Math scores for elementary school students in Prince William County have improved over the past several years, though many parents still oppose the system’s new, controversial math program.
The percentage of Prince William County students in third, fourth and fifth grade achieving “advanced” or “proficient” levels on Virginia Standards of Learning math tests was comparable to — or better than, in some instances — state figures for the past three years.
But many Prince William parents are still wary of the Technical Education Research Centers’ “Math Investigations” program, which uses drawing, games and series of equations to solve elementary addition, subtraction, multiplication and division questions. An online petition to remove the program from K-5 curricula in Prince William has garnered more than 1,600 signatures.
Still, data show that parents were more satisfied with Prince William County’s elementary math program last year. About two-thirds of parents surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that they were satisfied with the overall elementary math program in 2008-2009, up from 55 percent the previous year, a recent report from the school system said.
But some still aren’t happy. Parent Greg Barlow said he has resorted to teaching math to his fifth-grader at home, and was concerned about what would happen when he enters middle school.
“Who’s minding the store?” he asked. “It’s return on investment — what are we going to do to fix that? I’m not sure.”
Other frustrated parents also have resorted to home tutoring.
“It’s not good enough to just shrug it off and wait [for] the next adoption cycle,” Edmund Page said. “The many parents who are teaching at home need to stand up and be counted. We need to change now before it’s too late.”
Kenneth Hinson, administrative coordinator in the schools’ program evaluation office, said he understood parents’ concerns, as he, too, learned math through a “traditional” approach. He said Math Investigations, as with most new programs, is still a work in progress, and noted that the data showed an uptick in parental approval of the program.
