At the start of my sophomore year of college, I had a revelation about math: you learn to take first derivatives for a reason. It turns out that skill is essential in all sorts of fields, from economics to physics and engineering. How is that I got all the way through BC Calculus in high school and didn’t know this? The answer lies in how math has been taught in the United States for the last 150 years: as a stand-alone class focused on learning to do calculations, with very little, if any, context or relationship to any other  fields.

At ISW, learning to do calculations is just one step in learning math. Most of the time, it isn’t even the first step. Typically, the first step is putting manipulatives in the hands of students and giving them a problem to consider. Only after the concept is beginning to take form in students’ minds do we move to pencil and paper. And even after we have begun the very necessary process of practicing calculations and memorizing math facts, we work to engage our students in real world applications—especially applications in other subjects they are studying.

This coming year we are making some changes that we believe will take us even further:

  • We have appointed Brigitte DeHaven as our mathematics lead teacher. She will teach math, 3rd grade through Algebra, and she will serve as an advisor to our entire staff. Brigitte will coach teachers—across the curriculum–in designing projects that use and expand our students’ math skills.
  • This summer we formed a committee of teachers and parents to look for a new algebra curriculum for a small group of very talented 7th graders.  We adopted Discovering Algebra: An Investigative Approach by Jerald Murdock, Ellen Kamischke and Eric Kamischke. We are excited about this program as it begins every chapter with real world applications—fractals in nature, parabolas in water fountain streams, etc.

According to a January 2010 study from Johns Hopkins, the math curriculum that schools use is not nearly as important as two other elements: how the students are taught and how the teachers are prepared.

One of the key recommendations of the Hopkins study is that students tackle problems in groups using cooperative learning. ISW has always used cooperative learning in teaching mathematics, and we plan to continue and expand that process as we adopt this new math program.

As for professional development, we are exceptionally lucky at ISW to have two wonderful advisors for our math teachers:

  • Corri Taylor, who is the Director of Quantitative Reasoning at Wellesley College, former President of the National Numeracy Network, and an ISW Board Member.
  • Jerald Murdock, who is a Presidential Awardee for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching, a Woodrow Wilson fellow, former President of the Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the author of our newly-adopted Algebra program, and the grandfather of one of our newest students.

Our goal is to graduate students who never, ever ask, “What will we use this for?” because they already know the answer.

Claire McDonald, PhD

Head of School