Video from Mark Hebert at WHAS.
FRANKFORT — The state Senate Education Committee approved a joint resolution Thursday that would revamp the way math is taught in Kentucky schools.
Education experts and sponsors said the measure would make Kentucky math standards "higher, clearer and fewer." The proposed curriculum standards would boost achievement, better prepare students for mathematics in college, and mean fewer youngsters would need remedial help, they said......Kelly, who outlined the proposed resolution, said it grew out of a state task force that studied Kentucky's Commonwealth Accountability Testing System, or CATS.
Alice Gabbard, diagnostic intervention director for the Kentucky Center for Mathematics, said Kentucky's standards now require teachers to cover many "big ideas" in math as rapidly as possible. As a result, many students don't get the depth of understanding they need, she contended.
Gabbard noted that the tiny nation of Singapore has a curriculum that covers only about 52 percent of the material on the International Math and Science test. Yet Singapore has some of the world's highest math scores.
"That is maybe a good lesson that we don't have to teach children a whole lot of content every year in order for them to become proficient and have high achievement," Gabbard said. "If we have (Kentucky) teachers who are just covering these topics quickly in order to cover other topics, then we have students who are not well prepared."
Sen. Tim Shaughnessy, D-Louisville, said he liked the proposal, but questioned whether new standards could be ready by August.
Interim Education Commissioner Elaine Farris said preparing teachers to use new math standards would take time.
"We agree with the concept and we already have begun some work on narrowing the standards. But it's not as easy as some people might think," she said.
Hat tip to Kentucky Votes.
From SJR 19:
Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
Section 1. The Kentucky Department of Education is directed to revise core content standards in mathematics for grades prekindergarten through grade 12 and concurrently develop objectives for each standard with teaching tools to accomplish each objective for use by the classroom teacher. The revised content standards and related materials shall be concise and shall be based on the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics "Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through Grade 8 Mathematics" and "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics." These revisions shall be completed no later than August 1, 2009, and shall consider the 2008 findings of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel.
Section 2. The Kentucky Department of Education is directed to revise Kentucky's assessment program in mathematics to ensure that the revised concise content standards are measured and mathematics assessments produce scores that are valid and reliable for individual students. Assessments in mathematics for school year 2009-2010 shall measure the revised content standards.
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