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BY JENN ROWELL
Colored blocks in different shapes might not look like they could help students learn fractions, but they can.
At first, the kids were skeptical, Meg Horne said of her third-grade class at Lee Hill Elementary.
But Margaret Newman, a math specialist assigned to Lee Hill, showed the students how two of the smaller pieces fit on top of a big red one and asked the students what fraction it was.
Horne said that her students were struggling with fractions, but the visual activity helped them realize, "Oh! It's one half and one half."
That's the way teachers in Spotsylvania are approaching math after seeing stagnant test scores and a drop in the ranking of American students in international studies.
During the 2004-05 school year, the first three math specialists were put into four county elementary and two middle schools.
This year, the program includes eight specialists working throughout the county. Other than salaries and benefits, there are no additional costs to run the program. Two new math specialist positions are included in next year's budget.
A math specialist works with teachers to improve their knowledge and teaching strategies, and in many cases, their attitudes toward math.
Spotsylvania was one of the first school divisions in Virginia to implement the specialists, but Stafford County and other localities are adopting the program.
The specialists don't pull students out of class for remediation. Instead, they help teachers find new ways to improve student understanding.
"What we're trying to do is have children experience math more so that there's a deeper understanding, as opposed to traditional problem-solving," said Nancy Spurrier, a math specialist who splits her time between Riverview, Berkeley and Smith Station elementaries.
"We're giving teachers an opportunity to see other ways to solve problems. Kids think very differently."
School officials say teachers are learning, which benefits students.
"I grew up not liking math. It was always my worst subject so I never found it very enjoyable to teach," Horne said.
She credits math specialist Newman with helping change that. "She made math less scary for me just as a person," Horne said.
By 2013-14, all students have to pass the math SOL under the No Child Left Behind Act, according to Berkeley Elementary Principal Michael Brown. He said the math specialists make that goal seem achievable by creating "math thinkers."
"We want them to mathematically think about the process and come up with the correct answer, whether that be on a test or as they get older and come across situations," Brown said.
Jenn Rowell: 540/374-5418
Email: jrowell@freelancestar.com
| A recent internal study documented the effectiveness of math specialists in Spotsylvania.
Mary Sutherland, the county's director of program evaluation, conducted the study. She said that most schools with a specialist for more than two years saw significant gains in SOL math scores. At the elementary level, schools with a specialist for more than two years had a 14 percent increase in the number of students passing the SOL. Schools with a specialist for only one year had smaller increases. "It really is a process. It really takes a lot of time. You have to develop a relationship," Sutherland said. "You have to figure out what are the strengths and weakness. You have to gain trust." |
