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NEW JERSEY COALITION TO IMPROVE
STATE MATH STANDARDS IS MAKING PROGRESS
February 6, 2009-The New Jersey Coalition for World Class Math (https://njworldclassmath.webs.com), an organization of concerned citizens who seek to improve New Jersey’s K-12 math standards, announces its progress report. The Coalition has established a dialogue among research mathematicians, educational advisors, parents, and the New Jersey Department of Education. Their objective is to have new math standards which are on par with those of states ranked higher than ours: California, Massachusetts and Indiana. According to the Coalition, the new math standards must be internationally benchmarked against countries that outperform the U.S. on international math tests, such as Singapore,Japan, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Finland.
“This coalition unites New Jersey citizens who wish to ensure that every child in our state receives a world class math education,” said Amy Flax, a co-founder of the Coalition.
Coalition co-founder Jill Gladstone adds, “In order to achieve this goal, our state math standards need to be written with rigor, focus, coherence, and clarity. As in those states ranked higher than N.J., the process must include research mathematicians and other similar experts outside of New Jersey who have experience writing highly ranked, successful math standards.”
The TIMSS (Trends in Mathematics and Science Study) and the National Math Panel’s March 2008 Final Report underpin the Coalition’s goal. Both studies raise serious concerns about the status of our nation’s K-12 math education. It is critical that the NJ DOE heed the National Math Panel’s findings to ensure that our children will be able to compete in the global economy.
Progress is underway as the NJ DOE has acknowledged some of the Coalition’s recommendations. The most recent draft of the revised math standards (https://www.nj.gov/education/aps/cccs/2009/math/index.html) includes references to the National Math Panel’s key findings and other states and countries which the Coalition proposed as models of success.
The NJDOE asked the Coalition to help distribute the latest draft so that the NJDOE can receive feedback from as many NJ stakeholders and outside mathematicians as possible.
The Coalition is pleased that the NJ DOE is putting forth greater attention to the math standards and its revision process. Input will continue to be sought from the Coalition’s panel of advisors and their feedback will b e provided to the NJ DOE.
For more information contact:
Westfield: Amy Flax 908-233-7898 amyflax@gmail.com
Bridgewater: Jill Gladstone 908-575-9288 JillzGlad@aol.com
Ridgewood: Sarah-Kate Maskin 201-251-9068 sktalks2u@aol.com
