Mathematics Curriculum Creates Better Problem-Solvers

 With support from the CT State Department of Education, the CT Academy for Education in Mathematics, Science, and Technologies, The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and the National Research Foundation, the Region 15 K-12 Mathematics Curriculum Team completed over two years of research that resulted in recommendations for changes in K- 6^th Grade mathematics instruction and materials. Beginning this fall, students in Grades K-5 use Math Trailblazers and the 6^th graders use Connected Math. Due to budget constraints this year, the 7^th and 8^th Grades will implement Connected Math during the 2004-05 school year.

 While the basic mathematics skills remain important, students must also become resourceful problem-solvers.  The new math programs are aligned with current state and national standards for mathematics and with the changing expectations on state assessments. Also, incorporating writing into mathematics improves communication skills and helps the student see connections between school and life.

 “It’s amazing how the students reason out the answer,” said Maureen Campbell, 5^th grade teacher at Gainfield Elementary School. “Then once they discover the answer, the students write a statement about what steps they took to arrive at the answer.”

 The goals of Math Trailblazers and Connected Math are to prepare students to:

¨      know and apply basic math skills,

¨      solve problems using many different strategies,

¨      be independent thinkers,

¨      reason skillfully in diverse situations,

¨      effectively communicate solutions to problems and methods for solving them, and

¨      work alone and in groups to solve problems.

 “To help the students become better problem-solvers, we are encouraging them to share and discuss the many ways of coming up with an answer. Children are using calculators, graphs, and manipulatives to understand real-world problems and then explore ways to solve them,” said Virginia Erickson of the Math Curriculum Team. “This exploration leads to a better understanding of basic math skills and their application. Math begins to make sense as an organized system rather than disconnected rules and procedures. This understanding will give the children the tools they need to solve future problems in a technological world that is difficult to imagine.”