PARENTAL PUSH-BACK: Parents of fifth- and sixth-graders in Mountain View Whisman School District have railed at Teach to One, a digital math curriculum developed by New Classrooms that aims to tailor the sequence and content to the needs of each student. Among the complaints in a letter signed by 180 parents last December: the curriculum “does not follow a logical pathway” and “much of the instruction is quite shallow, in some cases even misleading and factually incorrect.” According to Mountain View Voice, cost for the pilot program and training was estimated at $521,000.
Their protests seem to have been heard. The district office has agreed to cut its Teach to One pilot program from 100 to 50 percent of class time—with the other half now dedicated to the non-digital Eureka Math curriculum.
Conspicuously missing from the story are comments from the teachers. However, a letter sent to parents on Dec. 20 signed by district leaders including superintendent Ayindé Rudolph says the program also received positive feedback from students and educators. “Our teachers and students stated that they find value in the math advisory, teacher-led instruction, virtual instruction and reinforcement, and task portions of [Teach to One],” the letter reads.
Jennifer Kohn, spokesperson for New Classrooms, provided the following statement in response to the feedback: “While Teach to One: Math represents a significant change from the traditional classroom model that parents are accustomed to, we believe the recent mid-year results from the NWEA MAP should help the community feel confident in the progress their students are making.” The company has expressed interest in meeting with parents from the Mountain View Whisman School District next week.
