PRINCIPAL ADVISORY REPORT
SUMMARY OF 8.19.2014
Introduction
The instructional forum held on Tuesday, August 19, 2014 was dedicated to discussing the
mathematics curriculum for the 2014-2015 school year. The staff reviewed the current state
of the curriculum and addressed concerns raised by members
of the community. Mr. Beidleman, Principal, started the
Common Core is a National
meeting by introducing our staff and the Montgomery County
Curriculum
Director of Mathematics & Implementation, Mr. Edward
“Students should be making sense by
Nolan. He framed the meeting by discussing the purpose and
what they know and how they see it
thanking Mrs. Jennifer McKneely who was influential in
first. Saying, I just knew it, is no longer
collaborating with the principal to schedule the dialogue.
a good response.”
During the meeting, Mr. Beidleman discussed the need for a
Mr. Edward Nolan, Director
community group which will take on the title of the Principal’s
of Mathematics & Implementation, MCPS
Advisory Group. The Principal’s Advisory Group (PAG)
will serve as a consulting body to assist the Principal and
administration in making decisions that reflect the interests of parents, faculty, and students
as it relates directly to instruction. The following action items were agreed upon by all
members in attendance:
Post the common core standards by grade level http://www.corestandards.org/Math/
Provide short summary of common core and Curriculum 2.0
Post resources for parents for Curriculum 2.0
The following is a summary of questions and responses during the meeting.
Question 1
Mr. Lowe, parent: How can the school and county provide resources for parents to support
and prepare students for the new curriculum?
Mrs. Kron, Content Specialist responded: The Curriculum 2.0 homework is about quality
not quantity. It is not going to be 50 problems; rather, but it is going to be 1 or 2 questions
that allow students to use reasoning. There are some days in which it will ebb and flow. We
want to prepare them for high school.
Mrs. Karen Emmerich, Geometry teacher: I created a website to support my Geometry
students and it will also provide resources to parents. The website will provide the
instructional calendar with videos to support students and parents. For algebra, there are links
to games and to daily homework assignments. I try to stay ahead by a couple of weeks. I have
homework already posted for the beginning of the school year. It’s a resource for all students.
Visit her site at: www.themathwiz.org.
Mrs. Jennifer Hallmark, 6th grade math teacher/team leader: For 6th grade there are parent
resources that are available by marking period and by topic. I can speak to the timeline for
math 6 resources. I will send it home with your child and provide information as the topics
are being taught.
Mr. Ed Nolan, K-12 Director of Mathematics: Central office has provided resources and
links to resources that provide information about the skill and how to practice.
Question 2
Mrs. Manuel, parent: My biggest challenge is that the homework was always being looked
at for completion and not for accuracy. It would have been helpful to get feedback on
accuracy. Is that something that will shift?
Mrs. Kron, Content Specialist responded: The homework is always graded for completion.
We want them to be practicing. I know the entire department reviews the homework. If it is
not happening within the class, then contact the individual teacher.
Question 3
Mrs. McKneely, Parent: How prepared are teachers for the upcoming school year? Do you
have all of the curriculum for the year?
Mrs. Jennifer Hallmark: I have the curriculum for marking period 1 and the overview for
the entire year is complete. We are waiting on the essential questions for the 2nd marking
period. This summer, we attended four days of training.
Mr. Ed Nolan: We have cohorts that are planning with each other all over the county.
Mrs. Jennifer Hallmark: This is my first year at Farquhar and I was part of creating the Math
curriculum in central office. We completed the overview for every unit and need to finish the
essential questions. Mrs. Kron is my planning partner at Farquhar and we will be going to the
other schools to collaborate this school year. We will be collaborating with Rosa Parks and
Argyle.
Question 4
Mrs. McKneely: What is the primary differences that we should be aware of? Especially if
we have older kids. Some kids are trained to think like that and we are plugging kids into a
curriculum where they are not familiar with the instructional strategies. What are the
similarities and differences?
