If you’ve been wondering what the difficulties are when implementing Singapore math, look no further. This school in D.C. has them all; school closures, lack of enough professional development, mobile student and teacher population, and it’s a dual-language school. Standardized test scores dropped significantly after the change to Singapore math.

The story  evoked responses from many in education. Joane Jacobs mused:

The fact that it ( Singapore Math) requires elementary teachers to understand math well has to be a serious obstacle.

In a letter to the editor dated June 14, 2011, Dr. Alan Ginsburg suggested that the problem at Bruce-Monroe may be bigger than just the Singapore math adoption. He pointed out that the school’s reading scores

declined by 15 percentage points in a single year, and Hispanic students’ scores declined by 21 percentage points.

Bill Jackson, in another great Daily Riff article (Going Beyond Singapore Math: Resisting Quick Fixes), ennumerates the complex issues behind plunking a program like Singapore math into the American classroom.

While most educators familiar with Singapore math agree that it is not the oft-quoted “silver bullet”, Jackson reminds us that:

if we keep throwing out promising ideas just because they don’t immediately improve scores on tests whose quality is questionable at best we’re doomed to repeating the haphazard and fragmented reform efforts that got us here in the first place.

He closes with a word to schools that are currently using Singapore math:

I would like to say that you are definitely moving in the right direction. There will be challenges along the way but they are the same ones you would face with any math program and they can be overcome if you understand the bigger issues behind effective math teaching and learning.

Faced with so many challenges, it’s impressive that Bruce Monroe’s  instructional coach, Nuhad Jamal remains upbeat about the school’s Singapore math adoption.

Melrose Elementary School Mathematics/Science/Technology Magnet has seen impressive results with their new Singapore Math program, Primary Mathematics. Math Coach Lacy Endo-Peery announced:

We had a 32% increase in students who were advanced or proficient in Math last year. Our students went from 43% to 75 % in one year!

The school has put together an informative 8 minute video about their experiences with Singapore Math. Its always helpful to hear  teachers sharing the reasons why Singapore math works with their students, the importance of sustained training, and why the school selected Singapore math.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Singapore math materials tend to be light on practice for mastering math facts. To compensate for that, many schools supplement using the activity in the video referred to as a math sprint. These were designed by Professor Yoram Sagher (also in the video) and are used widely in U.S. schools. While sprints are designed to help students become fluent with computation, they are not a part of the Singapore math curriculum. (Sprint books for teachers are available at SingaporeMath.com.)

Reynolds School District in Fairview, Oregon is expecting student achievement to rise with their adoption of the Math in Focus version of  Singapore math materials. Before the adoption, the 12 elementary schools in the district were using different curricula, which was an issue for students that changed schools within the district.In the video, both teachers and students report  how much they like that visual component of the materials.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In September 2007, NBC’s Today Show  launched an ambitious 13-year project to follow a school class from kindergarten through their high school graduation. Students in the Today Show’s “Class of 2020″ segment are now in 3rd grade. From an episode that aired on May 2, 2011, we learn that the class of 2020 is learning Singapore Math.

This story does a very nice job of presenting some of the key features of Singapore Math and the ways American teachers are effectively implementing it. Mrs. Kaprelian explains the curriculum’s emphasis on place values, mental math and mental flexibility with math, all leading to a firm grasp of bar modeling. Note how Mrs. Kaprelian highlights the important role of manipulatives (in this case, cubes) in the concrete -> pictorial -> abstract progression. That groundwork leads seamlessly to the use of the bar model method to solve highly complex problems.

I Wish I Had Singapore Math

The role of parents also is addressed. Mrs. Kaprelian offers lessons to parents to introduce Singapore Math and tell them how it differs from other elementary math curricula. Initially, parents may be puzzled by Singapore Math, but typically there’s an “Ah Ha” moment when they get it and say, “I wish I had (Singapore Math).” (This is very common, I see the same reaction whenever I host Parent Nights at schools implementing Singapore Math.)

Involved parents, with knowledge of Singapore Math, on the same page with their child’s teacher…no wonder math is Eileen’s favorite subject.

