Penfield NY Math Success

I am very glad to say that, in the Penfield Central School District (Penfield, NY), about 5 years after generally leaving constructivist math and returning to a more traditional approach, we now have some of the best math scores in our county (Monroe County).

Attached in Appendix A is the October, 2011 newsletter from the Penfield, NY school district with some very impressive math results. For example: "...Penfield Student in grades 3,4,5, and 7 had the highest passing rates in Monroe County on the New York Math exam."

Appedix B is a review of how constructivist math came into Penfield in 1998/1999, and began leaving the district in Sept., 2006, in part with a parent group that I (Bill Munch) founded in 2005 (which is no longer in existence). At the depths of poor performance in Penfield, we had:

- Sept, 2005: 1/3 of 6th graders failed internal assessment of whole number addition, subtraction and multiplication (no division)

- March, 2006: 41% of Penfield's students failed the 7th and 8th grade math assessments

Penfield has come a long way to improve math education. I'm very glad to have been a part of that effort. It goes without saying that this change back to a more traditional approach would not have been accomplished without support of a very large number of parents and teachers in the Penfield Commnunity. I would also like to thank the help I received from Elizabeth Carson, NYCHold,l and a number of others involved with this fight nationally.....who made me and others in Penfield believe that this change would be possible.

BILL MUNCH
ex-leader of "Parents Concerned with Penfield's Math Programs"
Penfield, NY

APPENDIX A: "District Celebrates Success on Math Exams"
Penfield School District Newsletter
October, 2011
http://www.penfield.edu/files/66956/penfield%20october%202011%20final.pdf

Over the past six years, the Penfield Central School District has focused on improving and strengthening its math program. Teachers and administrators have worked together to map curriculum, examine test scores and questions, and use that data to improve instruction. It has been a collaborative, districtwide effort and the hard work is starting to pay off in a big way. The District is extremely pleased with its students' results on the spring 2011 exams.

Specifically, Penfield students in grades 3, 4, 5, and 7 had the highest passing rates in Monroe County on the New York State Math exam. Grades 6 and 8 results were also extremely strong, with 6th graders posting the second highest passing rate and 8th graders, the third highest passing rate.

At the high school level, the district also had outstanding performances on Regents exams. The District's 93% passing rate and 60% mastery rate (score of 85 or higher) on the algebra 2/trig exam were the highest in Monroe County. Penfield also had high passing rates of 94% on the algebra exam and 95% on the geometry exam.

"Penfield students in grades 3, 4, 5 and 7 had the highest passing rates in Monroe County on the New York State Math exam."

The number of Penfield High School students who were successful on college level AP exams is equally impressive. 100% of students taking the Calculus AB exam and the Statistics exam scored a passing grade of 3 or higher. In addition, 91% of those taking the AB exam and 65% of those taking the Statistics exam received the highest score of 5. Finally, 90% of students taking the AP Calculus BC exam received a passing grade of 3 or higher, with 66% receiving a score of 5.

"It's very exciting that other districts and even the state are coming to us and asking us what we are doing to help kids be so successful," said Gene Mancuso, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction.

While they are pleased with these results, District teachers and administrators are not looking at this as a task completed. With the implementation of the new Common Core Standards, there is still work left to do. Curriculum maps that incorporate the new standards have been developed for grades K-2, with full implementation across K-12 expected to occur by the 2013-14 school year.

"Our students continue to do the real work and our teachers recognize that if a student is not there yet, it means the student and the teacher must continue to work toward reaching that Penfield standard and beyond," Mr. Mancuso said.

 
APPENDIX B: History of Penfield Parent Group

1998/1999 - Penfield Schools begins piloting Constructivist Math program

2002/2003 – Most/all(?) math classes in all grades converted to Constructivist Math

Up until Jan, 2005 – A number of individual parents brought concerns to the district with basically no responses (other than the program is working, will work, and/or is in a trial phase). No changes occurred

Jan, 2005 – "Parents Concerned with Penfield's Math Program" was formed (founded by Bill Munch). Membership quickly rose to about 80 families, all of which expressed concerns. Petition started

3/19/05 - First official meeting of Penfield Parent group

4/26/05 - First petition to School Board (signed by 670 residents)..asking for traditional math. Petition denied.

May, 2005 – Created www.teachusmath.com to express Penfield parent concerns. Web site no longer exists, but it can be viewed using the "Wayback Machine" which records the entire internet; go to http://www.archive.org/web/web.php then enter www.teachusmath.com in the "Take Me Back" box)

Nov 11, 2005 – New York Times Article discussing concerns brought up by Penfield Parent Group: "Innovative Math, but can you count":http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/09/education/08education.html?pagewanted=all
This article drew national attention to constructivist issues, and Penfield's fight.

Sept, 2005 - 1/3 of 6th graders failed internal assessment of whole number addition, subtraction and multiplication (no division) - not shared until asked at math forum

Sept, 2006 – Constructivist math removed as only method for teaching math from Penfield High School. 9/29/06 Penfield Post: "National report backs math parents in Penfield": "…In June… Superintendent Susan Gray told members of the math parent group that Core Plus is now out of the high school, citing changing state standards and parent concerns."

Oct, 2006 7th/8th Graders from Penfield Found to have very poor basic math skills– NYS assessments for the 2005-06 school year. 41% of Penfield's students failed the 7th and 8th grade math assessments which were given in March of 2006, according to the Superintendent's Report dated October 24, 2006.

Fall, 2006 – Remediation of basic math skills begin. Despite requests for periodic math updates throughout the year, no more updates received.

Nov, 2006 - High school students assigned to AIS

April 2007 – Two voter propositions proposed for placement on May 15, 2007 school budget ballot - Proposition A demanded removal of the inquiry-based math programs and replacement with textbook-based math programs that use direct instruction. Proposition B required creation of a policy for future implementation of experimental programs in the district. Both requests were denied at the April 17, 2007 BOE meeting. April 18, 2007 letter from the BOE stated that both propositions were for items that are not within the power of the voters, and were therefore invalid.

May, 2007 – Formal appeal of the April 2007 BOE decision was made to the NY State Commissioner of Education, Commissioner Richard Mills

Oct, 2007 – Commissioner Mills denies appeal

Feb, 2008 – Parent group's website turned off

June/July, 2008 - Penfield Math Scores up significantly: June 23, 2008 D&C Article: "English, math test scores up area wide." Online table shows increase in % passing statewide tests for Penfield from 85.3% (2007) to 93.3% (2008)..an 8.04% increase (in one year)! July 3, 2008 – Penfield Post Article: ""Much-maligned math curriculum gets good results": "…the district has seen double-digit increases in students passing the state exam." Penfield Parents are convinced this increase was due to a return to teaching of basic math facts.

October, 2011: Cover story on Penfield newsletter: "…Penfield students in grades 3, 4, 5, and 7 had the highest passing rates in Monroe County on the New York State Math exam."