DOCSLIB.ORG

Generative Adolescent Mathematical Learners: the Fabrication of Knowledge

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Generative Adolescent Mathematical Learners: the Fabrication of Knowledge GENERATIVE ADOLESCENT MATHEMATICAL LEARNERS: THE FABRICATION OF KNOWLEDGE by BRIAN R. LAWLER August, 2008 GENERATIVE ADOLESCENT MATHEMATICAL LEARNERS: THE FABRICATION OF KNOWLEDGE by BRIAN R. LAWLER (Under the Direction of Leslie P. Steffe) ABSTRACT This dissertation is embedded in a deconstruction of the field of Mathematics Education in order to reconstitute the mathematics student as a generative mathematical learner. The purpose of the dissertation is to understand how generative adolescent mathematical learners (GAMLs) maneuver through their mathematics courses while maintaining such a disposition. As a result, an initial model of constitutive characteristics of the GAML emerged. A generative disposition is meant to characterize the learner as someone who operates mathematically in ways that reflect an internal sense of authority for knowing and a constructive orientation to the knowledge they come to know. Drawing upon the radical constructivist teaching experiment methodology, I conducted a poststructural qualitative inquiry of students’ experiences that may have informed a generative disposition, their orientation toward mathematical knowledge, and the role of schooling in the interactions of these students. I co-taught the mathematics classes of the studies’ three students during April 2005 and interacted with the students as both teacher and classroom researcher. Field notes served as a primary data source, with some classroom episodes and student interviews videotaped in order to aid in the retrospective analysis that followed. Case studies were first developed, and then used to enrich an initial definition of the GAML. The GAMLs of this study relied on their own thinking to come to know. Confirmation of their teachers’ judgments that they were competent thinkers was strongly evident. The three GAMLs demonstrated confidence in what they knew and in their potential to come to know. They considered that mathematics is a human activity and were mathematically interactive among their classroom peers. Further, they enjoyed a high social and academic status among their classroom peers. A disconnection was observed in the three GAMLs between observed classroom behavior and their observed generativity. In particular, they rejected schooling in various ways and engaged in deviant classroom behavior. INDEX WORDS: Authority, Critical Theory, Critical Postmodern Theory, Deconstruction, Disposition, Equity, Knowledge, Mathematics Education, Mathematics of Children, Personal Epistemology, PostStructuralism, Power/Knowledge, Radical Constructivism, Relational Equity, Social Justice GENERATIVE ADOLESCENT MATHEMATICAL LEARNERS: THE FABRICATION OF KNOWLEDGE by BRIAN R. LAWLER B.S., Colorado State University, 1992 M.A., California State University – Dominguez Hills, 1999 M.A., The University of Georgia, 2006 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2008 © 2008 Brian R. Lawler All Rights Reserved GENERATIVE ADOLESCENT MATHEMATICAL LEARNERS: THE FABRICATION OF KNOWLEDGE by BRIAN R. LAWLER Major Professor: Leslie P. Steffe Committee: George M. A. Stanic Dorothy Y. White Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia August 2008 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES........................................................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... viii FORWARD .....................................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1 THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND ..............................................................2 The Study ..................................................................................................................5 The Place of This Study in Equity Research in Mathematics Education................17 Why Thinking about the GAML is Work for Social Justice...................................35 2 RELEVANT LITERATURE.......................................................................................44 Relevant Work in Mathematics Education..............................................................45 Contributions of Other Sciences to Mathematics Education...................................71 The Postmodern Influence on Knowledge Construction ........................................85 A Postmodern Epistemology?.................................................................................96 3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK...............................................................................98 Epistemology / Learning Theory...........................................................................100 Ontology / Worldview / Macro-Theory / Midlevel Theory ..................................115 Agency, Identity, Authority...................................................................................130 The Generative Learner, Constructivism, Poststructuralism, and Social Justice..135 v 4 EPISTEMOLOGY OF RESEARCH.........................................................................145 The Politics of Methodology.................................................................................147 Researcher Subjectivity.........................................................................................159 Methods for Data Collection and Analysis ...........................................................171 Researcher Ethics ..................................................................................................179 5 METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................183 Research Setting – Background to Phase I............................................................184 Subject Selection – Data Collection and Analysis in Phase I ...............................191 Research Design – Co-Teaching, Observation & Interviews in Phase II .............201 Research Design – Member Check during Phase III ............................................215 Methods of Data Analysis – Phase IV...................................................................217 6 DATA REPORTING AND ANALYSIS...................................................................224 Fisk ........................................................................................................................228 Kate .......................................................................................................................260 Jack........................................................................................................................293 7 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION...........................................................................333 Enriched Understanding of the Theoretical GAML..............................................333 The Abstracted GAML..........................................................................................344 8 THE FABRICATION OF KNOWLEDGE ...............................................................354 The Study ..............................................................................................................354 Limitations.............................................................................................................361 Implications...........................................................................................................368 AFTERWARD.............................................................................................................................376 vi REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................377 APPENDICES A STUDENT IDENTIFICATION REQUEST .............................................................408 B SUBJECT SURVEY..................................................................................................412 C SUBJECT MATHOGRAPHY ..................................................................................414 D SUBJECT INTERVIEW 1 PROTOCOL ..................................................................415 E SUBJECT INTERVIEW 2 PROTOCOL ..................................................................416 F SUBJECT VIDEO MATHOGRAPHY .....................................................................417 G SUBJECT INTERVIEW 3 PROTOCOL ..................................................................419 H FORMER TEACHER INTERVIEW PROTOCOL ..................................................420 vii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1: Classrooms Observed During Phase I: Subject Selection, Labeled by Teacher........197 Table 2: Data Collection/Analysis During Phase II.................................................................202 Table 3: Phase II Attendance Summary and Notations of Particular Data Types Collected...215 Table 4: Data Collection/Analysis During Phase III................................................................216 Table 5: Data Collection/Analysis During Phase IV ...............................................................217 Table 6: Boaler and Greeno’s (2000) Ways of Knowing ........................................................219 viii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1: Various ways to theorize mathematical learning...........................................................7 Figure 2: Fisk’s
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Chapter 13 National Science Foundation Systemic Initiatives
    Chapter 13 National Science Foundation Systemic Initiatives: How a small amount of federal money promotes ill-designed mathematics and science programs in K-12 and undermines local control of education Michael McKeown Mathematically Correct David Klein California State University, Los Angeles Chris Patterson Education Connection of Texas Since its inception in 1950, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has played a strong, positive role in making American scientific research and technological application the best in the world. Through its funding of peer-reviewed, investigator-initiated research proposals, it has supported basic research in a wide variety of scientific disciplines, such as mathematics, biology, physics, chemistry, geology, astronomy, and psychology. American science owes much to the support it has received, and continues to receive, from NSF. This chapter deals with a program in the Education and Human Resources Division called the NSF Systemic Initiatives Program, not with NSF programs related directly to the support of basic research. We are highly critical of this particular NSF program. Not only do the Systemic Initiatives undermine local control of education, but, as our analysis in this chapter suggests, they also seem to lower academic standards for mathematics education and weaken the educational base for American science. This chapter is composed of three sections. The first section, an overview of NSF Systemic Initiatives, was written by Michael McKeown. The second section, an analysis of the development and 288 Standards Wars features of the Los Angeles Systemic Initiative, was written by David Klein. The third section, an analysis of the development and features of the Texas Statewide Systemic Initiative, was written by Chris Patterson.
