>When our very own regional newspaper admits that Reformed Math was, “… intended to have a low intimidation factor and may be more accessible to students — particularly girls and African-American students — who are less likely to enroll in higher-level math courses,” it has identified perhaps the greatest fear parents have with these programs: they will NOT adequately prepare students for higher math learning.
On that, everyone from Stanford to Harvard to New York University agrees. The BOE and its Superintendent of Curriculum have still not justified why this program has been forced upon the unwitting students of two of our elementary schools. Have these schools been targeted for being considered more “diverse” economically than the other elementary schools, with the expectation that their students will likely go to lesser ranked colleges? Could it be that Ridgewood itself is overflowing with African-Americans, who are under-performing? Is the fly missing something here? What does the great BOE know about our demographics that we, the good citizens of this Village, cannot see?
I get it…it must be the “stupid” girls. Girls are everywhere. And where there are girls, then it stands to reason that a dumb math program must follow. Ladies, you’ve earned it. That Barbie Doll who “hated math” has tagged you for life. Forget about equality in the classroom or in the workplace. In Ridgewood, the BOE has decided that you are DUMB…dumber than the dumb math program. If you go to Travell or Orchard, then there will be no Harvard, Princeton or Yale for you based on your “high” math scores.
The Record visited Travell third grade teacher Matthew Connelly’s classroom. Connelly told the Record that what he likes is that his class is, “using our multiplication skills to think about this math.” That’s nice Mr. Connelly, since the College Board is considering qualifying students of TERC as special education performers, thereby giving them extra time to “think” about math on the SAT’s.
>Taxpayers, tens of thousands of our dollars have been spent on these damaging reform math programs. Parents of school childern, this math does not educate and prepare our students. Vote to get it removed from our schools. Visit http://www.vormath.info and click on the petition icon located in the top right corner of the page.
>Watch this clip on youtube from the Simpsons about teaching math to girls, and get a cathartic laugh.
Simpsons clip
>Here’s the link to the article in The Record.
>I think the people in public school education have an inferiority complex. They are easing this by ensuring that our children will be as dumb and as weakly schooled as they are.
They will not rest until that goal is achieved. And nothing, no intervention of any kind, will stop them!
Rise up people. They are UNION workers who accept the socialist model whereby everyone is paid equally for unequal achievement and effort. Didn’t this kind of thing sink Russia?
They want us to be more like them and if they can’t change us, they will certainly work to change our children.
>Any one who still doesn’t think this is an issue and the deck is not stacked…take a look at this.
Dr Marty Brooks – TERC man from Plainview-OldBethpage (their numbers are horrid for elementary) and prior to that he was at Valley Stream NY (I dont know their numbers but heard they were not good)
– Dr. Ives formerly of West Milford NJ schools (their elementary scores are horrible)
– Regina Botsford … from Bridgewater-Raritan … where they are working to rid themselves of Everyday Math (scores not good)
A holy trinity of bad math decisions.
>The Record article mentions a Joseph Rosenstein. A man with a vested interest in TERC and CMP.
J. Rosenstein is a collaborator with constructivists on state initatives.
Constructivists are individuals with the same ideology as our new superintendent, Dr. Marty Brooks.
Who was nowhere to be found when the Record and the Times visited the Village of Ridgewood.
>I guess BF is full of stupid girls & economically and culturally disadvantaged kids too. That would be why BF is starting dumb dumb math. Now I get it… the people on the West Side are just smarter. Wow, thanks to the Board of Ed for helping to make this clear.
Gotta love this stuff. The Board of Ed experiments with the Middle School Reform Math program on the BF kids. What a surprise that they didn’t roll this out first at GW!
East Side – 0 West Side – 1
You win again.
>If you think our kids are being disadvantaged by the math program just wait until they do this math program AND have the noise of construction from Valley Hospitals massive expansion.
>Well folks this is what the American Association of University Women are up to these days. They know where the grant money is and they aim to get it whether or not it ruins the next generations of children or not. This is the world of Shalala and those that got Summers fired because he didn’t kiss the hem of those professing “Woman as eternal victim”. Their aim is to twist the elhi curriculum to support their radical agenda which encompasses only the <5% of the classroom - the high testosterone females. The rest of the class can eat rocks for all that they care. Their objective is to mold the uber female. They know how to suck up the grant money (it's a closed club) that keeps them living high on the hog. They are playing gender politics with our children and, as with the liebenborn project, they don't care who they hurt. All the children that are left by the wayside are acceptable casualties in their eyes. They target the inner city to get the grants going. Money flows there without too much scrutiny (look at the Abbot districts). I mean, "It's for the poor forgotten children" routine. The higher echelon carpetbagger educators, ala Brooks, who benefit both financially and career wise by being perceived as being a purveyor of the magic elixir of higher education continue the hoax only to say in the end that they were on the cutting edge but it didn't work. The real casualties don't bother them. They've got their money. They just leave and go to some other podunk place just like the preWizard in the Wizard of Oz. The country is full of BOE people who are convinced that they are smarter than the people that elected them. Please lets get back to basic education and let the kids become whatever they like to be. They shouldn't be politcal footballs.
