Teacher development key to Nashville’s math switch

In a small classroom dedicated to professional development, three Metro Schools educators pore over numerous textbooks that could become the base of the district’s new math curriculum.

The consortium discusses each book’s merit and runs through every teaching scenario during the Friday meeting. The group’s analysis of pros and cons about each book will help inform a nine-member committee, which will ultimately decide in April the textbooks high school students use in the 2015-16 school year.

“The hard part is none of them are perfect,” said Andrew Strong, a lead middle school math coach, who acts as a resource for teachers.

A routine textbook selection occurs every six years with a list of state-approved books. But the selection intensified after Wednesday’s announcement that high schools will change the way they teach algebra and geometry. In place of Algebra I, II and geometry is integrated math, a blend of the courses that is expected to better connect math to the real world.

The rollout of the new courses will involve a careful selection of books and curriculum to meet state standards, and weeks, if not months, of teacher professional development. Metro Nashville Public Schools will work with various universities and its partner county, Putnam County Schools, to guide the process.

Yet it’s not the strength of the books that is key. It is how well prepared teachers are to instruct from the text that will determine the transition, said Ilana Horn, associate professor in Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College.

“(Curriculum) isn’t an appliance that you can plug in,” she said. “Curriculum is only as good or bad as how it ends up getting used.”

A familiar name

While Metro had the opportunity to keep the same curriculum, it opted to change in light of the textbook selection year and the 2010 switch to Tennessee Standards, the state’s much-debated version of Common Core. And with the new TNReady testing expected to begin next year, it was the right time for the district, said Jill Petty, director of secondary curriculum and instruction.

High school algebra and geometry will still be taught, but the concepts will be introduced simultaneously so they link to each other.

“The way that the standards are structured right now, the concepts are taught very separately,” said Jessica Slayton, Metro’s lead math coach. “Even the concepts that can be addressed in algebraic and geometric terms are taught at different times.”

Throughout the United States, K-8 and college students are taught integrated math. But algebra and geometry concepts are separated in Metro high schools. Integration, an internationally recognized practice, is one of four options recommended in the Common Core State Standards Initiative. The others are traditional (what students are taught right now in Metro) and two compacted options.

“If you look at curricula in the last 20 years, there are fantastic examples that do a good job and there are some that look like your same old math curricula,” Horn said.

Creating the right approach is where the district’s partners come into play. Once the books are selected, Vanderbilt and the University of Tennessee at Martin will help guide how to create curriculum from the books. Putnam County Schools, which has used integrated math at high schools for three years, will offer lessons learned.

And the trio at the table — Strong, Petty and Slayton — and 66 districtwide high school coaches will help create classroom lessons and draw in outside resources for teachers.

Enough time?

Horn said the clock to ensure teachers are ready is ticking. The district won’t have books selected until April.

Petty acknowledged it’s a fast turnaround to be ready by August. The system also recently received a $1 million grant to help with the transition.

“We know it might be painful,” Petty said. “But we are going to support them to the fullest.”

Yet even with all the plans for teacher development, which includes summer seminars, increased collaboration among teachers and extra planning hours, some lessons will be learned on the fly, said Sharon Anderson, curriculum supervisor for Putnam County Schools. At times it still feels new to her teachers, she said.

“The most difficult part of the implementation (for teachers) has been their transition from being specialists in Algebra I, geometry or Algebra II to becoming math generalists in order to teach the integrated courses effectively,” she said.

Putnam County’s kids have reacted well to the changes, Anderson said, but qualitative data is still being collected.

Metro Schools, on the other hand, has a long way to go. Along with selecting the textbooks, there are many unknowns.

“Metro has not yet adopted a particular curriculum or adopted an approach to integrated math,” Vanderbilt’s Horn said. “Until then, I will hold my judgment.”

Reach Jason Gonzales at 615-259-8047 and on Twitter @ByJasonGonzales.