    [Show full text]
  • Math Wars: the Politics of Curriculum
    University of Northern Iowa UNI ScholarWorks Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006) Honors Program 1999 Math wars: The politics of curriculum Raymond Johnson University of Northern Iowa Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy Copyright ©1999 Raymond Johnson Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pst Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons, and the Science and Mathematics Education Commons Recommended Citation Johnson, Raymond, "Math wars: The politics of curriculum" (1999). Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006). 89. https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pst/89 This Open Access Presidential Scholars Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Honors Program at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006) by an authorized administrator of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MATH WARS The Politics of Curriculum Presidential Scholars Senior Thesis by Raymond Johnson Under the advisement of Dr. Edward Rathmell December 9, 1999 Johnson 2 Introduction There is an ongoing battle in mathematics education, a battle sometimes so fierce that some people call it the "math wars". Americans have seen many changes and proposed changes in their educational system in the last fifty years, but few have stirred such debate, publicity, and criticism as have the changes in mathematics education. We will first look at the history of the math wars and take time to examine previous attempts to change mathematics education in America. Second, we will assess the more recent efforts in mathematics education reform . Lastly, we will make some predictions for the future of the math wars and the new directions mathematics education may take.
    [Show full text]
  • Quantitative Literacy: Why Numeracy Matters for Schools and Colleges, Held at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., on December 1–2, 2001
    NATIONAL COUNCIL ON EDUCATION AND THE DISCIPLINES The goal of the National Council on Education and the Disciplines (NCED) is to advance a vision that will unify and guide efforts to strengthen K-16 education in the United States. In pursuing this aim, NCED especially focuses on the continuity and quality of learning in the later years of high school and the early years of college. From its home at The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, NCED draws on the energy and expertise of scholars and educators in the disciplines to address the school-college continuum. At the heart of its work is a national reexamination of the core literacies—quantitative, scientific, historical, and communicative — that are essential to the coherent, forward-looking education all students deserve. Copyright © 2003 by The National Council on Education and the Disciplines All rights reserved. International Standard Book Number: 0-9709547-1-9 Printed in the United States of America. Foreword ROBERT ORRILL “Quantitative literacy, in my view, means knowing how to reason and how to think, and it is all but absent from our curricula today.” Gina Kolata (1997) Increasingly, numbers do our thinking for us. They tell us which medication to take, what policy to support, and why one course of action is better than another. These days any proposal put forward without numbers is a nonstarter. Theodore Porter does not exaggerate when he writes: “By now numbers surround us. No important aspect of life is beyond their reach” (Porter, 1997). Numbers, of course, have long been important in the management of life, but they have never been so ubiquitous as they are now.
    [Show full text]
  • The Math Wars California Battles It out Over Mathematics Education Reform (Part II)
    comm-calif2.qxp 6/12/97 4:27 PM Page 817 The Math Wars California Battles It Out over Mathematics Education Reform (Part II) Note: The first part of this article appeared in the June/July issue of the Notices, pages 695–702. The Numbers Battle examinations but also group assignments, long- “Show us the data, show us that this program term projects, and portfolios of work done over works,” demands Michael McKeown, the head of a period of time. Some also favor the idea of judg- Mathematically Correct, the San Diego-based ing the efficacy of curricular programs by criteria group critical of mathematics education reform. other than standardized tests, such as the num- McKeown makes his living in the data-driven ber and type of mathematics courses students field of biology, as a researcher at the Salk In- subsequently take. stitute and an adjunct faculty member at UC Such are the views in that portion of the math San Diego. One of the things he finds most vex- wars devoted to testing. The scramble to find ing about the reform is that it has been imple- numbers to support certain viewpoints has led mented without having been subject to large- to some questionable uses of data. For example, scale, well-designed studies to show that student the anti-reform group HOLD (Honest Open Log- achievement rises when the reform materials ical Debate on mathematics reform) recently cir- are used. He points out that what convinced culated an e-mail message containing data on the everyone that there is a problem in mathemat- Elementary Level Mathematics Examination, ics education was low scores on tests like the Na- which is administered in the California State tional Assessment of Educational Progress.
