Cave Creek Unified math choices hurt at both ends

We have commented in the past how Everyday Math and Connected Math are poor curriculum choices becuase the programs lack differentiation and how this hurts advanced students who are held back from moving forward.

A recent op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer points out that these programs also hurt those with special needs.

More and more of these regular K-12 classrooms are using new "reform math" programs such as Everyday Math, Investigations, and Connected Mathematics.

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The prevalence of this curriculum is coinciding with widespread special needs. Students on the autism spectrum, however much they vary, share several basic traits. They don't perform well in unsupervised groups of peers. Many have trouble putting words together, and nearly all struggle with verbal comprehension to some extent.

To make progress socially, linguistically, and academically, these children require structure; direct instruction; an incremental, step-by-step curriculum; and specific, well-defined tasks. Indeed, these are the ingredients of the most promising and commonly used autism therapies.

Reform math gives them the exact opposite. Instead of direct, structured instruction by teachers (for example, on how to add large numbers), it offers child-centered learning through incidental discovery (for example, of ad hoc ways to add particular numbers). Instead of a curriculum organized incrementally around math concepts (such as borrowing from the tens place), it favors a sequence of themes ("Sticker problems," "How many pockets?").

Students spend large chunks of class time working in unsupervised groups. Assignments are open-ended and language-intensive: "Create a riddle about your favorite number"; "Write a letter to a second grader convincing them that 1/3 is less than 1/2." Even correct answers earn only partial credit if they lack verbal explanations.

Ironically, children with autism, especially those with high-functioning autism or Asperger's syndrome, have the potential to do well in math - often extremely well.

Of course as the article points out, these curricula put all students at a disadvantage.

By the time they reach fifth grade, mathematicians have estimated, students of reform math can be up to two years behind their non-reform peers.

Is it any wonder that you cannot find one charter school in the area that uses Everyday Math. Hmmmmm...