Education
March 19, 2008Significant
Changes Announced Under Excellence in Mathematics Strategy
As part of the Provincial Government�s $11.3 million
Excellence in Mathematics strategy, a new math curriculum
will be implemented across the K-12 education system. The Honourable
Joan Burke, Minister of Education, said today the new program will
strike a better balance, particularly in earlier grades, between
building basic math skills and understanding math concepts. The adoption
of a new curriculum and textbooks is one of 15 recommendations stemming
from an independent math review undertaken this past fall.
"The first year of the Excellence in Mathematics
strategy has seen the addition of 25 numeracy support teachers who
work directly with our classroom teachers," said Minister Burke. "We
have also made the initial step in selected grades of reducing the
number of topics that teachers and students are required to cover and
funding has been provided to schools across the province to hold special
activities and events to create a positive attitude toward math, such as
the extremely successful For the Love of Math day held at Clarenville
Middle School. We have now completed a comprehensive review of the K-12
math curriculum, led by Dr. Bob Crocker, and I am pleased to announce
today that we are accepting all recommendations from this review in
their entirety."
The report�s recommendations centre around four key
areas:
- New curriculum, adopted from the Western and
Northern Canadian Protocol (WNCP), which will follow a
three-year implementation schedule;
- New textbooks for all grade levels;
- Significant initial and sustained professional
development for teachers; and,
- Development of guidelines for the assignment
of homework.
"While a change to the curriculum itself is important,
new textbooks and a focus on professional development for our teachers
are also critical to ensuring success in math for our students," said
Minister Burke. "The changes that will be made reflect each of the needs
identified by teachers, administrators and parents and our shared
commitment to offer our young people the best education possible."
Minister Burke noted that the Excellence in
Mathematics strategy includes support for parents with the help they
provide their children at home. The development of workshops and
materials specifically geared to parents has been underway and will now
be finalized reflecting the new curriculum and textbooks. In addition,
this material will now include a guide to homework for parents, as
identified in the report�s recommendations.
The WNCP curriculum was initiated in the western
provinces and territories in 2007 and stemmed from the need to address
issues similar to those experienced in Newfoundland and Labrador. Other
Atlantic provinces have now initiated a review of the WNCP curriculum.
According to Dr. Crocker�s review, the WNCP curriculum addresses the
concern that the current program does not place a strong focus on basic
mathematics skills. The WNCP curriculum retains a strong emphasis on
conceptual mathematics, but also brings back a basic skills agenda, by
reducing the total number of topics, especially in the early grades.
In September 2008, students in Kindergarten, and
Grades 1, 4 and 7 will begin using the new curriculum, complete with a
new textbook. Professional development opportunities for teachers will
begin this spring. This will be followed with implementation in Grades
2, 5, and 8 in September 2009, and Grades 3, 6, and 9 in September 2010.
Changes to the senior high school program will be phased in, beginning
with Grade 10 in September 2010.
"This is a time of incredible investment and progress
in our education system," said Minister Burke. "Our budget has exceeded
$1 billion, the greatest financial commitment to our students and
teachers in the province�s history. This funding is being used to make
significant improvements in areas which have the greatest impact, such
as services to students with special needs through the ISSP/Pathways
Review and a new approach to allocating teaching resources based on
class size caps and a focus on individual schools.
"These advancements, coupled with the new math
curriculum, will help create a more positive learning experience in our
classrooms for students and teachers alike. Teachers will have greater
flexibility, time and increased professional development to help them
more effectively cover the mathematics curriculum. There is no doubt
that students in this province can perform to just as high a standard as
students anywhere in the world. We will keep working to provide the
support to make that happen," said Minister Burke.
The K-12 Mathematics Curriculum Review can be accessed
online at www.gov.nl.ca/edu
- 30 -
Media contact:
Jacquelyn Howard
Director of Communications
Department of Education
709-729-0048, 689-2624
jacquelynhoward@gov.nl.ca
BACKGROUNDER
On April 4, 2007, the Williams Government announced
its Excellence in Mathematics Strategy. The strategy has three
main components:
- Curriculum Development and Review
,
with a focus on the nature and amount of curriculum covered
and a review of textbooks;
Excellence in Teaching and Learning,
with a focus on professional development and resources for
teachers; and,
Parent Support,
with a focus on sessions and workshops for parents and the
development of materials to assist parents at home.
Update:
- A preliminary curriculum review was carried
out by a committee of teachers and program specialists. This
resulted in the identification of topics that can be removed or
moved to another grade level and these changes were in place for
September 2007. These changes, which affected Grades 1 � 7 and
Grade 10, resulted in coverage of fewer topics per grade level.
This allowed teachers to go spend more time on the remaining
topics, increasing the opportunity for practice and mastery.
