Investigations
I have heard many comments from elementary teachers about the emphasis in math on investigations. Mostly negative. I know of one school teaching investigations that seems to be ok with it. They have been at it for several years and have seen gains in student math scores. So is teaching investigations not effective or is the problem that it is new to many teachers? I admit to not being an elementary classroom teacher and I can't bring persoanl experience to this topic. I do hear from and speak with many teachers. I do not sense a general buy-in to this approach. Why? (For more information on investigations see: http://investigations.terc.edu/curr/index.cfm)
10 Comments:
The Investigations goes about an inch deep in math that is a foot deep. If you look at the first quarter district common assessment indicators that students will be tested on, Investigations covers about 1/5 of the material. While I believe Investigations has SOME good activities, the district is stupid to say it's the "core curriculum" for math. Teachers are having to invent their own curriculum to supplement Investigations. I suggest a visit to the site Mathematically Correct http://www.mathematicallycorrect.com/ for more information on this subject. The curriculum department will not answer questions about Investigations either. We have tried and tried to get them to answer questions we have and they refuse to do so. I think that's because they are trying to figure out things themselves. Investigations is a mess.
Also, what school is using Investigations successfully? I would like to know.
The theories behind Investigations are very sound, Keith. It seems to be the curriculum that was missing from our own AFT's "Thinking Mathematics". The problem, however, lies in our state assessments and the AYP laws. Our state assessment and Investigations are not aligned and there in lies a key issue.
Investigations is the biggest mistake this district has made! I am in my 3rd year of teaching it and have yet to see any gains. Last year I gave up on it in mid-year because we were so far behind what would be assessed by the state. Looking at the scores from the tests last year, those indicators that I taught with investigations had the LOWEST scores. Those taught using traditional math, the HIGHEST.
Other states have actually BANNED Investigations Curriculum. (http://www.squidoo.com/beyondTERC/) While there are SOME awesome activities, it is not a CURRICULUM. It should have been implemented as a supplement or for use during Tier II.
So much of our society is based on computation. The IRS doesn't care if you can solve a problem 5 ways and come "close" to the answer. They don't care about your process or if you can explain your thinking, they care that you pay the proper amount on time. We are setting these kids up for failure in the real world. They NEED to know how to add subtract, mulitply, and divide just to be able to balance their finances, let alone budget them.
I fear that when assessment scores come back, the district will do as usual and will blame the teachers for not implementing it "correctly". The district should listen to those in the "trenches". We know these kids and we know when something doesn't work. At my school, the staff agrees, this curriculum DOES NOT WORK!
I just got back my math results from the 1st Quarter DCA. There was 80% red, 15% yellow & 5% green. I have been following the timeline for Investigations, so what's the problem???? Investigations is the problem. Can't wait for conferences so parents when parents ask me why their child hasn't shown any growth in math, I can just hand them the Math Curriculm phone number.
Parents were none too happy at conferences about investigations. Many had done some research and saw that it had been banned in other states. WAKE UP 259!! If you want us to make AYP stop tying our hands! NCLB seems to have become ACLB (ALL children left behind).
I am so happy with the new math dca's. The assess exactly what is on our pacing guides-if you follow them closely. Even though the questions are multiple choice at least they are still assessing for understanding not memorization. I am so glad our district is on track with the national focus for math-which is teaching for understanding! Investigation makes me feel so much more confident about sending my students on to middle school. Great decison 259! It's nice to see a district thinking past a state assessment score and more about the future success of our students.
Our district is using a curriculum that is consistently rated at the very bottom of the barrel when comapred to other available math programs.
I would like to know where the person who posted the comment above actually works, if they are a classroom teacher, and if they are consistently doing Investigations with their students. I would also like to know what they do when some students don't comprehend some of the math lesson, but they have to move on because of the pacing guide. Not to be negative, but I would bet good money that the post above was done by a person in curriculum or an administrator. I still have not found a single teacher in our district (or anywhere for that matter) that feels that Investigations is worthwhile and should be used as a core curriculum.
Well, I guess I'll take the money you bet on me. I am a classroom teacher at a title building. I do use investigations consistantly and of course I have children who need more time to grasp concepts than others-don't we all? I use my tier time as best as I can to help those children. You can't keep the whole class back when only a few need the extra support/more opportunities to practice a concept.
It's very unfortunate that you haven't spoke with a single teacher who has seen positive results from investigations. Sometimes it helps to seek out those success stories. Investigations is hard to get used to if it's your first year and even harder to get used to if you weren't taught mathematics in a meaningful way when you were a student. If you are interested in hearing success stories, try attending a KATM or NCTM conference. Or you could also attend TERC training if you haven't allowed yourself the opportunity. Or you could try asking your campus support to send out teachers from other buildings that are experiencing success.
I actually did attend TERC and TERC II training. The training they gave was different from what the district expectations are. Investigations cannot, cannot, CANNOT be a core curriculum. It is consistently rated the lowest of all constructivist math approaches, and even the NCTM has changed their standards to reflect what needs to be happening in math now. Check out their revised standards and see the huge changes they have made. One big change includes teaching algorithms. WOW, WHAT A CONCEPT!
I still think it's interesting that no one is willing to say which specific schools are seeing success with Investigations. I bet test scores in math are way down because some teachers have had to do Investigations for two or three years. I feel for good teachers who know their students need more but are not allowed to give them what is needed. Our district is making a big mistake by sticking with Investigations, and somehow I think they probably know that but it's too late to turn back now.
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