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- Almost had another day with no clippable pieces today. Is it a sign? As ever, though, our single clip has several interesting things to talk about. First and foremost, kudos from me to Centerville City Schools for bucking the trends and boosting their students’ math achievement. Even if they might not want my approbation. There’s no specific data given, but I see no red flags in the piece that give me reason to dispute their “Harvard and Stanford” verified outcomes. How’d they do it? A new curriculum that they say is better than the “outdated and no longer useful” version they were using in 2019. Despite pandemic disruption, which saw their math scores drop along with everything else, teachers and staff persevered with the new curriculum and now they are seeing the results they hoped for: better test performance than before the pandemic. But let’s look a little deeper since we literally have nothing else to do today. First thing I notice is the rather jarring insertion of first person discussion from the reporter. I guess math can have that effect on some folks. Second is the assertion from a district curriculum guru that, “A lot of older generations associate math with being given some sort of equation and solving it. But that’s not math.” He goes on to explain what math is for today’s generation, in parallel with the reporter describing a typical first grade “lesson” (I use that term loosely based on the description of what was happening, which sounded more like an episode of “Dora the Explorer” to me). These things seem pretty typical in relation to discussions of how math is taught in the year of our lord Taylor Swift 2024, but I admit to being properly floored when Curriculum Guru Dude stopped just short of apologizing for his hard-won success. From the piece: He “acknowledged that many of Centerville’s gains are likely attributable to the high socio-economic status in the city. Centerville is one of the wealthiest districts in the area and students who have extra needs can get more help because they are fewer [in] number. He said, though, that it is worth celebrating a win, even if it may not be exactly replicable to other districts.” Now that, my faithful and currently-clip-deprived subscribers (honestly, why should I bother to count you anymore after all that?), is not adding up for your humble clips compiler. (Dayton Daily News, 4/26/24)
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