- As a follow-up to this initial review, a more
comprehensive review of the current provincial mathematics
curriculum was initiated. The review considered research in K �
12 mathematics teaching and learning, as well as a comparative
analysis of the provincial mathematics curriculum across Canada
and in other countries. Atlantic Evaluation and Research
Consultants (Dr. Robert Crocker, principal investigator) was the
successful candidate.
- Upon receiving the report, an analysis of the
15 recommendations was conducted and the decision was made to
accept all recommendations.
Mathematics Review Recommendations and
Government Response
|
Recommendations |
Action |
|
The
Western and Northern Canadian Protocol (WNCP) Common Curriculum
Frameworks for Mathematics K-9 and Mathematics 10-12 (WNCP, 2006
and 2007) be adopted as the basis for the K-12 mathematics
curriculum in this province. |
Accept
recommendations as is and implement new mathematics curriculum
based on the following schedule:
September 2008
�
Kindergarten and Grades 1, 4, 7
September 2009
�
Grades 2, 5, 8
September 2010
�
Grades 3, 6, 9, 10
September 2011
�
Grade 11
September 2012
�
Grade 12 |
|
Implementation
begin with Grades K, 1, 4, 7 in September, 2008, followed by in
Grades 2,5,8 in 2009 and Grades 3,6,9 in September 2010. |
|
The
senior high school program be implemented on the same schedule
as now proposed for the western and northern jurisdictions,
starting in 2010. |
|
The
proposed revised program not be piloted but that an effort be
made to learn from the initial experiences in other
jurisdictions implementing the program in 2007-08. |
|
Textbooks and other resources specifically designed to match the
Western and Northern Canadian Protocol (WNCP) and frameworks be
adopted as an integral part of the proposed program change. |
The
textbooks and other learning resources will be chosen from those
designed to match the WNCP curriculum and authorized as such. |
|
Implementation
of the proposed changes to the mathematics curriculum be
accompanied by an introductory professional development program
designed to introduce the curriculum to all mathematics teachers
at the appropriate grade levels prior to the first year of
implementation. |
Introductory professional development will be provided according
to the curriculum implementation schedule. |
|
At least partial
support for professional development be negotiated with
publishers as part of a textbook adoption package. |
Support will be solicited from publishers whose student and
teacher resources are selected. |
|
Numeracy support
teachers have a primary role in the delivery of professional
development for primary/elementary teachers |
Program development specialists will work with both program
specialists at the district offices as well as the numeracy
support teachers in developing and delivering professional
development. Numeracy support teachers will play an integral
role in ensuring sustained/follow-up professional development.
To
ensure sustained and follow-up professional development,
department heads in intermediate and high schools will be
included as part of the professional development sessions. |
|
The
responsibilities of mathematics department heads in intermediate
and high schools (whether 7-12, 10-12 or any other combination)
include facilitating introductory professional development
sessions and follow-up of these sessions. |
|
Iin
the short term, numeracy support teachers assigned to Grades K �
6 be considered as lead teachers for mathematics in the schools
for which they are responsible |
|
The
work of numeracy support teachers be systematically monitored
for at least two years, using methods designed to assess their
impact on fidelity of implementation and on outcomes |
A monitoring process will be finalized and
implemented to determine the effectiveness of the numeracy
support teachers. |
|
Following
this period, a determination be made of whether this program
should be continued or whether the resources would be better
utilized to support lead teachers at the individual school level |
Findings from the evaluation of the effectiveness
of the numeracy support teachers will be used to make decisions
regarding changes in the role of these positions.
|
|
The
Department of Education reinforce, through reference in its
curriculum documents and professional development activities,
well established features of effective teaching: maximizing the
use of time, maximizing student engagement in academically
meaningful work, high expectations, maximizing content coverage,
monitoring and using assessment to improve learning. |
The reinforcement of these key features of
effective curriculum delivery will be incorporated, as
necessary, into WNCP documents as NL implements the curriculum,
as well as any other resource material built around the new
curriculum. |
|
The Department of
Education reinforce the value of homework, establish guidelines
on the amount and type of homework to be assigned, especially in
the early grades, and develop and disseminate a parent guide to
homework. |
Guidelines as to the amount and
type of homework are being developed by the department. These
guidelines will then be distributed to teachers and will also be
part of the professional development associated with the
implementation of the new curriculum.
As well, parent resources, currently under development, will be
adjusted where necessary to reflect the new curriculum and will
be a part of the introduction of the new curriculum. |
|
Any revisions to
the model for providing services to special needs students
include opportunity for remedial work for those students
requiring additional time to meet grade level expectations. |
As the
recommendations of the ISSP/Pathways review are implemented, the
principle of remediation for students requiring additional
support will be endorsed. |
2008 03 19
12:40 p.m. |
