By Cathy Spaulding
As area educators choose new math textbooks for the next six years, they face tougher standards for their core curriculum math tests.
The key is to make sure the new textbooks are more closely aligned with the state mandated math curricula for the different grade levels.
“We’re definitely looking to see if our math textbooks are correlated with the PASS Objectives,” Hilldale curriculum and testing director Faye Garrison said, referring to the state curriculum. “When we look at a sample textbook, we see what PASS skills are being addressed. We’re looking to get as strong a textbook as we can.”
Garrison said the previous math textbook, adopted in 2004, proved inadequate in preparing students for state tests.
“We had to bring in so much extra information, we literally stopped using the textbook for the fifth grade,” she said.
This year, students must get more questions right on their math tests in order to pass, Garrison said.
In July, the State Board of Education voted to increase standards for math and reading tests for grades three through eight. The standards were raised to get them closer to those of the National Assessment for Educational Progress and to ensure standards were consistent across the grades.
The standards were raised after students took state mandated math tests for 2009. As a result, test results in reading and math plummeted.
Garrison said teachers are working to get their students ready for the tougher tests by more closely going over the PASS objectives.
“We definitely are looking for textbooks that address the state standards,” said Derryl Venters, Muskogee assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. “But we’re also looking for a book that uses technology and computers, things that provide support for the teacher. We want a book that’s engaging and exciting for the kids to use.”
Sandy Harmer teaches third grade math at Fort Gibson Intermediate Elementary School. She said teachers are looking for textbooks that teach critical thinking skills. In critical thinking, students might analyze patterns or work “story problems” that require extra thought, she said.
Increasing the time spent on math also helps, she said.
“We have math for two 50-minute sessions a day, so our performance has improved a lot,” she said. “When I’m teaching, the homeroom teacher is in there with me and also helps with the student. We also have a lot of hands-on things so students know what they’re doing.”
“We have tutoring sessions two mornings a week,” Harmer said.
Teachers also are looking for ways to teach math beyond the textbook. For example, Cherokee physical education teacher Erin Davis used an Oral Roberts University basketball game to teach math. She said she took 63 fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders to an ORU game and had them do math problems.
“Basketball is a really big sport for them,” she said. “We had them count the number of foul shots they made and to see how the scores added up. We asked how many three-point shots were made. We had two or three pages of worksheets.”
