Texas Technology - Fall 2008 - (Page 20) education by Melissa Camilleri Magliola Punching up the Numbers A north Texas school district sees big results after MathForward implementation. The RISD was determined to close this widening achievement gap, particularly in middle-grade math curriculum. Gov. Rick Perry passed state education laws in 2006, requiring students to take four years of math in high school, beginning with the class of 2011. With news of this legislation coming down the pike, in 2004 Jim Nelson, thendistrict superintendent, approached Texas Instruments (TI) about collaborating to implement a program that addressed the declining achievement trend the district faced. “Research, as well as years of experience in math education, indicated that there was not one ‘silver bullet’ that would solve this challenge,” explained Lisa Brady-Gill, TI’s director of education policy and practice. Mathematics experts, researchers, TI, RISD administrators and teachers collaborated to develop the intervention program now called TI MathForward. Graphing Improvement MathForward’s technology component incorporates the TI-Navigator, a graphing calculator attached to a wireless hub, which communicates directly to a router connected to the teacher’s computer. In real time, a teacher can view students’ calculators on the computer, receive contributions from students and assess their comprehension. The instant feedback lets teachers address their students’ needs immediately, rather than waiting for unit tests as the culminating assessment for a week’s worth of lessons. “Because the system can anonymously display individual student responses to the class, it helps create a safe environment for students to share and compare thoughts and answers,” said Kristen San Juan, the RISD’s MathForward implementation curriculum The Richardson Independent School District boosted test scores with graphing calculators and a wireless hub. Photo courtesy of Texas Instruments ince President George W. Bush signed are often shots in the dark, albeit with the the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, greatest intentions. U.S. schools have been forced to take a hard look at their students’ achievement data A District Challenged In Richardson, Texas, the Richardson — as reported on standardized state assessment tests — make sense of that data and Independent School District (RISD) had then use it to steer curriculum in order to im- these variables stacked against it due to a high percentage of students in prove learning. Sounds simple minority and low socioeconomenough, right? Not quite. With ic demographics, who as a coso many variables that affect The Richardson hort have typically scored lower student achievement, including Independent School on standardized tests than their geography, socioeconomics, District has expanded white, middle-class counterrace and parental involvement the MathForward program to all parts. In some RISD schools, up — all factors outside the school 13 of its secondary to 50 percent of students come system’s control — some disschools and 90 teachers since the from poor homes and many tricts find that solutions to program’s inception have high mobility rates. increase student achievement during the 2005-2006 S fastfacts school year. 20_TexasTechnology
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