Group aims to revamp math curriculum

FARMINGTON — The problem presented before the group of 16 experts is a mathematical one, similar to a timed drill but a lot harder.

The 16 math experts have until 6:30 a.m. Thursday to present the first draft of a proposal to revamp the math core curriculum for children in Utah's public schools.

The 16 are college math and math education professors, school district math supervisors and administrators from the Utah State Office of Education who are on the Mathematics Core Revision Steering Committee, charged by the legislative Public Education Interim Committee in November to rewrite math curriculum in Utah "to result in world-class math standards."

However, at the Steering Committee's second meeting, Friday in the Davis School District's offices, members of the Steering Committee decided to delay until future meetings the definition of "world-class math standards" and how to evaluate whether those standards have been achieved.

Instead, the committee discussed upper-grade math and divided into five smaller groups that have until Thursday morning to tackle math by grade, such as a group studying math in grades three and four and a group studying proposed guidelines for geometry, intermediate algebra and pre-calculus.

The groups will have one or two draft proposals each, and the proposals will be presented to a group of math curriculum supervisors from across the state on Thursday.

The math curriculum supervisors will provide feedback, as will focus groups of teachers and the general public, while the Steering Committee continues to rewrite drafts. And it's all supposed to come together before the June 7 meeting of the Utah State Board of Education, at which the final draft will be presented.

If the State Board approves the proposed math core at the meeting, teachers will be trained over the summer and students will begin learning it in the fall as the 2007-08 year commences.

How much will the final draft look like the current math core?

"It's hard to say," said Steering Committee chairman Russell Thompson. "The closer it is to the (current) core, the better our chances of getting it done on time."

Yet Thompson, who is Utah State University math department chairman, said he is open-minded about changing the current core if needed.

Steering Committee member Barbara Kuehl, an administrator with the Jordan School District, said districts throughout the state are anxious to see the committee's draft, as text-book purchasing, professional development and budgets depend on it.

"The last time we had a new core, we spent $200,000 on elementary (teacher training)," she said. "And that was to give our teachers a one-day shot at the core. We're not talking about trivial amounts."

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com