Latest Communication to the National Math Panel and a Special Request

As I promised a few weeks ago, I plan to publish my correspondences with the National Math Panel.
I will begin with an email I sent on 1-31-07. As of today, 2-3-07, I have not received a reply. In keeping with my policy of not posting email replies without the permission of the sender, I will not include any of the replies I've received from the panel' s administration.

Currently , the panel consists of only one public school educator (Vern Williams, Math Teacher, Longfellow Middle School, Fairfax, Va.). There is no K-5 or secondary school mathematics educator on this panel. Therefore, I am urging those of my readers, who believe that this commission must include more representation from our most qualified classroom educators, to email the panel:
Tyrrell.Flawn@ed.gov or
Ida.Kelley@ed.gov or
Jennifer.Graban@ed.gov.
formally requesting immediate appointment of at least one additional panel member, a secondary mathematics educator from our public schools.

The panel has ONE more year to conclude their work and issue a final report which may have a significant impact on math education for the next two decades. However, without the direct participation of frontline teachers, this report in my opinion will lack credibility and validity in the eyes of those who are most directly affected, our teachers, and, in turn, our children.

I am asking you to email this post to your colleagues in education or whomever you feel would be interested in supporting this request. Feel free to add a link to this post and/or to reprint this post. This is an opportunity for all concerned citizens, educators in particular, to participate in this process and be heard. My lone voice cannot make a difference. Together, our voices cannot be ignored.

Your comments to this posting will give me some idea of the support I can anticipate. I realize this is quite different from the Problem of the Day you've been expecting from me, but on 2-3-07, this is, for me. the only Problem of the Day that I cannot solve without your help.

My email follows:


Dear Ida and Jennifer,

First, I am formally asking on 1-31-07 for permission to reprint replies to my emails from the Panel in my blog MathNotations. Ida, you have been gracious and supportive of my requests, choosing to respond in a humane way rather than in a form letter or an impersonal invitation (as I received from others) to open meetings which most could not attend. Please reply with your decision as soon as possible. Regardless of this decision, I plan to reprint all of my emails sent to the Panel.

I have maintained from the outset that it is imperative that the Panel establish lines of communication enabling the broadest possible spectrum of views, particularly those of other K-8 educators, but, most importantly, from a secondary math perspective.

Repeated requests for an electronic forum, live chat or similar means of communication have been denied.

I’ve read the Executive order to which you referred and I will excerpt it below:

(a) the critical skills and skill progressions for students to acquire competence in algebra and readiness for higher levels of mathematics;
(b) the role and appropriate design of standards and assessment in promoting mathematical competence;
(c) the processes by which students of various abilities and backgrounds learn mathematics;
(d) instructional practices, programs, and materials that are effective for improving mathematics learning;
(e) the training, selection, placement, and professional development of teachers of mathematics in order to enhance students' learning of mathematics;
(f) the role and appropriate design of systems for delivering instruction in mathematics that combine the different elements of learning processes, curricula, instruction, teacher training and support, and standards, assessments, and accountability;
(g) needs for research in support of mathematics education;
(h) ideas for strengthening capabilities to teach children and youth basic mathematics, geometry, algebra, and calculus and other mathematical disciplines;

Nothing in this order precludes having a secondary math educator on this Panel. In fact, it is a glaring omission. The AP ‘vertical team’ concept suggests we work backwards from calculus to determine what skills and concepts students need coming out of Precalculus. This follows logically to Algebra 2 and Algebra 1 as they are often termed. A secondary educator was not deemed appropriate for this?

Therefore, my second request:
I am formally requesting that there be an immediate reconstituting of the Panel to include at least one secondary math educator. Without such representation, any report would be considered invalid by myself and thousands of other educators in my opinion. It is never too late to get the job done right, is it?

Pls confirm receipt of this email.

Sincerely,
Dave Marain