Bucks County Herald – November 30, 2006

Integrated Math, Palisades’ Rich Heffernan Project 720

Dear Friends,

Good morning. If you have children or grandchildren in the public schools, you may be concerned about how they are learning math. In a front-page article, The New York Times (Nov. 14) warned that children in the United States simply do not measure up to their peers around the world. For example, “American eighth-graders lag far behind those from Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and elsewhere,” the Times reported.

Last week I had chats with administrators at Palisades, Pennridge, and Quakertown school districts about Integrated Math, the style of math instruction, which has brought about so much controversy. Some parents in the Quakertown school system complain that their children are not prepared for college math. Ten days ago, Quakertown parents heard the Bucks County Intermediate Unit report its findings about whether Integrated Math needs changing.

The NYT reported that the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics is now recommending a tighter focus on basic math skills instead of teaching dozens of math topics in each grade. The Council says that the so-called reform math has crippled students with its de-emphasizing of basic drills and memorization in favor of allowing children to find their own ways to solve problems.

After seven years with the Integrated Math program, the Quakertown school district is taking a hard look to determine whether it should continue, amend, or drop it. Pennridge’s Superintendent, Robert Kish, says his school district uses both traditional and integrated math. So does the Palisades schools, according to Dr. Marilyn Miller, the Assistant Superintendent.

Quakertown is forming a task force to make recommendations to the school board in February. It will need the balance of the academic year to make changes, if any, for next year. In the weeks ahead, I’ll share what the folks at Palisades, Pennridge and Quakertown revealed.

While talking with Dr. Miller, I learned that Palisades High School recently conducted a useful program for its faculty. Palisades received a $50,000 grant from the state Department of Education to run Project 720, a three year program “It’s called Project 720 because in the last four years of [high] school, there are 720 teaching days left to get kids ready for life,” Miller told me.

She referred me to Rich Heffernan, Palisades’ High School Principal. “We wanted our faculty to sit with college admissions people and college instructors in math, English, social studies, science, world languages, and wellness-fitness,” Heffernan began. Teachers and administrators from Kutztown University, Penn State, Lafayette, St. Bonaventure, Lehigh, and Bucks Community College spent the day with 60 Palisades teachers.

In the first session, college admissions personnel formed a panel to discuss what colleges and universities are looking for in high school graduates. “Our teachers asked them 10 different questions ranging from college placements, to SAT’s, to essays,” Heffernan continued. “What makes a student stand out? What kind of support systems do colleges have for their students?”

In the second session, the Palisades faculty split up and worked with college professors in various academic disciplines. The college teachers shared the types of assignments at the college 101 level. The Palisades faculty discovered the kinds of problems which young college students face.

Heffernan is very proud of Project 720. “We’re unique,” he said. “I’m unaware of any other school [in this region] doing this.”

Project 720 exposes Palisades teachers to the college, military or real world work place. “In the first year, we send our faculty out to the work place,” Heffernan said. “In year two, we send our faculty to colleges and universities. This year (year three), colleges and universities have come to Palisades.”

It sure sounds like the right idea. I wonder whether Pennridge and Quakertown have considered Project 720. I’ll ask them.

And we’ll return to the Integrated Math subject soon. Stay tuned.

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith