Local
Pr. William parents, school board clash over Math Investigations program
By: David Sherfinski
Examiner Staff Writer
January 23, 2009
Parents in Prince William County are clashing with school board members over the county’s controversial Math Investigations program, seeking a return to a more traditional approach.
An online petition to remove the curriculum from Prince William County schools has amassed more than 1,500 signatures since the program was introduced in 2006.
Greg Barlow of Dumfries, who was the first person to sign the petition, told the board he still had problems with the Math Investigations program despite Chairman Milton C. Johns’ presentation of an “opt-in” option for traditional math in elementary schools at Wednesday’s meeting.
“If we weren’t tutoring at home, he would be behind,” Barlow said of his younger son, who is in fourth grade.
Board members besides Johns, though, do not support such a proposal.
Both Grant Lattin, Occoquan District representative, and Don Richardson, Gainesville District representative, said later they do not support an “opt-in, opt out” option for the program, which some parents have advocated.
“I think we have bigger things to worry about than an opt-in program in math, at least for now,” said Richardson, referring to the county’s economic woes.
“I’m dubious about that,” he continued. “I think it’s a more expensive, more bureaucratic, more convoluted way to run a math program.”
Barlow said he thought that people were more enamored with the investigations program’s ideology than its content.
The Technical Education Research Centers’ Investigations program uses drawing, games and series of equations to solve elementary addition, subtraction, multiplication and division questions for kindergartners through fifth-graders. TERC is a nonprofit education-research organization.
Richardson said the point of the program was to reach more students, and said that the schools “don’t have enough data yet to really judge it.”
Alexis Miller of the Coles District, though, disagreed.
“By the time they do have middle school scores, it’s way too late for these kids,” she said.
The board took no action Wednesday, but Barlow said he thought the meeting was beneficial.
“I think [the meeting] moved it forward because there’s the potential for dialogue [now],” he said.
An online petition to remove the curriculum from Prince William County schools has amassed more than 1,500 signatures since the program was introduced in 2006.
Greg Barlow of Dumfries, who was the first person to sign the petition, told the board he still had problems with the Math Investigations program despite Chairman Milton C. Johns’ presentation of an “opt-in” option for traditional math in elementary schools at Wednesday’s meeting.
“If we weren’t tutoring at home, he would be behind,” Barlow said of his younger son, who is in fourth grade.
Board members besides Johns, though, do not support such a proposal.
Both Grant Lattin, Occoquan District representative, and Don Richardson, Gainesville District representative, said later they do not support an “opt-in, opt out” option for the program, which some parents have advocated.
“I think we have bigger things to worry about than an opt-in program in math, at least for now,” said Richardson, referring to the county’s economic woes.
“I’m dubious about that,” he continued. “I think it’s a more expensive, more bureaucratic, more convoluted way to run a math program.”
Barlow said he thought that people were more enamored with the investigations program’s ideology than its content.
The Technical Education Research Centers’ Investigations program uses drawing, games and series of equations to solve elementary addition, subtraction, multiplication and division questions for kindergartners through fifth-graders. TERC is a nonprofit education-research organization.
Richardson said the point of the program was to reach more students, and said that the schools “don’t have enough data yet to really judge it.”
Alexis Miller of the Coles District, though, disagreed.
“By the time they do have middle school scores, it’s way too late for these kids,” she said.
The board took no action Wednesday, but Barlow said he thought the meeting was beneficial.
“I think [the meeting] moved it forward because there’s the potential for dialogue [now],” he said.