    [Show full text]
  • The Effect of Connected Mathematics on Student Achievement In
    THE EFFECT OF CONNECTED MATHEMATICS ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN SELECTED MIDDLE SCHOOL GRADES Ruth Gharst Waggoner B.A., Mid America Nazarene University, 1981 M.S., University of Kansas, 1991 Submitted to the Graduate Department and Faculty of the School of Education of Baker University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership May 6, 2009 Copyright 2009 by Ruth Gharst Waggoner Clinical Research Study Committee ___________________________________________________________ Major Advisor ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Defended May 6, 2009 ii Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of Connected Mathematics Project on the mathematics achievement of sixth and seventh grade students in the Olathe School District. The design of this study was an experimental, control group. The treatment variable was the type of mathematics instruction taught in the classroom. Students in the control group received mathematics instruction in a traditional, lecture‐ based setting. The treatment for the experimental group was mathematics instruction using CMP. The study focused on 357 seventh grade students at 5 participating junior high schools. The researcher analyzed scores from a sample of students (n=119) who received two years of mathematics instruction using CMP, a sample of students (n=119) who received one year of mathematics instruction using CMP, and a sample of students (n=119) who received no mathematics instruction using CMP. The study also examined the effects of CMP on students qualifying for special education services and students of low SES. The dependent variable, mathematics achievement, was measured using scores obtained from the 2008 seventh grade Kansas Mathematics Assessment.
    [Show full text]
  • A Comparison of Elementary Mathematics Achievement In
    A comparison of elementary <br />mathematics achievement in everyday<br /> math and saxon <br />math schools in illinois Item Type Dissertation Authors Roan, Clayton Download date 29/09/2021 01:50:35 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10484/3991 A COMPARISON OF ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT IN EVERYDAY MATH AND SAXON MATH SCHOOLS IN ILLINOIS _______________________ A dissertation Presented to The College of Graduate and Professional Studies Department of Educational Leadership Indiana State University Terre Haute, Indiana ______________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In K-12 Administration _______________________ by Clayton Roan May, 2012 Keywords: elementary curriculum, mathematics, administration, algorithms ii COMMITTEE MEMBERS Committee Chair: Terry McDaniel, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of the Department of Educational Leadership Indiana State University Committee Member: Noble Corey, Ph.D. Professor of the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Media Technology Indiana State University Committee Member: Steve Gruenert, Ph.D. Chair of the Department of Educational Leadership Indiana State University iii ABSTRACT This study compared mathematics achievement in Illinois elementary schools using the Everyday Math and Saxon Math curricula. The Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) was used as the measure of student achievement. Multiple correlation analyses showed that the type of curriculum used was a significant predictor of mathematics achievement at the third and fifth grade levels. Everyday Math was found to support greater student achievement in these grades. When holding other variables constant, Everyday Math schools can be expected to have an average of 2.1% more questions correct on the multiple choice portion of the ISAT than Saxon Math schools at the third grade level.
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring Beliefs and Practices of Teachers of Secondary
    EXPLORING BELIEFS AND PRACTICES OF TEACHERS OF SECONDARY MATHEMATICS WHO PARTICIPATED IN A STANDARDS-BASED PRE-SERVICE EDUCATION PROGRAM Except where reference is made to the work of others, the work described in this dissertation is my own or was done in collaboration with my advisory committee. This dissertation does not contain any proprietary information. _____________________________________ Mary Alice Smeal Certificate of Approval: W. Gary Martin Marilyn E. Strutchens, Chair Professor Professor Curriculum and Teaching Curriculum and Teaching David M. Shannon Dean Hoffman Professor Professor Educational Foundations, Leadership, Mathematics and Statistics and Technology George T. Flowers Dean Graduate School EXPLORING BELIEFS AND PRACTICES OF TEACHERS OF SECONDARY MATHEMATICS WHO PARTICIPATED IN A STANDARDS-BASED PRE-SERVICE EDUCATION PROGRAM Mary Alice Smeal A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Auburn University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Auburn, AL December 19, 2008 EXPLORING BELIEFS AND PRACTICES OF TEACHERS OF SECONDARY MATHEMATICS WHO PARTICIPATED IN A STANDARDS-BASED PRE-SERVICE EDUCATION PROGRAM Mary Alice Smeal Permission is granted to Auburn University to make copies of this dissertation at its discretion, upon requests of individuals or institutions and at their expense. The author reserves all publication rights. ____________________________________ Signature of Author ____________________________________ Date of Graduation ii i VITA Mary Alice Smeal, daughter of Roy and Mary Letta Shaub, was born December 15, 1958, in Nashville, Tennessee. She graduated from David Lipscomb High School in 1976. She entered David Lipscomb University in 1976 and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Piano in December, 1979.
