =

»  Correct answer: 25 + 25 + 1 = 51

»  Question: 98 + 99 =

»  Correct answer: 100 - 2 + 100 - 1 = 197

Example cited by parent:

»  Question: 7 x 8 =

»  Correct answer: 5 + 2 x 5 + 3, so 5 x 5 = 25; 5 x 3 = 15; 2 x 5 = 10; 2 x 3 = 6 and 25 + 15 + 10 + 6 = 56

dgenz@dcexaminer.com