Avon Community Schools administrators address math class controversy
HENDRICKS COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) — Avon schools are dealing with a math class controversy. Some parents are not happy about how students are learning it.
Avon Community School Corporation administrators said this is the last of a three-step implementation of what’s called Pearson’s envision math. It shifts learning to allow more student-to-student interaction and allows teachers to work in small groups, but some students and parents are concerned that kids are being left to learn on their own.
One student launched a Change.org petition to stop the teaching technique just a few days after school began.
“We, students and staff of Avon High School, unite together in a petition to act upon the recent change in the mathematics classrooms throughout ACSC. Students are missing the fundamental values of a successful classroom by removing lectures by our beloved teachers and staff,” wrote Avon student Peyton Dunlap.
The petition now has more than 200 supporters.
But Avon administrators say students and parents should be patient and give this teaching technique a chance. Associate Superintendent John Atha said the decision to make the change was made by the administration after the Indiana Academic Standards were revised in 2014. Implementation began in kindergarten though fifth grade in 2015, then the middle school in 2016, and now it’s the high school’s turn.
The method shifts away from a full lecture-style class to a combination of stand-and-deliver instruction and cooperative learning, where students work together applying the math concepts to problems while the teacher acts as more of a guide on the side.
“When we interact like you and I are doing right now, we learn and we understand concepts more deeply. We also learn vocabulary, so it’s not peer teaching as much as interacting with your peers and working with your peers collaboratively to solve problems and to understand more deeply the academic vocabulary for that subject,” Atha said.
Avon administrators said there is such a thing as an implementation dip, which is a loss of confidence and security when changes are made. Atha said once routines are established, school leaders believe students will be very successful, especially some students who may have been left behind in the past.
“The top tier of mathematics students, they’ll continue, this is not something that is going to slow them down. The research as shown that and actually they’ll be more engaged, because in those conversations they’ll be in, they will be in kind of a teaching role, explaining what they know. But it will then engage the next tier of students who tend to be, as mathematics becomes more difficult, more and more disengaged,” Atha said.
Avon administrators said parents should talk to teachers and principals if you’re needing more information or worried about your child’s math class, rather than turning to social media for answers.