I am a parent of two children that have been in the Highline School District for eight years. I am concerned with the reform math curriculum, "Investigations" (elementary school) and "Connected Mathematics (middle school), that our district has embraced in the past several years.

With all the hype lately about the importance of math and improving the math scores of our students, I am surprised that more scrutiny hasn't been given to this method of teaching.

Imagine this: You are given an equation to figure out, but not given the means to do it. You are instructed to get within a group of three or four equally confused students and hash it out. At the end of an hour-long class, or perhaps not until the next day, you are told the formula or theorem and given one or two additional problems as homework.

I have volunteered in middle school math classes and have seen this in action. I have left frustrated by the incredible waste of time and how little is accomplished within a class period. I have seen students who cannot do long division, cannot add fractions, let alone multiply them, and don't know what to do with decimals. All this at the middle school level.

This curriculum may be aimed at getting students to "conceptualize" math and think independently without relying on the formulas and algorithms that have served us all well, but instead, I see students (my children included), that are confused, weak in the fundamentals, lacking in confidence and the foundation that will take them into higher math.

In my conversations with many parents I have not found a one that supports our current curriculum but instead are frustrated with the confusing layout of the homework and how little it seems that their child is learning in math.

I have resorted to buying math books and tutoring my own children after school hours. A "thank you" goes out to the many concerned teachers that give supplements when they see the holes in this curriculum.

I know the district is concerned and thinking seriously about math in our schools at this time and funds are available for changes. As one parent to another, I strongly encourage you to look at this curriculum closely and begin to speak out to the district about the shortfalls within it. Ask for a curriculum that stresses the fundaments foremost, with a smaller percentage of time spent in "reform" type mathematics.

Mary Jordan

Normandy Park