Questions and Answers from the Elementary Math Presentation on October 8, 2014 In bold print are the questions written by parents. Below the question you will find the Elementary Leadership’s response. Suggestions and Ideas for Parents to Support your Child How can I know what method is best for helping my child since they are learning three different ways to do basic math? 5 group cards, count on hands, count in head? Engage NY provides multiple ways to learn and practice concepts. Ideally the combination of models builds the conceptual understanding. That being said some children have preferred models. Observe and see what works best but continue to use a variety of methods. What if a child is not ready developmentally for explaining the concepts but knows the rote mechanics/math facts? This way of teaching has too much writing/reading for students with learning disabilities. Teachers are differentiating and providing supports for students who are not developmentally ready or students with disabilities. We are continuing to explore how to lift the level of rigor and support individual needs. How do I explain the word problems to my child the way the teacher is teaching so she will understand? You can refer to the Eureka Math Parent guide for the module or refer to the Engage NY website for the key vocabulary. There is no right or wrong way to support your child. Let your child take the lead in sharing what they know and how they solve problems. I want to know why my child comes home and doesn’t know what to do. Please send a note back on the homework to the teacher letting he/she know that your child did not know how to approach or do the homework when they came home. This lets the teacher know your child needs more practice or additional support. How do I help with homework? My daughter cries over homework every night. This is very concerning. If you have not already, please talk to your child’s teacher and develop a plan for communication and monitoring how your child is doing with the homework. As communicated in the presentation, all homework should be independent. If not, please communicate with the classroom teacher. I want to know what I need to do to help a second grader understand the process and how to help reinforce concepts from class. All the Engage NY materials are available for you to review if you wish. It may be helpful to preview to understand the process and how a concept is being taught. The best way to reinforce concepts is to use real life situations to have your child practice a concept taught in class. How can I connect the way I learned math with Engage NY? The biggest difference is many of us were taught a rote, step by step way to solve problems that did not build the conceptual understanding. The best way is to learn side by side with your child to see how they are learning vs. how you were taught.
Can things like tape diagrams be strategies for students that struggle? Does every child need to draw a diagram? The visual models like the tape diagrams help all students develop an understanding of the concepts. When the program is using tape diagrams, children are required to show their thinking using the tape diagrams. Over time they may not need the model. How can I help my child like/love math? Continue to develop a growth mind set in your child towards math. Connect math to your child’s interest and strengths. Consider how to show your child the progress they are making over time. Is there an online resource? Where is the best place for parents to get the same instruction their kids are to support them? What is expected week for week for the progression? The scope and sequence in Engage NY is referred to as The Story of Units. This link will provide specifics for each of the grade levels. https://www.engageny.org/resource/pre-kindergarten-grade-5-mathematics-curriculum-map-andguiding-documents This is a resource that may be helpful. http://www.oakdale.k12.ca.us/cms/page_view?d=x&piid=&vpid=1391596408603 Why is my child feeling so frustrated with math now? The rigor of the math has increased. If your child was having a lot of success with math, they may not understand why it is not as easy for them. Please let your child know he/she is being challenged, but you have confidence that with time, effort, and effective strategies they will improve. Please speak to your child’s teacher to see what they are observing in the classroom. Program Components Is the program more than worksheet based for homework because currently that’s all we get? The homework provided with the program is paper and pencil. Some teachers are sending home work that is more hands on or that involve using technology such as Xtra Math. Homework is centered around facts. How do we get to see our child’s progress beside two parent teacher conferences? You will receive the standards-based report card which will provide additional information. Is the Xtra math a part of the Engage NY or an addition to? Teaches are using X-tra Math (a free online math program) is an addition to Engage NY. Students may have for Xtra math for homework or visit a computer station during the Math Workshop model. Our Process Why are we using this curriculum? (Not meant to be negative, but wondering) -
Low math achievement as measured by district and state assessments Need for a common math experience K-4 across all buildings Need to increase the rigor of mathematics instruction to align with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks Need to develop a conceptual understanding of numbers and mathematics Mastery leads to greater retention which allows students to build on their understandings in later grades
Why was K-4 implementation not staggered?