    [Show full text]
  • TME Volume 2, Number 1
    The Mathematics Enthusiast Volume 2 Number 1 Article 11 4-2005 TME Volume 2, Number 1 Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/tme Part of the Mathematics Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation (2005) "TME Volume 2, Number 1," The Mathematics Enthusiast: Vol. 2 : No. 1 , Article 11. Available at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/tme/vol2/iss1/11 This Full Volume is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Mathematics Enthusiast by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE MONTANA MATHEMATICS ENTHUSIAST [ISSN 1551-3440] VOL 2, NO.1 [APRIL 2005] TABLE OF CONTENTS Editorial: Social Justice, Taxicabs and Soap-Operatic Mathematics pp.1-2 Bharath Sriraman A preface to Gutstein Generalized: A Philosophical Debate pp.3-4 Johnny W. Lott Gutstein Generalized- A Philosophical Debate: A Critical Commentary on Gutstein’s (2003) thesis for the incorporation of social justice in the mathematics curriculum pp.5-29 Seth Braver, Jane Micklus, Sheila Bradley, Hillary van Spronsen, Samantha Allen & Vickie Campbell Response to Gutstein Generalized- A Philosophical Debate pp.30-32 Eric Gutstein Action: Tell me more Albert! pp. 33-37 Jerry T. Baty & Virginia A.H. McClendon Taxi Cab Geometry: History and Applications pp.38-64 Chip Reinhardt Cardano’s Solution to the Cubic: A Mathematical Soap Opera pp.65-71 KaCee Ballou Commentary on Ballou’s paper: Galois – The Myths and the Man pp.72-76 Catherine DeGrandpre Meet the Authors pp.77-79 Call for Papers pp.80 TMME, Vol2, no.1, p.1 Editorial: Social Justice, Taxicabs and Soap-Operatic Mathematics Bharath Sriraman Editor, The University of Montana Welcome to the second volume of The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast.
    [Show full text]
  • A Brief History of American K-12 Mathematics Education in the 20Th Century
    A Brief History of American K-12 Mathematics Education in the 20th Century Written by David Klein Published in: Mathematical Cognition, Edited by James Royer Copyright by Information Age Publishing, 2003 Introduction In January 1998, when U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley called for an end to the "math wars" in a speech before a joint meeting of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America, he could not have known that within two years, the department he directed would become the focus of the very math wars he sought to quell. In October 1999, the U.S. Department of Education recommended to the nation's 15,000 school districts a list of math books, including several that had been sharply criticized by mathematicians and parents of school children across the country for much of the preceding decade. Within a month of that release, 200 university mathematicians added their names to an open letter to Secretary Riley calling upon his department to withdraw those recommendations. The list of signatories included seven Nobel laureates and winners of the Fields Medal, the highest international award in mathematics, as well as math department chairs of many of the top universities in the country, and several state and national education leaders.1 By the end of the year 1999, the U.S. Secretary of Education had himself become embroiled in the nation's math wars. Mathematics education policies and programs for U.S. public schools have never been more contentious than they were during the decade of the 1990s. The immediate cause of the math wars of the 90s was the introduction and widespread distribution of new math textbooks with radically diminished content, and a dearth of basic skills.
