At young ages objective measures such as computation do not reveal significant differences in children's concepts & strategies in math.
Dr. Susan Friel, co-PI, offered an intensive one week workshop on Elem. Math development, with regular followup sessions. Teachers learned how to categorize the difficulty of compuation tasks and how to use small group performance tasks and questions to elicit children's understanding of math. It has been remarkable to observe how differently children understand computation & the strategies they use to solve problems, even tho they are all capable of somehow getting the right answer!
Teachers continue to feel pressure and doubt from the requirements of high stakes accountability, which values speed and accuracy but does not assess children's developing ability to understand math concepts and solve problems.
Mack McCary,
1/14/1998
Professional Development
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