New-math curriculum stirs passions among Bellevue parents, teachers

Summer weekdays start with a reading and math exercise at the Killeen household in the Bellevue School District.

Kira, 8, and Nate, 10, work through multiplication problems in a textbook filled with pages of equations that they solve using conventional computations. It's the kind of math study most school districts have steadily moved away from. Sheila Killeen and other parents say that shift is a mistake.

Deb Carmichael, a mother of three children who attend nearby Lake Washington schools, sees her children learning math in a whole different way — and enjoying and understanding it better than she ever did. This kind of math, which has taken hold in most Eastside classrooms, focuses more on understanding the problems and less on rote memorization of formulas or algorithms.

Educators and parents say it's a debate between conceptual vs. computational math.

It's a battle centered around curriculum, teaching materials and textbooks with the question on everyone's mind: What is the best way for students to learn math?

The debate has spurred Eastside parents to sign petitions and lobby district officials for changes; some even have decided to run for school board.

What most students are learning in Eastside classrooms and across the nation is known as "conceptual" math, sometimes called new math, or what Killeen and other parents call "fuzzy" math.

In elementary grades, it focuses more on the "why," not just the "how." Students are asked to explain what the numbers mean, not just what the correct answer is. They are shown different ways to do the same problem and are encouraged to find their own methods.

But some parents say this method is shortchanging children, leaving them without a solid foundation in basic math concepts.

Parents statewide have banded together in a group called "Where's the Math?" that advocates a more straightforward or traditional math curriculum — often called "computational" math.

Computational math focuses on how to do a math problem correctly and efficiently, and may include more practice and drills for basic math facts.

The group regularly e-mails a newsletter to about 1,600 parents and teachers, said Julie Wright, co-founder of "Where's the Math?"

Three Eastside parents are seeking school-board seats as a way to better advocate a switch to computational math. In the Bellevue district, Killeen and Michael Murphy, a financial analyst for Boeing, are both running for the Bellevue School Board on a "Where's the Math?" platform.

And in the Lake Washington School District, Chris Carlson decided to run for the School Board after watching his son struggle through the conceptual-math curriculum.

In Lake Washington, a group of "Where's the Math?" parents submitted a petition with more than 200 signatures to the district's new superintendent, Chip Kimball, asking him to replace the district's math curriculum.

In the Northshore School District, parents met with district officials in April about concerns about how their children were learning math. Starting in the fall, Northshore plans to offer workshops so parents can better understand the curriculum and help their children with homework, said Susan Stoltzfus, district spokeswoman.

Conflicting reports

So far, the math battle has proved to be emotional and contentious.

Some teachers and parents who endured endless flash cards and drills to memorize math facts say the conceptual curriculum is more balanced and interesting. Parents say their children are doing math problems in elementary school that they couldn't tackle until junior high or high school. Teachers say their students are excelling in math.

"It makes higher math more accessible to them," said Zandria Hopper, a fifth-grade teacher at Elizabeth Blackwell Elementary School in Sammamish. "They are pressed to justify and reason from kindergarten on."

But other parents tell a different story. They talk of their children coming home with math workbooks that include lots of word problems asking students to explain different ways to solve them, but very little math. They say their children aren't learning the basic building blocks of math.

A nationwide problem

Math curriculum is also on the minds of State Board of Education members. The board is in the beginning stages of a major math renovation. The math panel, along with a consultant, is expected to recommend changes by the end of August.

"Washington is not alone in this problem," said Thomas Shapely, spokesman for the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. "Math is a problem nationwide. No one is doing super-well in math."

Seattle schools opted for a compromise. It recently approved a new math curriculum, using "Everyday Math" as its primary curriculum and "Singapore Math" — which takes a more computational approach — for supplemental teaching material.

Issaquah School District also recently approved the use of Everyday Math for its elementary classrooms.

The materials look very different on the surface, said Rosalind Wise, K-12 mathematics-program manager for Seattle Public Schools. "Everyday Math" is aligned to current state standards, and Wise believes it encourages both conceptual thinking and algorithmic problem solving. The district is using "Singapore Math" materials to give students a different approach to math, Wise said.

" 'Singapore' starts off procedurally: 'Follow the rule,' " Wise said. "But it leads kids to a deeper understanding of mathematics. Both styles approach math differently, but they both get at the same procedural knowledge."

There is more common ground between the two sides of the math wars than people want to admit, said Gini Stimpson, longtime educator and adjunct faculty for the University of Washington.

"We need to have both conceptual understanding and computational fluency," said Wright. "There's probably more that both sides agree on than we disagree on."

Rachel Tuinstra: 206-515-5637 or rtuinstra@seattletimes.com