Riverview Officials to Revamp Middle School Math Program

Riverview Junior-Senior High School students will continue to take Discovery Math and Connected Math 2, but teachers will be making the program their own next school year,

On Monday, the Riverview School Board approved the the use of the programs with the following conditions:

• Teachers and administrators will review other materials and resources for Pre-Algebra, Algebra, Geometry and Algebra II over the summer.
• Teachers also will supplement/substitute units from other curricula into math instruction next school year.

Several parents had . Among the parents' concerns were the group work involved, the participation aspect of the class, the frequency of testing and the combination of students at different math levels in the same classroom.

The district's math PSSA scores dipped, and parents said their children were struggling.

According to the Pearson Prentice Hall website, Connected Math 2 is a National Science Foundation-funded middle school program—for children in grades 6 to 8—that "provides students with an investigative approach to learning mathematics." The program also puts an emphasis on interactive problems and using everyday situations to teach math concepts.

Board member Ernie Tillman did not agree to continue with the program. Tillman has said at previous meetings that there has been no data supporting the success of the program. He said continuing with Discovery Math and Connected Math 2 will hurt more students because they aren't learning math in an effective way.

Board member John Hackworth said officials are going to be keeping a close eye on the performance of students.

"There has been a lot of activity with our math program, and some of it has been intense," he said. "It's good because it means people care about our students. We're going to continue to be committed to this and be vigilant on this matter."

Board member Heidi Dolan, who has two children participating in the program, agreed. She said it's been one of the toughest issues she's faced during her time on the board, but she hopes for a favorable outcome.

"I'm hoping we're on the right track," she said. "I hope next year at this time we'll be seeing some success."

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