>Well, this is OVER THE TOP!!!
When everything else fails, play the gender or race card. PLEEASE!!!
We all can see way past these comments. I for one, do support looking into math issue and their supporters do have valid points but I would never want to associate myself with such diatribe as I have seen on this blog. I have been a silent voyeur for quite some time but will not keep silent anymore.
PJ, I am done with this blog and everything else Frances feeds to you!!!
I will not be visiting anymore, I hope the rest of you make the same decision to preserve decency in this town!
>PJ has struck a nerve and I think he is right.
The BoE would never even think about rolloing out such a controversial, experimental math program at Ridge or Willard. Experiment in the ghetto, if it works we’ll let it spread.
Hey Ridge and Willard parents speak up, because notwithstanding the fact that the BoE’s experiment is a dismal failure, they think it has worked. It is coming your way next if you don’t stop them.
>Well, this is OVER THE TOP!!!
When everything else fails, play the gender or race card. PLEEASE!!!
stop playing it you coward !
>When a program is created to aid the education of African-Americans, who, virtually every statistic tells us lag behind whites, it is fair to ask why this program is in Ridgewood.
Ridgewood is not home to under-performing African-Americans, so why is this program here? Why is the Board of Education using such a program in two elementary schools and not the rest of them? clearly it’s not a Black issue, so it must be an economic issue.
It is the board that has struck a divisive chord with its “selectivity.” Blaming the messenger is just pathetic, but predictable (not to mention intellectually dishonest) when indefensible actions are questioned and supporters of the skewed, apolitical structure in this Village have no cards to play.
The emperor is naked. Get used to it. He’s been flashing us for years!
I happen to think the emperor is also bigoted; and this is based on past experiences with Orchard in particular. So there.
>CMP and TERC are inner city geared Math programs.
CMP is used as a “lower track” Math program in some middle schools.
It is incongruous with the demographic in Ridgewood.
But I honestly don’t think that the BOE or curriculum department thought about what side of town got it when they bought it.
I think they made a mistake taken in by the Pearson salesperson’s propaganda.
There’s no conspiracy here.
>This statement is from an article in the NY Times dated 6.8.07 by Tamar Lewin:
“The differences between state proficiency standards were sometimes more than double the national gap between minority and white students’ reading levels, which averages about 30 points on the national test, Mr. Whitehurst said.”
I guess 8:56 pm would have to say that the Times is playing the race card, too, using the huge 30% achievement gap for “minorities” to explain the flagrant dishonesty behind state standards that our BOE seems to like so much.
Don’t hold your breath for it. That one’s a hit and run specialist, otherwise known as a “drive by blogger.
>Oh brother ,if you cant win an argument you can just call your opponent a Racist ,Bigot Homophobe…that’s the ticket !
>It’s obvious who’s not winning this argument. An inner city program in Ridgewood is not something that can be defended.
I guess they’ll try to burn the “witches” next.
>Having read most of the communications made here by the bloggers, and pj it obvious that some people have little or no tollerance for an opposing view….Which reminds me of Germany in the 1940….So here is a new term for you, Nazi Bloggers!
>Nazi bloggers? You MUST be a Limbaugh Hannity Fox news junkie! zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
>TERC is actually more expensive because you need to buy a box full of manipulatives…that’s the sock puppets, blocks, abacus, stones and stuff.
Standard workbooks cost $10 to $12 a child.
(I’m kidding about the abacus, they are too advanced.)
>Terc is actually more expensive because you have to hire a private tutor to ensure that your child will learn usable math.
>Anonymous said…
It’s obvious who’s not winning this argument. An inner city program in Ridgewood is not something that can be defended.
Translation: If Ridgewood doesn’t offer or provide an inner city curriculum maybe those African-Americans, who are under-performing will leave or better yet, stay away! Ok you racists, you have exposed yourselves.
>To 4:21am,
I’m one of the few liberals who actually visit this blog and I have to say, you are wrong.
The people most seriously hurt by this are the poor and minorities.
They can not supplement with tutors because of a bad math program and if they are immigrants they think this is the “crazy” way we teach Math in the United States.
This Math hurts everyone.
>This Math hurts everyone
All Children excel to meet expectations when you continue to lower expectations you degrade a child’s education and teach that child to fail. Its a simply fact that educators dont seem to grasp ,because of there agenda driven education has nothing to do with learning and TERC is proof positive
>From the Village Website!!!
