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Public Awareness Archives

Past entries are, we believe, of critical importance when making decisions that impact the future of our nation’s youth. Therefore, all such entries are posted in the Public Awareness Archive.

Ruth Parker: An Open Letter in Response to Questions - Posted July 2007

I have kept your email intact to respond directly to each question.  You will find all of your questions in italics, followed by my replies.  In light of your suggestion that others may have some of the same questions and my answers should be accessible to everyone who is interested, I have posted my response on MEC’s website. I apologize in advance for my lack of brevity, but the issues you raise are important, misconceptions exist, and are too great to take lightly.  I have responded to each concern you raised in order to directly address misconceptions and hopefully promote productive dialogue.

Read complete letter:

An Open Letter in Response to Questions >

 

PAwareArchiveResWebsiteMathematics: How are students doing? - Posted March 2007

The Report on Cross-State Comparisons on NAEP Performance provides for cross-state comparisons of student performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), and allows for within state analysis. Readers will find that Washington students consistently perform near the top on national comparisons, while California students consistently perform near the bottom of the nation. This is true for every demographic group studied.

 

Mathematics Education: Where are we? - Posted March 2007

 The Report to the National Math Panel includes a short history of the crisis in mathematics education dating back to the First International Mathematics Study in 1967, and subsequent calls, in the early 1980s, for changes in how math is taught that led to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ Standards for School Mathematics (1989). The report outlines the development and evaluation of several innovative, NSF funded, mathematics programs. Finally, the current status of mathematics standards in California is reviewed including data on student achievement.

 

 

Mathematics Matters - Host MEC Content Courses

“Due to my own deeper understanding of math, I am able to see my students’ ways of solving problems much better and therefore guide them to their own understanding. I find that by using MEC approaches, my students no longer come to me to see if they are wrong or right. They can determine that on their own, which is so important in mathematics.”  - Middle School Mathematics Teacher 

“Doing mathematics as a learner in MEC sessions has given me new insight into the power of mathematical as inquiry and investigations.”  - District Administrator

“My work with MEC has created in me a love and fascination for mathematics. It has compelled me to confront my own struggles with math, leaving me in a far, far better position to understand deeply the mathematics I am supposed to be teaching; to understand my students’ attitudes about mathematics learning as well as that of their families; and to understand my students’ thinking about math.”  - 1st Grade Teacher

“I started to use ideas from MEC’s summer course within the first two weeks of school to increase number sense.  Later I used more MEC ideas to increase my students’ algebraic understanding.”  - Middle School Mathematics Teacher