The Merrimack school district is in the middle of a storm. Parents and residents are demanding better from the people in charge of running their school system. Please read Part 1, Part 2, and Part3.
There are simple measures that will help students succeed in school, but much of that is undermined by the curriculum and teaching methods used in their classrooms. One might think that this is the fault of the teacher, you’d be wrong. So who’s fault is this?
In general these decisions are made by those who are not working in the classrooms. Some of the education fads are pushed in the Schools of Education. Some are pushed through the grants that come into your school. (READ THEM) But mainly these decisions lie with the administration. In this case I’m pointing my finger directly at Amy Doyle, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, and Everett Olsen, Chief Educational Officer. These two administrators are the gatekeepers of a lot of what is failing in your public school.
I explained the problems with the Science, English Language Arts and SEL programs used in the classrooms. The problems began by aligning curriculum with poor quality standards. After 14 years, I can’t believe any administrator would admit that they are still aligning any curriculum to the dumbed-down Common Core or Next Generation Science Standards. These people should be embarrassed to make these arguments before elected boards or parents.
Merrimack currently uses Envisions for their math program. I’m also told that they are getting ready to look (waste money) on another math program, Eureka2. Both math programs wouldn’t come near my children because both are not worthy of educating any child.
Both programs are Common Core aligned, which means they are starting with the bottom again. Common Core math has failed students since it was adopted in New Hampshire in 2010. Why aren’t these 6-figure salary administrators looking at adopting the best for Merrimack students? Singapore math is known for being one of the best math programs by Mathematicians like Dr. James Milgram, Mathematics Professor Stanford University. Dr. Milgram served on the Common Core Validation Committee, and refused to sign off on the math standards because of their poor quality. Dr. Milgram wrote this short summary of the numerous problems with Common Core Math.
In addition, the writer of the Common Core Math Standards, Jason Zimba, had to tutor his own children in math after they were subjected to Common Core math in their school.
When Jason Zimba was questioned about whether Common Core Math prepares students for STEM programs in college, here is what he admitted:
The teaching methods used in the classroom can also have a negative impact on academic outcomes. Like the science program chosen, the math programs require inquiry or discovery learning. This pedagogy will require parents to look for private tutoring for their children because no one discovers math–children need to be taught math. You can take an arithmetic book used in 1950, and give your child a better math education than what they are receiving in Merrimack.
Student-centered learning is an education fad. They might not tell you this right now, but it is. Student centered learning focuses on marginalizing the teacher, and pushing 1:1 devices in the classroom to increase profits to technology companies. Look at the marketing put out by Envisions here. They show the child in front of the computer, reference student centered learning, but never mention how poorly U.S. students are doing on international math exams.
Sweden is wising up to these education fads: In 2009, Sweden Replaced Books with Computers—15 Years Later, It’s Investing €104 Million to Reverse the Decision
What is this getting students who are educated in the United States?
US students’ declining math scores are ‘sobering,’ expert says
What does Amy come up with? She didn’t offer Singapore Math as an alternative to Envisions, she offered Eureka2. Eureka2 includes SEL and Fine Art in their Common Core math program. One might want to ask, WHERE’S THE MATH? SEL and FINE art in math class?
Merrimack voters need to take a long hard look at what you’ve been purchasing out of your school budget. Poor quality programs that force faulty teaching methods on teachers in the classroom. This doesn’t set the teachers up for success, nor the students or the public school.
When enrollment declines, and parents come to your meetings telling you that this is not working, look no further than your SAU office for the root cause.
We hire teachers because we know the value of an educated instructor teaching our children quality academic content. But when you produce lousy curriculum, and then marginalize the importance of a teacher instructing students, what do you expect to get for your money? When your executives are this incompetent, maybe it’s time to find new ones who will get the job done.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
1) The Case for Fully Guided Instruction
2) National Institute for Direct Instruction
3) Students will benefit from direct instruction, without a doubt
INTERNATIONAL TEST IN MATH 4th Grade & 8th Grade