A staggered implementation (Kindergarten the first year, grade 1 the next etc…) was not considered given the importance addressing the items listed in the question above. What was the basis for selecting Engage NY? Were there various math curriculum programs reviewed? Engage NY, Investigations, and Steppingstones was reviewed and rated on a rubric as part of the Math Leadership Councils meeting. The only programs we reviewed were those that we could afford within the constraints of the elementary budget. How long have you known HPS would be adopting this curriculum? June 3, 2014 Will this curriculum stick? Or will there be something new in a year or two? The Math Leadership Council will have an on-going review of the effectiveness of the program. If the district does not find it effective, a fiscal plan and piloting process will be developed to consider other programs. Why were parents not told about the new method ahead of this year? In hindsight, we should have communicated with parents and families earlier. Why weren’t parent support materials distributed earlier? We just discovered the Eureka math materials during professional development time in September. The parent resources will now be copied and sent home at the start of a unit. Engage NY has parent videos but no print resource for parents. Key Shifts in Math Curriculum and Instruction How is this a proven strategy to improve math learning? How will this program be better that other programs? Engage NY used the most up to date research to guide the sequence of instruction and the best practices in math instruction to develop the curriculum. The review by the Math Leadership Council determined Engage NY was a better program than Steppingstones or Investigations. Why a method that is a correct answer is wrong because it isn’t this method? Engage NY is requiring students to not only provide an answer but be able to explain or show how they decided it is the correct answer. How are we ensuring children are getting one concept before the class moves to the next concept? The program is designed to revisit concepts over the course of the module so there is not an expectation of mastery at the end of the lesson. The exit slips and mid-module assessments provide teachers with data on how students are doing and if more time is needed for practice. The Workshop Model provides opportunities for students to revisit topics after a module is complete with more guided teaching and practice. Why is there a need to change the way we all did math for so many years? The old way of teaching mathematics is not preparing students math understanding required to be college and career ready. New methods and techniques are helping children to meet with more success in mathematics. What happened to “knowing” addition/subtraction, multiplication tables? Are we at a point that we don’t want to memorize these? This is a key shift. The MA Frameworks delay teaching the standard algorithm in order to build conceptual understanding. Rather than memorizing the focus is number fluency. We will be gathering additional resources to share with parents on this key change.
How will this help in the real world? The Engage NY program and the workshop model provided students with multiple opportunities to solve real-world authentic problems through application and connections. How is teaching several different learning strategies supposed to help student achievement? Students who have multiple strategies and are flexible in their thinking are able to achieve at higher levels than a child how has only one way to solve a problem and are not able to adjust and work through more complex problems. The combination of conceptual understanding, procedural Skills and fluency, and application will improve student achievement. Common Core State Standards- Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for Mathematics- MCAS-MKEA What is the overall consensus of the new common core math amongst teachers? Teachers understand their responsibility to provide standards based instruction using the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks to guide instruction. The MA Frameworks are aligned to the Common Core State standards but not identical. Massachusetts chose to develop pre-school standards and added different standards at some of the grade levels. How and why most states transitioned to common core math practices? Quick answer- The basis of the Common Core State Standards is to address the need for students to be college and career ready. For more information refer to the Introduction in the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. http://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/current.html How does this align with MCAS? MCAS is answer specific and does not take into account process. With the math consultant, math specialists, and classroom teachers we are making decision on how to address MCAS and will adjust instruction accordingly. For example, in 3rd grade perimeter is taught in the final module. We will decide where to shift that unit so it is addressed before MCAS. MCAS will be replaced by a more rigorous assessments like the PARCC so we need to be preparing students for a variety of assessments. Why do you want to take pictures and videos of my kindergartener doing math? As part of the Massachusetts Kindergarten Entry Assessment, kindergarten teachers are gathering formative assessment data on the social, emotional, and cognitive needs of students. The pictures and videotaping in not for math. Kindergarten parents should have received a letter and parent permission form. For students taking MCAS this year, will the Engage NY curriculum prepare them ( I am assuming the new curriculum is geared towards PARCC). Engage NY prepares students to think and approach problems with a variety of strategies. Engage NY is preparing students for MCAS and PARCC. Transition and Transitions What grade is Engage NY utilized until? Engage NY is being used as a core resource K-4. With 4th grade doing Engage NY but will go back to another curriculum in 5th? 5th grade core program is called My Math which is published by Glencoe-McGraw Hill and is also aligned to the MA Frameworks. Leslie Knight, the secondary Math and Science Director, is working with her teachers so they are familiar with the instructional strategies and models used in K-4.
