A big response to Key Press

In case you have not been entirely in the loop......

Bulletin Key Curriculum Press is particularly unhappy with the great Northwest

... Well at least certain persons ... like Randy Dorn, who dropped "Discovering" off the recommended list. KCP sued OSPI in Olympia and lost as Judge McPhee said Dorn was perfectly within his role as SPI to drop what he saw as needing to be dropped. I suspect that "Mathematically Unsound" tag is becoming a bit cumbersome to carry around.

Then there is the Scientific American Article look at the comment from President & CEO Karen Coe

Here it is as she sets the record straight (her words not mine:
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Karen Coe at 06:10 PM on 02/22/10

While this article is well-written and provides various viewpoints, it contains an important error regarding the Seattle case:

The three-year pilot referred to in the article did NOT include any materials from the Discovering Mathematics textbook series. The plaintiffs relied on data from other curricula to make their claims, not on any data regarding Discovering Mathematics.

In addition, Discovering Mathematics had not been used in the Seattle School District when the lawsuit was filed. The plaintiffs reacted to the choice of materials and not the results from the high-school classrooms.

Seattle’s textbook selection process chose Discovering Mathematics after exhaustive review by administrators, educators, curriculum and instruction department staff, parents, school board members, and mathematicians.

The Discovering Mathematics curriculum incorporates multiple teaching methods. You get the best of both worlds by learning not just “how” to do something, but also “why” you’re doing it.

The program is comprehensive with extensive resources for not only the classroom but also for parents and students to practice from home.

The Discovering Mathematics series teaches high school Algebra, Advanced Algebra, and Geometry. It is currently in use in all 50 states. Books from the Discovering Series are used abroad by the U.S. Department of Defense for its high schools, as well as by the schools in the US Virgin Islands, American International Schools, and have been translated for schools in Asia.

Thank you for allowing me to set the record straight. For more facts, please go to http://www.keypress.com/seattle.

Karen Coe
President & CEO, Key Curriculum Press
Publisher of Discovering Mathematics
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Yes I have a response. The 18,000+ Bethel School district is my response. They have used "Discovering" for three years. Check the WASL data ... not impressive.

I made a nifty little report on all this complete with a detailed response to Ms. Coe.

Check it out here:
as a word .doc

Or as two .pdf
.. .. .. .. The .pdf came out much better than word
#1 .pdf and #2 .pdf