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Thanks to a $1.2 million grant, six North Carolina schools will participate in the Singapore Math Pilot, a partnership with the Department of Public Instruction and State Board of Education. The selected schools were among 19 targeted by the initiative. The Singapore Math Pilot will provide approximately $240,000 over six years for teacher training and the purchase of Singapore Math workbooks and manuals.

The schools participating in the Singapore Math Pilot are:

* Murphey Traditional Academy, Greensboro
* Elizabethtown Primary School, Elizabethtown
* East Arcadia School, Riegelwood
* Eastfield Global Magnet School, Marion
* Gallberry Farm Elementary School, Hope Mills
* North Wilkesboro Elementary School, North Wilkesboro

The Singapore Math Pilot is the result of an effort launched by North Carolina foundations, policymakers, educators and business leaders in 2008, when a delegation visited Singapore. I’ll share more about this project in coming weeks.

Here’s Milgram on Everyday Math:

There is a pretty good program hidden inside EM.  But no more than 1 in 500 teachers are capable of locating and delivering it.  However, that one teacher would almost certainly be able to do better on her own.

Both Milgram and Wurman are pretty warm and fuzzy on Singapore Math, though.  From the interview with Milgram (full interview):

JM: There are no major deficiencies in the Singapore program, just a few points where it could be better than it is.  On the other hand, the recommended lessons in EM are mostly useless.

ZW: Proficiency is hard to define. I would use the preparation for an authentic Algebra 1 course (Nat’l Advisory Math Panel definition) instead.

TERC = 2,

EDM = 4,

Saxon = 7 or 8,

Singapore (Primary Math) = 10

Fourth-graders, from left, Chloe Bernal, Kristofer Kimes and Emma Leamy are ready to answer a question in their math class at Santa Catalina School. The school uses a method of teaching called Singapore Math. (REG REGALADO/Herald Correspondent)

From The Herald, Monterey County:

NEW MATH = HIGH SCORES: Singapore system working at Santa Catalina
By John Sammon

It seems a small thing, concentrating on basics, making sure students master concepts before moving on, but proponents of Singapore Math say the system is dramatically improving math scores at Santa Catalina School.

“We had a good math program before, but we wanted a great math program,” said Christy Pollacci, division head at the private K-12 independent Catholic school in Monterey.

Singapore Math specialist and sixth grade teacher Bill Davidson on the Singapore Math sequence:

Davidson said a lack of emphasis on teaching basic skills in the lower grades is partly to blame for poor test results at schools nationwide. For example, students are expected to grasp algebra and geometry without having mastered fractions and ratios.

“What makes Singapore Math special is the sequence in which the skills are taught,” Davidson said. “Addition and subtraction aren’t taught as separate subjects, but simultaneously, instead of being compartmentalized.”

Maybe it is time to try a new way of teaching math. Like Singapore math, for example. While Singapore math now is being taught as part of a pilot program in nine Lexington schools, don’t be surprised if it soon is taught in schools across the state. That’s because the early results from the schools using Singapore math have been positive.

Full article: Singapore math: Expect more schools in state to copy method used in Asia.

More on Singapore Math in Kentucky: Fayette County to expand Singapore Math program.

Utah’s budget situation played a role in the fate of S.B. 179. However, before adjourning, the Legislature did include a Singapore Math incentive program as an item worthy of further study prior to the 2012 Session.

Under H.J. R. 24, the Master Study Resolution, the Legislature gives the Legislative Management Committee items of study for consideration prior to the 2012 Annual General Session. Items may be assigned to the appropriate interim committee, which is to study and make recommendations for legislative action in the 2012 Session.

H.J.R. 24 includes the following math study items:

• Math Instruction – to study a proposal to provide a pilot program for incentives for Singapore math instruction.
• Algebra and Geometry Pilot Program – to study whether to provide a pilot program for honors algebra and geometry.
• Secondary Math Requirements – to study high school math requirements versus college readiness.

H.J.R. 24 passed both the House and Senate without opposition.

