AMHERST — Adjustments to the mathematics curriculum in Amherst’s secondary schools aim to give all students an opportunity to succeed in the subject, and, should they choose, pursue more in-depth studies as high schoolers.

During a Regional School Committee presentation on the mathematics programs at the middle and high schools on June 9, curriculum and department leaders explained that revisions are being made to enhance math skills.

“One of the things we deliberately tried to create this year was multiple pathways to getting to advanced math in 12th grade,” said Mary Kiely, interim coordinator of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment for the schools.

Kiely said the district has changed acceleration options at the high school, with students using the block schedule where they take four classes in the fall and four classes in the spring to make up ground.

With the block schedule, a student who doesn’t take an algebra course in eighth grade can double up on math by taking two math courses in a school year, Kiely said.

Jane Mudie, the high school’s math department leader, said a student could do geometry and algebra II in 10th grade, then pre-calculus and calculus the following year, before getting to the BC calculus college preparatory courses as a senior.

“We want to make sure we have the avenues for them to reach the highest potential possible,” Mudie said.

The middle school math curriculum is also being updated. Eli Edinson, math curriculum leader, told the committee that the district is in “year one” of using the Desmos Curriculum.

Amherst is among only a few schools outside California that is piloting this program, which was also used during the remote learning of the 2020-2021 school year, Edinson said.

“We all liked it so much that we actually adopted it as we came back to the school this year,” Edinson said. “We thought there were some powerful aspects to it that we thought we could transfer virtually to the classroom.”

Edison said Desmos leads well into the high school math curriculum.

In addition to Desmos, Edison said math teachers have completed a rollout of a heterogeneous seventh grade math class. Edinson described this as a work in progress that has been challenging due to teaching students with varying abilities.

But the district has a partnership with Michael Flynn, a Mount Holyoke College professor who helps teachers instruct in these heterogeneous classrooms. Flynn spent 1½ days with the teachers this year.

The middle school also eliminated geometry portfolio, an afterschool math class that would start in seventh grade to help those students accelerate toward high school.  In its place, the middle school offers a problem-solving elective.

At the high school, Mudie said new curricular materials are in place to move students from algebra I, to geometry and then to algebra II, but aspects had to be modified throughout the year because students couldn’t be put in groups.

Mudie said teachers are also paying close attention to student gaps in learning and the need to “backfill,” so students have the knowledge necessary to move into calculus or AP stats classes.

The block schedule is requiring other changes. “Our focus will be on adjusting our materials to the block schedule while keeping a student-centered classroom,” Mudie said.

Mudie said one of the biggest challenges is getting students extra help, diminishing from five days a week to one day per week.

School Committee member Irv Rhodes said math education needs to be universally available to all students, and he appreciates the collaboration with Flynn.

“For some reason, there's this fear of math out there, and especially in relationship to minority students,” Rhodes said. “It's something that I know that as a living example as one of the most exciting things one can get into is math.”

Rhodes said he would like to see all students taking calculus earlier in their educational careers.

Middle School Principal Diego Sharon said he would like to see educators continue to grow and be better able to support students in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or STEM, fields.

“I'm hoping we’ll see greater achievement of all students, a broader spectrum of students in the high school, in what they are attaining in math and other related courses, and STEM courses as well,” Sharon said.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.]]>