Sunday, January 10, 2010

Union Attacks Bill Evers for Encouraging "Best-in-the-World" Math

The teachers' union in Capistrano Unified attacks me for encouraging the district to consider Singapore Math instead of a business-as-usual math textbook series.

The attack appears in the union's Jan. 8 Board Watch newsletter.

At the time I made the suggestion, I was an official member of the district's textbook review committee. I stressed that successful implementation of Singapore math in America has needed extra training for teachers, and that such training would be needed if Capistrano were to adopt Singapore Math (which is officially approved in California).

I cited Singapore's comparative success on international math tests. I also pointed to the U.S. Department of Education-sponsored study entitled "What the United States Can Learn from Singapore's World Class Mathematics System."

The union calls for automatic rubber-stamping of teachers' recommendations. It attacks me for favoring parental input on textbook adoptions.

I agree that teachers' recommendations should weigh heavily, especially if the textbook has been tried. (The Capistrano teacher committee had declined even to try out Singapore Math.) But I contend that objective, scientific studies of content-coverage and effectiveness as well as international comparative testing should be given their due weight.

Singapore students in 4th and 8th grade were best in the world in Mathematics in 1995, 1999 and 2003.

I pointed out that a school nearby in Los Angeles has had great success with Singapore Math.

I'm sure that the Capistrano teachers want textbooks that they believe will work for them and that have a familiar feel. But parents, taxpayers, and community members have a right to ask: Why not the best for our children?

70 comments:

  1. Janet Nicholas (former member of the California State Board of Education) posted this comment on my Facebook page:

    "I have read the parents/home schoolers edition of Singapore Math, K-6. In this edition, every issue is fully explained and developed. The average teacher can easily teach from these materials. The tragedy is that more schools do not use them."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hummmmm I find this post quite interesting. I am a CA mom to four in the public school system and detest not only what is currently taught in our classroom "CA Math" http://www.macmillanmh.com/math/2009/ca/ but also how it is taught. I have two kids that "get math naturally" and they hate the math at their school. My other two are okay at math but not because of what they do in school but rather was is done at home. We have opted to supplement at home with a mix of Singapore and Kumon (which is similar in approach but more of math enrichment). Our school district spent a fortune on switching over to this new system. Parents hate it....teachers complain about it...so who the heck is behind it? Math in the US is way off par with the rest of the world...Thank god at least I have a clue and can supplement what is missing in my Math (and other areas) kids education. But what about those parents who do not know enough to know better?

    samba in sac

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Dawn,

    Would you like to try out some of the questions in www.lionmath.com/forum ? I hope it would be useful. In general the texbooks and the workbooks are just baseline work in the Primary Schools in Singapore.

    Singapore Math in my opinion is "old school" Math. Teachers need to be good in it and love teaching it. No magic formula.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Don't forget the National Council on Teacher Quality has recommended states look to Singapore Math as a standardized curriculum when writing their Race to the Top applications. You can read those recommendations at their website: NCTQ and here's a direct link to the Colorado report.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "But parents, taxpayers, and community members have a right to ask: Why not the best for our children?"

    EXACTLY!! Having been through many curriculum adoptions, teachers of the district were probably given very limited information on the programs available. Districts like to go with publishers that are large enough to throw in all of the bells and whistles with the program. Large market shares get even larger...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Check out what's going on in Seattle regarding math textbook adoption.

    http://seattlemathgroup.blogspot.com/2010/02/looking-at-decision.html

    ReplyDelete
  7. I find this very interesting. Teachers are not probably updated with the entire new curriculum that is why they have limited knowledge.

    ReplyDelete
  8. oh..i thought this is only happening in 3rd world countries...this is happening despite all the advancement in information technology, diskettes are so hisotoric already, blueray discs or bd-r is today

    ReplyDelete
  9. Singapore math (and science, and health) are excellent programs. I used them for my children when we lived in ridiculously small town (500 students total - one K-12 school) and homeschooled.

    I'm a certified teacher (English, History, Library Media Spec), and if you think the new national standards are bad, you should see what the senators in FL are trying to do to teachers. For starters, they want to base 1/2 of our salary on student test performance.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Singapore is an intelligent country and it has lots of policies in education that helped students to be really good in Math. They even teach young students on how to videos.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi,
    I completely agree with you that no one can compete with the students of Singapore in mathematics. I hope our children can also get same type of education.

    Essay Help

    ReplyDelete
  12. very interesting. my professor, david swensen, said the same thing. nice

    ReplyDelete
  13. Mr. Evers- you were never on the official committee, in fact if your wife Anna Bryson was not on the board you would never have been in San Juan Capistrano.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Your blog is very informative. However, it is pretty hard task but your post and experience serve and teach me how to handle and make it more simple and manageable.
    Thanks for the tips… Best regards.

    business management dissertation
    | dissertation

    ReplyDelete
  15. I like yout blogging style thank you

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great Blog post at blogspot i like this excellent blog, i keep on reading articles from here.

    Dissertations
    Dissertation writing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's look great that people would love to share their educational matters and experience on internet, this would be good for readers who must face again this issues in their projects.

