READ THE ARTICLE AT THE LOS ANGELES TIMES:
At L.A. School, Singapore Math Has Added Value
By Mitchell Landsberg, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
March 9, 2008
Here's a little math problem:
In 2005, just 45% of the fifth-graders at Ramona Elementary School in Hollywood scored at grade level on a standardized state test. In 2006, that figure rose to 76%. What was the difference?
If you answered 31 percentage points, you are correct. You could also express it as a 69% increase.
But there is another, more intriguing answer: The difference between the two years may have been Singapore math.
At the start of the 2005-06 school year, Ramona began using textbooks developed for use in Singapore, a Southeast Asian city-state whose pupils consistently rank No. 1 in international math comparisons. Ramona's math scores soared.
That's excellent news. Really appreciate the information you provide.
ReplyDeleteThe best way to change school is start at the elementary level. When kids and parents demand curriculum like Singapore in the upper grades that will be the second phase of a reform effort.
This is why the miracle movement has persisted for the last 50 years - the public has never thought highly of it, because they were the victims and there are very few survivors to hold up after a decade of implementing and piloting.
Two hundred years from now, miracle math will be a propagandist's subject for study - Room 101. These colorless slimeballs might have better luck teaching snails how to crawl (if only they had legs to stand on...)
Maybe now they'll start sounding like that beer commercial:
Its the water; etc...
whatever, it can't be us mentality, they're too smart for that.