Board consideration of ‘Investigations’

I am encouraged by the Prince William School Board’s consideration of “another view” about Math Investigations, from a member of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel.

I am dismayed that the board has not considered or implemented the panel’s important finding, very applicable to the Math Investigations debate: finding 10 (of 45) in the panel’s March 13 report states “To prepare students for algebra, the curriculum must simultaneously develop conceptual understanding, computational fluency, and problem-solving skills.”

“Debates about the importance of these aspects of mathematical knowledge are misguided.”
It may be time to lead Prince William County students away from the narrower Math Investigations approach, even if it skews the results of the research being done, and guide them back to the broader spectrum of mathematical learning, which 1300 parents, concerned citizens and at least one school board member see as the common sense approach.

JOHN PAULSON
Manassas