Class of 2020 Learns Math the Singapore Way

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.