Math Symposium

This afternoon, representatives from every branch of the P-16 education tree met at AWSP as a follow-up to the recent OSPI Math Symposium held in SeaTac last month. Their special guest was Dr. Uri Treisman, executive director of the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Austin in Texas. Treisman addressed the group for more than an hour and emphasized several steps Washington state could take to bolster its math retrenchment efforts:

1. Build data systems that yield answers to key questions.
2. Manage the curriculum. The top five performing school districts on the NAEP all have managed curricula. The worst-performing districts were all local control.
3.Rethink our teaching system. We need to "think more creatively" about our sources of new teachers.
4. Modernize the teacher compensation system. In Washington state, we still reward teachers based on seniority, not performance.
5. Reassess teacher preparation programs and professional development.
6. Create effective student support systems. "Remediation almost never works. We need accelleration."
7. Tread carefully with information technology. Treisman cited the U.S. Department of Ed study mentioned in today's earlier post about the failure of reading and math software to increase achievement. Use technology carefully, Treisman cautioned, and find ways to help administrators be smarter about IT purchases.

Other Triesman comments worth noting:

• On high school course offerings: "We need to make sure what's on the marquee is what's showing in the theater."
• On being a principal today: " There's virtually no economic incentive to be a principal today."
  
• On education reform: "The biggest change in most states: We've shifted from a K-8 focus to college readiness."
  
• On teaching: "Everyone underestimates how hard it is to teach. Just open a pre-calc book. The stuff's hard!"

Pen and Paper vs. Pixels

Apparently high tech learning isn't a ticket to higher test scores.

At least that's what the federal government concluded today. According to a study issued by the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (a research arm of the U.S. Department of Education), achievement scores were no higher in classrooms using reading and math software products than in classrooms without the new products. You can read the Associated Press (AP) story on it here.

According to the AP story, the report detailed the effectiveness of the products as a group and did not review the performance of particular programs. Interestingly, despite minor technical glitches, most of the teachers involved in the study said they'd use the software again.

Obviously, just because a lesson is delivered in pixels rather than on paper doesn't necessarily make it better. What do you think? How is your school using technology as a teaching tool?