Furious Prince William County parents who say the public schools’ new math program is too easy have been unable to change the county’s policies, despite boasting impressive numbers.
The county school board delayed until the fall a public session originally slated for Wednesday night to study the effectiveness of an innovative and controversial program that 1,302 people have asked the board to revoke.
School officials say the delay will allow school board members to analyze student test results due out in the summer and coordinate expert analysis on the effectiveness of the classes.
Parents say it is simply an attempt to delay making major changes.
Math Investigations, a math program using drawing, games and series of equations to answer elementary addition, subtraction, multiplication and division questions, has been under fire since its start in 2006.
“If your school system picks a crappy academic program, all you can do about it is complain,” said Greg Barlow, a Dumfries father. “We don’t think this will end until we afford parents a choice” to use traditional math instruction instead, he added.
Barlow and other parents say the math curriculum is more centered on fun than on learning and does not result in enough practice to achieve core understanding.
Administrators and teachers say the classes make math more engaging and will better prepare students for the complicated math problems they face in middle school and high school classes.
Schools Superintendent Steven Walts allowed teachers to use other math programs to supplement the Math Investigations lessons in April, but the move did not satisfy parents who object to the primaryrole the lessons have.
“I guess I was hopeful that the move towards a balanced program would have alleviated more concerns than it has,” school board Chairman Milt Johns said. “I’m certainly very concerned that this continues to be a problem.”
If test scores do not improve and public opposition remains high, Johns said the board may consider a shift.
