Public and private college and university mathematics educators gathered recently to establish a city-wide consortium on improving the teaching of math in New York City’s schools. The group called for a number of reforms, including:

•A complete review of math curricula, matching only prescribed textbooks in use with more teacher selection to meet the needs of their students.

•Less reliance on “one-model” curricula and teacher guides currently in use in many of the City’s schools and more reliance on teacher’s own understanding of math.

•More time in the school day for teachers to share successful lessons with each other.

•Flexibility in the school program to enable new teachers to engage in more discussions of exemplary practices throughout the grades, not just in 4th and 8th grades.

•Increased professional development in math content, math pedagogy, and management of math classrooms both for teachers and for administrators who are not prepared to evaluate math teaching.

•A primary focus on middle schools where most students are lost, not neglecting a strong elementary school foundation to build initial math learning skills.

• A change in the current proscriptive certification regulations to enable more rapid induction of new teachers, including expansion of the recently approved “math immersion” programs.

• Finally, a city-wide Master Plan linking higher education institutions with their neighboring school districts.   Consortium members insisted that…“inspiration be kept alive”...by means of a city-wide K-16 plan involving all public and private resources.#

Jerrold Ross is Dean of the School of Education at St. John’s University. Participants of the consortium included: Professors Bruce Vogeli (Teacher’s College); David Foys and Rosamond Welchman (Brooklyn College); Judith McVarnish, Kenneth Goldberg and Joseph Porzio(NYU); Leonard Ciaccio (College of Staten Island); Deborah Jensen (Wagner College); Rowland Hughs (Fordham); Regina Mistretta and Barbara Signer(St. John’s); Ruth Pagerey and Roseanne DeFabio (NYS Education Dept.); Carol Gresser (former President, NYC BOE).