More rigorous math requirements will help students in real world, too
Back in high school, I never thought I'd use math out in the "real world." I had settled on becoming a writer or a teacher, and planned to set numbers aside as soon as I graduated college.
Boy, was I naïve.
In addition to balancing my checkbook and filing taxes, I use more math than I'd ever dreamed of as a reporter. Analyzing contracts, raises and step increases require me to dig out college statistics lessons from the recesses of my brain.
When U-46 school board member Joyce Fountain, who works as an Elgin Community College professor, spoke about math's "relevance" to students Monday night, she hit a nerve.
As part of an effort to intensify its courses, U-46 will require all high school students, starting with the graduating class of 2011, to have three full years of rigorous math.
Algebra 1-2, geometry and algebra 3-4 will all be required.
"It's a major shift," Jan Goetz, U-46 math and science coordinator told the school board Monday. "Two years ago, students were not even needing algebra to graduate."
A U-46 committee of teachers and administrators set to work recommending ways to implement the state's new graduation requirements in 2005, Goetz said.
The Illinois State Board of Education will require students graduating in 2010 and beyond to have three years of math, which include a year of algebra and another year of a course with geometry content.
U-46 chose to take its requirements a step further, Goetz said. "Driving our actions was the fact the same level of skills are required for college and workplace readiness."
At the high school level, pacing guidelines for algebra 1-2, geometry and algebra 3-4 are aligned both with the state board of education's Illinois Learning Standards, and ACT college readiness standards.
This spring and summer, 35 algebra teachers have volunteered to try out ACT Quality Core end-of-course assessments that will reveal how well the new curriculum is aligned to the ACT, Goetz said. Middle-school math assessment procedures will also be reviewed.
Greg Anthony, a Streamwood High School math teacher, told the school board how he keeps students engaged through online math games. Jim Szymczak, who teaches the subject at South Elgin High, makes frequent reference to sports statistics.
"Students need to be continually reminded of relevance," Fountain said.
"If we can make the point that math is used hand in hand with (other subjects), we're all better off."
They'll need it. Even if they don't think they do now.
Parent newsletter: U-46 parents got a look at a new district-wide parent newsletter this week. Home Pages, to be published three times a year, talks about district issues in both English and Spanish.
The current issue contains Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) and Prairie State Achievement Exams (PSAE) test-taking tips, the 2008-09 school calendar and information on Positive Behavior Intervention and Support.
"Stone Soup" performance: Next Tuesday, second-grade students at Elgin Academy will present "Stone Soup," a musical about a village of peasants and a group of soldiers who learn about the importance of sharing.
The second-graders have been working most of the winter on this production, which involves costume, song and dance -- as well as a big pot of soup. The production will begin at 1:30 p.m. in the second-floor Rider Room of Sears Hall on the Elgin Academy campus, 350 N. Park Street in Elgin.
klester@dailyherald.com