Math lecture adds new strategies for parents, teachers

Providing teachers and parents with a base to improve the quality of students’ mathematics education became the issue of the night on Tuesday, when about 50 people gathered in the Monsanto Auditorium in the MU Life Sciences Building to hear James Hiebert talk about his research.

The Columbia Public Schools sponsored Hiebert’s presentation, “The Effects of Classroom Mathematics Teaching on Students’ Learning — What Does the Research Say.” Chip Sharp, the district’s coordinator for secondary mathematics, helped get Hiebert to share his research on effective teaching practices and how to identify them.

“We want to get a better understanding about what research is saying about learning and teaching math,” Sharp said.

Hiebert, an education professor at the University of Delaware, has done extensive research on math education in the United States and compared it with methods throughout the world.

Hiebert said that although the district’s curriculum is set, there are ways to make small changes to math teaching methods that would have an impact in the long run.

“If I can change two lessons to make them more effective, I feel better,” Hiebert said.

After Hiebert shared his research findings with the attendees, the lecture was opened up to a question-and-answer session.

One of the main concerns of the attendees was increasing parent input in helping their children do well in math.

Christine Roberson, mother of students in the second and third grades at Russell Elementary, attended the lecture in an effort to learn more about the possibilities in the math curriculum for her children, and asked Hiebert what the school district could do to help parents who are having trouble working with their children on math homework. Based on Hiebert’s previous experience, he suggested that the teachers hold sessions with the parents to go through the lesson plans, and that teachers send out weekly letters to keep the parents informed of what’s going on in their children’s math classes.

In addition to discussing ways to help parents, Hiebert also stressed that it is important for the teachers to keep learning.

“The presentation reinforced the idea that teacher development is as important as the curriculum,” Roberson said.

Last month, the school district sponsored a lecture on integrated math, given by Ruth Parker, chief executive officer of the Mathematics Education Collaborative. The school district’s Math Task Force is using these two lectures to prepare for the presentation of its report to the school board in May. Sharp said the report, which will cite the strengths and weaknesses of Columbia Public Schools’ math curriculum, is part of a five-year cycle for curriculum review by the district.

More information about Hiebert’s research can be found at nces.ed.gov/timss/.