When I go speak at a school’s Parent Night about Singapore Math, I get asked a lot of different questions. The most common one, however, is how can I help my child with his/her homework? To help out in Northern Colorado, my home base, I decided to take my Parent Boot Camps to another level. A monthly or bi-weekly level through Meetup.com. Each meetup, we’ll work through an elementary mathematical concept, review strategies, and learn a fun activity or game that supports the concept.

As we get going, I’ll post more about the meetups and the questions and issues that concern parents the most.

From the Read more about us page (where you can register to join, too):

Does your student struggle with his or her math homework? Are you arguing over who’s way of solving problems is right, yours or the teacher’s? Wouldn’t it be nice if your child thought math was FUN? It’s time for a math boot camp for parents! Each Meetup will engage parents with strategies to help their child as well as some time for home-enjoyment review. (Really, why should it be homeWORK?)

Who: Parents who want to help their elementary school students with mathematics.

Why: While math hasn’t changed much since we were in school… virtually everything else has, include teaching methods, curricula, homework, and expectations

How: Using math strategies from Singapore Math and other World-Class curricula, we’ll focus on understanding elementary math concepts. Why do we invert and multiply when dividing fractions? What are we doing when we “borrow” from a number? Why don’t kids memorize their multiplication tables anymore?

Bonus: At each Meetup, I’ll provide Math-Campers with some handpicked resources that engage students and strengthen their mastery of math facts. We’ll play games that focus on mathematics content and discuss your child’s homework assignment, so bring them along!

S.B. 179 appropriates $1.813 million in ongoing Education Funds for the Math Education Initiative. It directs the Board of Education to award grants to school districts and charter schools to adopt Singapore Math ($1 million), to schools offering honors mathematics courses ($63,000) and to math teacher training programs ($750,000).

Statewide Interest in Singapore Math

During Friday’s hearing, Sen. Stephenson said:

“We have had an interest in Singapore Math being available by many parents across the state because they learn that this is a math program that is producing the best math results in the national rankings of industrialized nations. It is a very visual method, very intuitive and seems to correspond to our human ability to understand math.”

S.B. 179 uses grants, not mandates, to encourage schools to adopt Singapore Math. Sen. Stephenson said, “Mandates don’t work very well, but when we provide an incentive, it can really move the world because there’s a competitive nature to it.”

Sen. Lyle Hillyard (R-Logan), an Education Committee member, commented:

“sometimes we need to incentivize things to have them happen, but this seems to me to make so much sense. Why don’t school districts do it anyway?”

Several others spoke about S.B. 179 at the hearing.

• JoDee Sundberg, President of the Utah School Boards Association (USBA), said that while her organization has no position on S.B. 179, they are concerned that Singapore Math materials do not support the Utah Common Core Standards. In addition, USBA is, “not supportive of any additional funding being used until we fund education and growth and some of the other areas that we have recommended.”
• Kevin Sheridan of the consulting firm Southwest Education spoke in opposition to the bill, stating that Singapore Math materials have not been recommended by the State Instructional Materials Commission.
• Former Rep. Laura Black expressed concerned about the cost of S.B. 179 and said that districts are working hard to improve math scores.
• Martell Menlove, Deputy Superintendent of the Utah Board of Education, said that the Board took the position that S.B. 179 is unnecessary and, “imposes on the Board’s constitutional role in general control and supervision.” Dr. Menlove said the Board has:

“not brought a math initiative forward during the session because of the position of the State Board that our first priorities are that the basic program and that growth be funded, and not to put things in competition to that…our math initiative would be somewhat different than this…it would have more concentration on interventions for students and not the use of outside programs or to the use of outside companies to try to tell us what to do.”

• Curtis Blanco, an electrical engineer at Hill Air Force Base and supporter of the Math Education Initiative, testified that geometry has been gutted compared to what it used to be. Blanco said that if we want to produce scientists capable of solving tough challenges like getting us to the moon, we can’t offer watered down mathematics like we are doing now.

Committee members wanted clarification about how Singapore Math aligns to the Common Core.

What’s Next

S.B. 179 now moves to the full Senate. Sen. Stephenson acknowledged that the amount of the appropriation sought in S.B. 179 is an issue, but that the initiative is worthy of consideration on the Floor. Utah’s legislative session is 45 days long, with the 2011 session to conclude on March 10.