EDISON — At the last Board of Education meeting of the year, school officials ushered in a new math curriculum for middle school students, beginning with the 2012-13 school year.
Students will have more options in math next year, under a new program recommended by Superintendent of Schools Richard O’Malley, Assistant Superintendent Margaret DeLuca and math supervisors Vincent Ciraulo and Tina Sabunis.
O’Malley approached DeLuca and the math department last summer about upgrading the curriculum. According to DeLuca, Edison is a high-achieving district, but the goal was to get the math curriculum up to par with other districts such as West Windsor and East Brunswick.
“They asked us to think of ways that we can get rid of double honors,” Ciraulo said. “Kids should be exposed to Algebra II prior to taking the HSPA (High School Proficiency Assessment) exam.”
While the current math system has only a select group of students taking Pre-Algebra in eighth grade, the goal is to have all middle school students take some form of algebra, Ciraulo said. Because this is only an update to the curriculum, there are no financial implications. No new teachers need to be hired.
“As someone new to the district, I was surprised where the district was when I got here,” DeLuca said.
After the Dec. 20 school board meeting, with several math teachers from Edison on hand as well as teachers and principals from other districts, Sabunis, Ciraulo and DeLuca all agreed a change was needed with algebra. DeLuca said her research indicated that students throughout the country who take algebra in middle school have higher achievement levels.
“One of the other things we were looking at is we wanted to build in flexibility,” DeLuca said, adding that the new math curriculum will allow students to mature mathematically.
Ciraulo said the new program will be phased in gradually because officials do not want to surprise the students all at once. Beginning in September, it will affect sixth- and seventh-graders, but will not affect the eighth grade until 2013. Currently, the sixth-grade Level 1 class takes Math 6-1, then in seventh grade they can take Honors Pre-Algebra or Math 7-1. Then, in eighth grade they take either Algebra 1 or Math 8-1. However, under the new curriculum, sixth-grade students in Level 1 can take either Honors Pre-Algebra in seventh grade or Pre-Algebra Level 1. Then, those students in eighth grade will take either Algebra 1 Honors or Algebra Level 1.
Students in Level 2 Math will also see a different schedule. Currently, they take Math 6-2, followed by 7-2 and 8-2, and they do not take algebra until high school. Under the new curriculum, those students will take Pre-Algebra in eighth grade and have the option of taking Algebra 1-1 or Algebra 1-2 in high school.
There also will be a select group of students who will have the opportunity to take Pre-Algebra in sixth grade, Honors Algebra 1 in seventh grade, and Geometry in eighth grade.
Sabunis, who taught math for several years in Edison, said algebra has been needed in the middle schools for a long time, and she believes the district is taking a step in the right direction with the changes. The goal is to push as many students as possible into the accelerated track, she said.
“The bottom line is, we need to do what’s best for the kids, and I believe this is what’s best for our students,” DeLuca said.