Are our kids who are starting this in grades 1 and later already behind? How can we get our students to catch up with these base strategies throughout the grades? Since students have been taught the math standards, they are not behind with the curriculum. What is a challenge is that the students have not had the various models introduced in the program. Teachers are adjusting instruction and provide opportunities for children to practice the new models. Why are 4th graders a part of the program since they will not be participating in a common core program next year? 4th graders will be participating in a math program next year that is aligned to the Common Core State Standards and the MA Curriculum Frameworks. Support and professional development in place to assist teachers How different learning levels with the classroom will effectively taught? Teachers are using the Math Workshop Model to provide small flexible group instruction and using formative assessment data to plan. In addition, our math consultant will be providing on-going professional development to support teacher in meeting the range of needs in the classroom. What kind of training did the teacher get? What support is being is provided for teachers? Teachers are receiving a combination of professional development and work in professional learning communities with the math consultant, weekly common planning time with the math specialists, and on-going support and collaboration time across the grade levels. Data How are students being measured? Classroom? District? State? Students understanding is being measured and monitored by the classroom teachers through the formative assessment data gathered in the classroom. District wide all teachers are giving the end of the module assessments, and at the state level students are being measured through MCAS. What data can you share that says this program is improving proficiency in math? At this point we only have anecdotal information from teachers, students, and administrators. We are observing students doing more rigorous math and students liking the challenge. We will have more formal measures in place to gather data and analyze as we move forward. Exit Ticket Questions- if a question was answered already you will be directed to that section of the document. What is the scope and sequence of Grade 2? The scope and sequence in Engage NY is referred to as The Story of Units. This link will provide specifics for each of the grade levels. . https://www.engageny.org/resource/pre-kindergarten-grade-5-mathematics-curriculum-map-andguiding-documents Will the program be carried over into middle school?- refer to Transition and Transitions above. Why was this program not rolled out grade by grade? What was the urgency?- refer to our process for choosing a core program above. I would like to know about specific strategies now that I have an overview. The Elementary Leadership Team will work to plan additional math nights to address the specific strategies used in Engage NY and the workshop model. Why do this? It seems like making the simplest part of the math a lot more complicated.
The focus is on deepening conceptual understanding vs. rote memorization. Can we get some materials sent home that can provide context to help when reviewing the homework? The Eureka Math parent letters will be going home before each unit. We will continue to figure out the best way to support homework. Could people introduce themselves to the audience? The presenter of the Power Point was Karen Martin, Director of Elementary Education. Why do some schools have regular math homework and others do not? The Elementary Leadership Team will work with the teachers to ensure common experiences across all curriculum areas including homework. Are there any summer/vacation events with intensive math classes? The Elementary Leadership Team with the teachers and math specialist will continue to work to support students during the summer. We will share any programs that may be available to students and families. How often are math specialists in each classroom? Math specialists are in individual classrooms 1-2 times a week depending upon building size and schedules. In addition, math specialist common plan one period per week with grade level teams in each of the buildings. Can we get copies of the “sprint” if our kids are not bringing them home? Sprints are available at the Engage NY website or discuss with your child’s teacher. How do we benchmark with school districts around Hudson like Stow, Sudbury, Southborough and more? What can we learn from them? Grade 3 District
Advanced
Proficient
Hudson Stow Sudbury Southborough
26% 51% 47% 69%
43% 33% 37% 22%
District
Advanced
Proficient
Hudson Stow Sudbury Southborough
16% 27% 41% 44%
30% 40% 43% 35%
Needs Improvement 23% 11% 12% 12%
Warning
Needs Improvement 43% 29% 14% 19%
Warning
8% 5% 4% 2%
Grade 4
10% 4% 2% 2%
Additional information can be found in District Profiles under the tab Assessments for any district in Massachusetts. http://www.doe.mass.edu/ We do learn and communicate with other districts. We learned of our math consultant from Northboro-Southboro. We are currently in contact with other districts implementing Engage NY.
Is there research to show the success rate of this program? This is a brand new program available last year. Engage NY was developed using the current research on best practices in teaching mathematics. Why did we waste the first hour on why we adopted engaged NY, where it came from and the reasoning behind it? We are sorry that the format was not helpful to you. The presentation was designed to address the questions and concerns brought to the district and to ensure a wider audience had an accurate and complete understanding of the process and program. Are 1st graders required to complete exit tickets every day? A teacher may or may not give an exit slip every day. The expectation is once or twice a week for all grade levels. What about the MA math standards that not a part of the NY (CCSS)? Money and time are the two major concepts not in Engage NY that are in the MA standards. Teachers are focused on MA standards and will address those concepts through the workshop model. Why no Q and A? Why were no questions answered? The time frame and size of the group did not lend itself to a Q and A session. The exercise at the beginning and the Exit Tickets provide the best way to gather the needs of the audience and a process to get information back out to parents. How will the transition into 5th grade go for our 4th grade students? How are 5th grades teachers prepared for our children?- refer to Transition and Transition section How prepared will our 4th graders be for MCAS and 5th grade where the curriculum is going to change again. refer to Transition and Transition section I would like to see how the 1st year went/progress. We also are very interested in monitoring the first year and seeing the progress. The Math Leadership Council will be working on this throughout the year and develop a plan to communicate out to parents.
