During the Deliberative Session in Pelham, a resident rose to support a warrant article to change the math program, and replace it with Singapore Math. Why would anyone want to support Singapore Math in their school? There’s a simple answer to that question, Singapore students finish at the top on international math and science tests, consistently. U.S. students finish far down that list, at 24th.
8th Grade Results (TIMSS)
We can see on the national math test, (NAEP) that students in New Hampshire are lagging in mathematics too. Common Core Math Standards were adopted in 2010 where proficiency scores were rising steadily. Then in 2013 after schools finished aligning their curriculum to Common Core, math proficiency scores began to consistently decline.
Pelham students are doing worse than many schools in New Hampshire:
During the deliberative session, everyone appeared to be frustrated with the poor math scores, but the administration and school board seem committed to the same poor quality Common Core math curriculum for Pelham students.
Troy Bressette, Chair of the School Board has been overseeing this academic disaster for several years now. He was full of reasons for continuing down this failed path.
For instance, there was discussion on how the district adopted the Reveal Math Program. Residents were told that Reveal Math aligns to the New Hampshire state standards. New Hampshire math standards are the poor quality Common Core Math Standards.
What could possibly be wrong with Reveal Math?
Plenty, here is their commitment to DEI. How does the DEI national fad improve math proficiency in the district? It doesn’t. It’s more nonsense that does nothing to improve math education. How about a commitment to excellence in math education?
Why would anyone want to continue down that failed path? They are going from one failed Common Core math program to another. And to make matters worse, Pelham taxpayers paid $96k for the Reveal math program that is aligned to the failed Common Core math standards.
You can go to 36:30 mark to watch the presentation, and discussion from the Deliberative Session. You will see one resident attempt to raise the level of math education in the district by suggesting a switch to Singapore Math. What you may find shocking is that some people opposed her thoughtful, and logical suggestion.
Dave Wilkerson, who is a member of the school board, made an erroneous statement about how the public schools are required to align to state standards– but that’s not true. Common Core is supposed to be the floor. There is nothing in state law that requires any school to align to the poor quality standards.
Wilkerson announced he’s leaving the board after his term is up. This might be a good time to celebrate his departure. And why didn’t Superintendent McGee or anyone else correct his false statement?
Here is the state statute:
(b) Neither the department of education nor the state board of education shall by statute or rule require that the common core standards developed jointly by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers be implemented in any school or school district in this state. If the local school board elects not to implement the common core standards or the common core state standards adopted by the state board pursuant to RSA 541-A, the local school board shall determine, approve, and implement alternative academic standards.
Knowing that school administrators can use one of the best math programs available for students like Singapore math, why is this being debated? Pelham students have struggled in math for many years. When will someone raise the bar for these kids?
One parent asked if Singapore Math aligned with NH Standards. He was told by Superintendent Chip McGee that Singapore math is designed as an excellerated program. I disagree. Because U.S. students have been subjected to poor quality math curriculum for decades, we’ve become accustomed it. It may look like Singapore is an excellerated math program, but that’s only because U.S. students have been behind their international peers for so long. Singapore math, or an equivalent, should be the norm. If you keep the bar low, you don’t have to work as hard to get there.
Instead of raising the bar for students, several people have convinced themselves that children in public schools are not worthy of a quality education. That’s the typical mindset in public education– don’t expect better for public schooled kids. Even with the bar set so low, few students are meeting proficiency. At what point do you say, it’s time to find people who are willing to raise the bar for your children?
What Superintendent McGee describes as “on grade” materials, are materials that are dumbed down for your children. On grade means your children are behind Singapore students by a year or more. That should be unacceptable to every parent in this district.
While Singapore students are reaching Algebra 1 by 7th grade, Reveal Math or Common Core math puts students on a path to Algebra 1 by 9th grade. That’s two years behind students in Singapore. How did this become acceptable to parents, board members and administrators?
Algebra I in 9th grade can and will close doors for your children. In order for high school students to qualify for top colleges in the STEM field, they will need to have completed Calculus by the time they graduate.
Children in the Charter Schools using Singapore math will complete Algebra 1 by the end of 8th grade. This means their kids will complete Algebra II, Geometry, Pre-Calculus and Calculus by the time they graduate from high school. Their children will have opportunities that many Pelham students will not have. Why didn’t Troy Bressette or Chip McGee explain that to everyone?
That same parent went on to explain how his son in high school may not be taking math throughout the school year. He highlighted another huge problem with public schools, and their lack of focus on quality math instruction. The kinds of gaps the parent explains certainly causes problems for students in public schools. This is exactly why parents are turning to alternative schooling for their children.
Pelham students can also denied opportunities to qualify for engineering, math and science programs at our top colleges. Pelham is shutting the door on their students for real opportunities afforded to other children. This parent brought forward another huge flaw in the Pelham school district, but no one responded.
Great Bay Community College reported to me that 17% of incoming college freshmen are not ready for college level math. Those students will have to take some sort of remedial math math class, at their expense, before starting a college level math class.
If residents want to improve the public schools in the district, we can see that they are going to run into resistance. The Warrant Article is advisory only, so even if it passes, you need district administrators and board members to support it. Clearly that’s not going to happen. Failure and lost opportunities for students will prevail.
Pelham is living the definition of insanity by doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different result. It starts with leadership in the school, and on your school board. At some point, you need to stop letting these slick salespeople sell you on failure, and start expecting better for your children.
PART 2
