In the News
In a story broadcasted on Spectrum News NY1, MƒA President Maria Klawe and MƒA Master Teachers Jason Ovalles and Meredith Klein shared their thoughts on New York City's rollout of the Illustrative Math curriculum for nearly all high schools. The curriculum takes a problem-based approach to learning algebra, and was used in 260 schools last year. Reaction from teachers who have used the new curriculum is mixed
“We're teaching you how to think and how to, how to like, reason through things. How do you hear what somebody else is saying and kind of use your brain to figure out, does that make sense or does that not? And if it doesn't make sense, how do I argue against it?” Ovalles said. “Especially the students that we teach, that's way more useful and something that they can take away.”
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Ovalles is a master teacher through the group Math for America, which provides professional development to math teachers. Math for America president Maria Klawe says there are benefits to standardizing curriculum, but it can be hard for teachers, many of whom have developed their own materials and methods. She said among the fellows using the curriculum, reaction has been mixed.
“I think that there is a general consensus that it's a good curriculum. I think there are teachers who would prefer not to be told what curriculum they have to use,” Klawe said.
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“We were told that it needs to be taught exactly as written, and I felt extremely depressed by that, to be honest, and really worried for my students,” Klein said.
Klein said the curriculum wasn't written with students like hers in mind, and assumed prior knowledge they did not have. Over the course of the year, teachers were told they could ease up on how strictly they followed it.
“What we keep being told is that we're building the plane as we're flying it. And I just think, like, my question is why?" Klein said.