Brooks Declines Ridgewood Superintendency
Dr. Martin Brooks has informed the Ridgewood Board of Education that because of personal reasons he will not accept the Superintendency in Ridgewood. It is the position of the Board that before Dr. Brooks’ arrival he was made to feel unwelcome. Anonymous phone calls, emails, blogs, and web postings by some community members questioned his integrity, ethics and educational philosophy.
The Board considers this to be a most unfortunate situation for the Village and schools. It is not reflective of Ridgewood’s supportive community and its values.
After an extensive nine-month process, using criteria and specifications developed in collaboration with the community, the Board selected Dr. Brooks to be the next superintendent. Some in the community took exception to the Board’s decision and have undermined the process.
At its June 18, 2007, meeting, the Board will discuss the hiring of an interim superintendent and the initiation of a second superintendent search. As always, the Board will continue to focus on the education of more than 5,600 students in the Ridgewood Public School system.
>https://www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us/index.cfm?&ArticleID=31872
>”Translation: If Ridgewood doesn’t offer or provide an inner city curriculum maybe those African-Americans, who are under-performing will leave or better yet, stay away! Ok you racists, you have exposed yourselves.
4:21 AM”
Who is the racist here? Who says our children of African descent are under-performing. To make such an assumption is truly racist.
>PJ writes- “All Children excel to meet expectations” This is so NOT true. Whether or not you agree with TERC, you cannot make this sweeping generalization. I am an educator and I see all kinds of students in my classroom. Some people on this blog have an inflated idea of what a typical “Ridgewood” student is. Many kids require additional support, a multi-sensory approach, differentiated instruction. How many of the people who comment here have either a teaching certificate or a degree in education? My second question is, why do so many people think that the typical Ridgewood student is “gifted,” high-achieving and willing to work? I have seen enough lazy kids to last a lifetime.
>”I have seen enough lazy kids to last a lifetime.
3:37 PM”
And you thought Nuns were a bad thing. Those gals knew how to motivate the lazy.
>pjblogger62 said…
This Math hurts everyone
All Children excel to meet expectations when you continue to lower expectations you degrade a child’s education and teach that child to fail. Its a simply fact that educators dont seem to grasp ,because of there agenda driven education has nothing to do with learning and TERC is proof positive
So your an expert on this subject……and your educational background and credentials are…..
Inquiring minds want to know.
Ps my question is not intended to be a rhetorical question.
>First, being a teacher I just can’t refrain from correcting your grammar and spelling. “Your” does not mean “you are” and “there” is a place, not a possessive. The word you need is “their.” OK…so I couldn’t resist. Anyhow, here are my credentials. I am a NJ licensed teacher, K-12. I am certified in 2 subject areas, but I don’t want to elaborate on that. Suffice it to say that neither area is math. I have taught both the general population as well as a special education population. In one district where I taught, I had several workshops on differentiated instruction because that was a major push there. I have also done research on Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences. I have a Bachelor’s of Science and am currently pursuing my Masters. If there is anything else that you would like to know, fire away. Also, in my classroom there is no agenda-driven education. I have a certain curriculum to teach, and it’s pretty much up to me to how I’d like to teach it. I choose my methods, my materials.
I do not profess to be a math expert…far from it. However what does make me an authority is that I am in the trenches each and every day of the week. I see all the students and recognize their strengths and weaknesses.
>”First, being a teacher ….” 9:37 PM
And your point is?
A BS degree meant you did not take a language, correct? Is this degree in education or did you actually study a real topic?
As for your MA, is it too in education?
I think the teachers and administrators have started a cottage industry all to themselves. Used to be one went out and got a degree in a subject and then tought it. Now teachers get a degree in teaching. How absurd is that!
Know nothings teaching nothing. No wonder our kids are lagging behind the other nations in the industrial world when it comes to learning scores.
Of course today, we know so much more than we did years ago about the way children learn that we need to teach teachers how to teach the delicate minds of children, ensuring that they have self esteem in order to feel good about themselves no matter how poorly they do in school.
And I got a bridge I’ll sell you.
>Hey Teacher (who posted above)
The question one post before your post was to pjblogger, not you. Please try to pay attention in class…..ooppps… to your reading. Thanks
>It’s true. Education degrees began the fall of the teaching profession.
One need only look at our performance compared to students around the world for proof.
>”Anonymous said…
Hey Teacher (who posted above)
The question one post before your post was to pjblogger, not you. Please try to pay attention in class…..ooppps… to your reading. Thanks
6:37 AM”
I can read. If you have nothing to say to advance the dialouge, then keep your sarcastic remarks to yourself.
>Ahhhh, did I hit a nerve? If I decide to be sarcastic I will be sarcastic, and you have the right to just ignore me. What you don’t have the right to do is tell me what to do, thank you very much!