    [Show full text]
  • Inquiry Based Mathematics Instruction Versus Traditional Mathematics
    Cedarville University DigitalCommons@Cedarville Master of Education Research Theses Master of Education Capstones 2010 Inquiry Based Mathematics Instruction Versus Traditional Mathematics Instruction: The ffecE t on Student Understanding and Comprehension in an Eighth Grade Pre-Algebra Classroom Kyle Ferguson Cedarville University Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/education_theses Part of the Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching Commons, and the Science and Mathematics Education Commons Recommended Citation Ferguson, Kyle, "Inquiry Based Mathematics Instruction Versus Traditional Mathematics Instruction: The Effect on Student Understanding and Comprehension in an Eighth Grade Pre-Algebra Classroom" (2010). Master of Education Research Theses. 26. http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/education_theses/26 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@Cedarville, a service of the Centennial Library. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master of Education Research Theses by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Cedarville. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Inquiry Based Mathematics Instruction Verses Traditional Mathematics Instruction: The Effect on Student Understanding and Comprehension in an Eighth Grade Pre-algebra Classroom A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Education By KYLE L. FERGUSON B.A. Middle Childhood Education, Cedarville University, 2006 2010 Cedarville University Acknowledgments I give thanks to God for giving me the ability and opportunity to complete my M. Ed. I would like to thank Dr. Hwang, Dr. Heaton, Mr. Hess and Dr. Gruber for their input and guidance in helping me through this thesis project. Finally, I would like to thank my wife for her support and encouragement to push on to the end.
    [Show full text]
  • The Home of Mathematically Correct
    "There is a mathematically correct solution" This web site is devoted to the concerns raised by parents and scientists about the invasion of our schools by the New-New Math and the need to restore basic skills to math education. Mathematically Correct is the informal, nationwide organization that fights the Establishment on behalf of sanity and quality in math education. -- David Gelernter, NY Post Mathematics achievement in America is far below what we would like it to be. Recent "reform" efforts only aggravate the problem. As a result, our children have less and less exposure to rigorous, content-rich mathematics . The advocates of the new, fuzzy math have practiced their rhetoric well. They speak of higher-order thinking, conceptual understanding and solving problems, but they neglect the systematic mastery of the fundamental building blocks necessary for success in any of these areas. Their focus is on things like calculators, blocks, guesswork, and group activities and they shun things like algorithms and repeated practice. The new programs are shy on fundamentals and they also lack the mathematical depth and rigor that promotes greater achievement. Concerned parents are in a state of dismay and have begun efforts to restore content, rigor, and genuinely high expectations to mathematics education. This site provides relevant background and information for parents, teachers, board members and the public from around the country. Site Index Hot Topics An Open Letter in Support of California's Standards System for K-12 Education In an open letterdated July 7, 2006, former governors Gray Davis and Pete Wilson expressed unambiguous support for California's K-12 academic content standards, curriculum frameworks, instructional materials, and tests aligned to the standards.
    [Show full text]
  • 2+2=5: Fuzzy Math Invades Wisconsin Schools
    2+2=5: FUZZY MATH INVADES WISCONSIN SCHOOLS LEAH VUKMIR n the fall of 1997, Fortunately, Kathy Siegmann of Kathy was not alone. IMcFarland was Before long she was completely unaware joined by Kim Ujke, of the latest national another parent controversy brewing equally concerned over the teaching of + about the new cur- math to children. An riculum. After doing active mother of five their own exhaustive children, Kathy busily research into various attended to the many math programs, the tasks of running her moms decided to household, working pull their children part-time, shuttling out of school during children to extracur- math class and ricular activities and = instead homeschool lending an occasional for that hour using a hand during their more traditional evening homework math program. The sessions. It was dur- school's principal ing these nightly sessions that Kathy devel- and teachers were informed of their decision oped an uneasy feeling about what and how and, in December 1998, they proceeded with her son was being taught math. their plan. The next month Dawn Myers pulled her third grade daughter from the class. The McFarland School District had recent- Shortly thereafter Mary Turke's fourth grader ly adopted a new math curriculum for grades joined the exodus along with Kathy's 5th grade three through five that did not provide indi- son. vidual student textbooks. "I could not tell what my children were doing in math, nor could I The families quietly went about their home look in a book to help them," she stated. study courses and the children thrived under Feeling frustrated and helpless, she began to their parent's tutelage.
    [Show full text]