<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)">
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style>
<![endif]--><o:SmartTagType
namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PostalCode"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="State"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="City"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="place"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="Street"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="address"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PersonName"/>
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }
</style>
<![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Tahoma;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:Arial;
color:navy;}
span.EmailStyle19
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:Arial;
color:navy;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
<u1:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"/><u1:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PostalCode"/><u1:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="State"/><u1:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"/><u1:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"/><u1:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="Street"/><u1:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="address"/>
</head>
<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=blue style='word-wrap: break-word;-khtml-nbsp-mode: space;
-khtml-line-break: after-white-space'>
<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Stephanie,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I don’t think it is your imagination
– the content of Algebra I and Algebra II courses is changing. In our
paper, we speak to that on p.8, saying that the mathematical content component of
numeracy will adjust as the demands of society change. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>In the case of algebra, I would like to
suggest that the changes in content are also a reaction to the change in the
role that algebra (and the algebra courses) plays. When I was in high school,
less than half of us took algebra and the rest went to consumer math or general
math. Now in most states, every high school graduate must pass at least
one algebra course. The narrow, academic focus of “algebra I as preparation
for many more math courses, eventually calculus for engineering” has
broadened to “algebraic thinking for our technological society.”
There is a stronger emphasis on relationships between quantities and exploring what
happens to one quantity as changes are made to another. At the same time,
attaining a high level of skill with symbol manipulation becomes less critical.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Speaking for myself again, I am thrilled
with the inclusion of data analysis in the curriculum. As citizens, we all need
to be able to look more critically at the numbers that are being used to
influence public opinion. I’d like to hear more about the
objections to including it.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Finally, before I get started on the
assessment issue, can you be more specific about which high-stakes assessments
you are thinking of? <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Myrna<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center tabindex=-1>
</span></font></div>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>
specialtopics-bounces@nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces@nifl.gov] <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Stephanie Shultz<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Monday, September 17, 2007
6:35 AM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> <st1:PersonName w:st="on">specialtopics@nifl.gov</st1:PersonName><br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> [SpecialTopics 653] Re:
The Components of Numeracy study</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I have a couple of question also: Is it my
imagination or selective memory? It seems to me that there is less mathematical
content taught now then there was say 20 years ago. The Algebra I and Algebra
II courses that I was responsible for teaching most recently don’t seem
to have as much content as the ones that I remember taking. <u1:p></u1:p></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>My second question is: do you think the
drive to push all students, starting in elementary school and continuing through
high school, into data analysis, i.e. line of best fit and measures of central
tendency, is a worthwhile goal? And lastly, I think that the high stakes
tests have murdered the mathematics curriculum, especially the teaching of
introductory Algebra courses. What is your collective opinions?<u1:p></u1:p></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><u1:p> </u1:p></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Stephanie Shultz </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>ESL Facilitator</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Telamon Corporation</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:Street u2:st="on"><st1:address u2:st="on"><st1:Street
w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on"><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>917 Mt. Hermon Rd.</span></font></st1:address></st1:Street></st1:address></st1:Street><o:p></o:p></p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place u2:st="on"><st1:City u2:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on"><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Salisbury</span></font></st1:City><font size=2
color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'></st1:City>, <st1:State u2:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">MD</st1:State></st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode u2:st="on"><st1:PostalCode w:st="on">21804</st1:PostalCode></st1:PostalCode></span></font></st1:place></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>410-546-4604 ext 118</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>sshultz@telamon.org</span></font><u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center tabindex=-1>
</span></font></div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>