Mrs. Kron, Content Specialist responded: You are going to see in the classroom more
collaboration and more ways to solve problems. For example, I taught ratios and proportions
in two weeks. Now, I will be teaching ratios for three weeks. Specifically just ratios. It is a
lot different and more about defining the meaning and application of ratios.
Mr. Ed Nolan, K-12 Director of Mathematics: If you want to know how to specifically help
your child, I encourage you to talk to your child about what happens in their day. Let them
talk you through problems and ask them how they are seeing the problem. Observe how they
are talking about their learning and applying their thinking. Students should be making sense
by what they know and how they see it first. Saying, I just knew it, is no longer a good
response. You are going to see problems that still look the same. Fluency has not gone away.
Skills are still there and need to be done. They have only used the algorithm short term and
not long term. If they are to remember they need to connect it. Students need to make sense
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of the problem first, to connect with peers and then make sense of the algorithm. It’s not how
we learned math or how many of our students were taught math.
Question 5
Mrs. McKneely, Parent:
Could teachers explain the thinking behind the movement and for the shift in thinking? Is
there anything being done about the grouping of student? How do teachers balance or plan
for the different experiences that students have received from elementary school? There are
mixed classes of students with different backgrounds.
Mr. Ed Nolan, K-12 Director of Mathematics:
I think the new curriculum provides opportunities for students to think differently. There is
still time spent on academic speed and fluency. We are working with the office of AEI, Mrs.
Casper and Mrs. Green, to ensure all assessments are going to change as we evolve into a
different curriculum sequence. Our students that are successful in Curriculum 2.0 will go into
Algebra by Grade 8. We are re-evaluating our assessments at all levels. It is a system-wide
approach. The big concern from teachers and parents was about acceleration. High school
mathematics teachers said the kids did not have the necessary fraction skills to be successful.
All of these changes have been made in math but the changes have not occurred in all high
school subjects.
Mr. Ed Nolan, K-12 Director of Mathematics:
When implementing the new curriculum, we didn’t feel like going K-12 was a good way to
go. Therefore we selected a more strategic approach and a tiered approach while responding
to feedback by teachers and all stakeholders. In closing, many of you have been asking how
to best help your students. How we support our kids are a great way to move ahead. Working
together as a school is the best way to move ahead. These are the folks that interact with your
child.
Question 6
Ian Devo, Parent:
How will you know if this implementation is successful?
Mr. Ed Nolan, K-12 Director of Mathematics:
When this common core originally came out some states chose to implement throughout all
grade levels.. MCPS decided to start with elementary (K-1) in 2009.
They rolled it out every year. It was already known as Curriculum 2.0 common core before
the introduction of Algebra.
Question 7
Mrs. McKneely, Parent:
How do we know globally what the kids missed or know how they will be prepared for
Algebra 2? They introduced all of the material. What was taught here at the school?
Andre Jones, Algebra Teacher:
In regards to the new curriculum, the only portion that we didn’t cover was the last unit. We
covered all standards during the first semester. We had to review more information in depth
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before the Algebra High School Assessment. After losing some time to inclement weather,
we only spent a week learning systems of equations.
Mr. Ed Nolan, K-12 Director of Mathematics:
Most of our schools didn’t get to the final unit in Algebra. As a result of Geometry not being
tested this year, we use that instructional time to build in concepts to prepare all students for
Algebra 2. Again, there will not be a PARCC geometry assessment this year.
With the common core adopted by 45 states and the new standards, there will be new
assessments. Each state selected an assessments program, Maryland chose to be part of the
PARCC program. Again, the first marking period curriculum is completed for Geometry.
Geometry curriculum has been created and Algebra upgraded based on the suggestions of
parents and teachers. I am willing to answer all questions regarding the new curriculum and
implementation. Ultimately, the local school will be able to provide clarity into how your
students are performing and responding to the implementation. I believe forums and
community involvement is a way to continuously provide support and feedback of our new
mathematics pathway.
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