      Delete
  17. I never thought that Singapore is an intelligent country especially in Math. Anyway, thank you for sharing us this information. I truly appreciate your effort.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Good article and post. I really thanks to the author!
    generic viagra
    viagra generic

    ReplyDelete
  19. Union Attacks Bill Evers for Encouraging "Best-in-the-World" Math<-- :)) Nice and Great!
    Brisbane Property Investment
    Tinnitus Miracle Review

    ReplyDelete
  20. Mr. Evers is married to the school board president in Capistrano Unified School District. She is running again and one of her pledges has been to end nepotism in CUSD. Mr. Evers needs to sell his Math series somewhere else in order to avoid a potential conflict of interest. There are many excellent Math programs out there.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I find this very interesting. Teachers are not probably updated with the entire new curriculum that is why they have limited knowledge

    ReplyDelete
  22. However, it is pretty hard task but your post and experience serve and teach me how to handle and make it more simple and manageable.
    Extenze

    ReplyDelete
  23. Nice post, I would like to request you to one more post about that Keep it up

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hey, Really great work,I would like to join your blog anyway so please continue sharing with us,

    ReplyDelete
  25. Thank you for sharing This knowledge.Excellently written article, if only all bloggers offered the same level of content as you, the internet would be a much better place. Please keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Això és realment interessant, ets un blogger molt hàbil. M'he unit a la seva alimentació i esperem que busquen més del seu missatge meravellós. A més, he compartit el seu lloc en els meus xarxes socials !

    ReplyDelete
  27. It's amazing that in the "golden age" of behavioral and educational research, teachers continue to reject scientifically sound practice. Excellent post.

    ReplyDelete
  28. interesting! although I have no expert, but I want have to know more and more, on your blog just interesting and useful information. Keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
  29. I have wanted to learn more about particular topics, but not many websites would help me out in informing me the way I expected. This left me with many question, but after reading your article, I got an answer to all my questions. You are too cool dude!!!

    ReplyDelete
  30. wow, very good design and i liked this web site very much, thanks for it!)

    ReplyDelete
  31. I want to appreciate the author. I loved to read that. Thank you so much for sharing the post with all.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Blogs are so interactive where we get lots of informative on any topics...... nice job keep it up !!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Thank you for sharing this article. I love it. Keep on writing this type of great stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I thoroughly enjoy your blog posts and I consciously put into practice your concepts as they allow us to..

    ReplyDelete
  35. liked everything very much) keep it up and dont stop)

    ReplyDelete
  36. its really a good writeup, would be interested to read such more informative draft from you ahead, can be a wonderful help to the new readers like me.

    ReplyDelete
  37. You are great with words. I’m sure you worked really hard on this article, and it shows. I agree with a lot of your material. I enjoyed this and I will be back for more. Quit Smoking Tips.

    ReplyDelete
  38. that such training would be needed if Capistrano were to adopt Singapore Math (which is officially approved in California).

    ReplyDelete
  39. I loved to read that. Thank you so much for sharing the post with all.

    ReplyDelete
  40. I’m not sure where you’re getting your information, but great topic. online-essay-writer.org I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more.

    ReplyDelete
  41. This is very interesting information. I agree with a lot of this content. I like this article very much and I have enjoyed reading your points of interest. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Another great post, I appreciate all the work you put into this site.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Blogs are not just for socializing with others but it can also give us useful information like this. Just like me, I’m a new blogger and this article gave me lots of ideas on how to start blogging to a site or posts.

    ReplyDelete
  44. This looks not a good behavior from them. They should understand you and can discuss with you if they have any issue with the math text books. Dissertation writing services

    ReplyDelete
  45. I am pretty sure about this information you shared because its really helpful for everyone. Cheap Assignment Writing Service

    ReplyDelete
  46. Thank you for sharing this article. I love it. Keep on writing this type of great stuff.UAE Online Shopping

    ReplyDelete
  47. Mathematics is somehow good course to take but however it is also a subject where students face lot of difficulties while solving problems. Cheap dissertation writing services

    ReplyDelete
  48. Teachers should understand that their union and strikes can make education standards low and even their respect can be lost if they continue making strikes without spreading their word in a positive way. Dissertation writing service

    ReplyDelete
  49. Very informative post. I have brought up Snacks online from cravecrate with a wonderful shopping experience. The prices were not high and all the groceries were branded and new.
    Snack box Subscription

    ReplyDelete
  50. Congratulations!your blog details and information good thanks for share.It Solutions

    ReplyDelete
  51. To have an increased publicity for your facebook account, People expend bucks to Buy Facebook Followers to easily get exposure on web. buy followers for facebook

    ReplyDelete
  52. Do you wait until the last minute before undertaking tasks and assignments? Most people will procrastinate until they can wait no more and then rush to beat the deadline. When it comes to taxes, there are quite some pitfalls of taking this route.
    master paper writers

    ReplyDelete
  53. For getting an increased exposure to your facebook account, People expend bucks to Buy Facebook Followers to easily have publicity online. buy 5000 facebook followers

    ReplyDelete
  54. Mungkin sebagian ada yang tidak mau bermain dengan mengeluarkan modal yang besar dalam taruhan online. Maka dari itu kamu dapat bermain di dalam permainan yang ada Jackpotnya
    asikqq
    dewaqq
    sumoqq
    interqq
    pionpoker
    bandar ceme terpercaya
    hobiqq
    paito warna
    http://199.30.55.59/asikqq78/
    data hk 2019

    ReplyDelete
  55. Hello there! This post could not be written any better! Looking through this post reminds me of my previous roommate! He always kept talking about this. I'll forward this post to him. Fairly certain he'll have a good read. I appreciate you for sharing! assignment.@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete