I was recently forwarded, from a Yahoo group about the "Math Wars" of NYC, a resignation letter, with commentary. It is Manhattan District 2 Director of Mathematics Lucy West who has resigned, to the apparent relief and joy of everyone who favors clarity and effectiveness in math education.
The preface to Ms. West's resignation letter, written by Elizabeth Carson of New York City HOLD (Honest, Open Logical Debate on math reform), was interesting - especially the last paragraph. I have quoted substantial portions of Ms. Carson's comments below:
Lucy West has written a farewell letter to Region 9 staff which is forwarded below.
West served as Director of Mathematics during the adoption and implementation of the Manhattan District 2 constructivist math programs Investigations (TERC), CMP, and ARISE ( 1995-2003) She was the Principal Investigator on the multi-million dollar NSF teacher enhancement grant which supported the implementation of Investigations and CMP...West was a member of [Chancellor Joel] Klein's Numeracy Working Group which designed the city's universal constructivist math reforms...
Many of us know West for her controlling, steely nature, denunciation of any and all who questioned her policies, and overall oppressive, undemocratic, authoritarian administrative style. The hallmarks of her tenure while Director of Mathematics in District 2 were highly restrictive, doctrinaire program implementations and associated professional development policies. She instituted a "Big Brother" policing of classroom teachers by school based math coaches and arranged around her a cadre of professional development devotees. West remained to the end unmoved by the sustained concerns and criticisms of the district's math reforms expressed by the parent community, classroom teachers, senior math instructors at Stuyvesant who worked in partnership with District 2, and NYU and CUNY mathematics experts.
West has no math background and lacks the credentials to teach math in NYS higher than grade 6. She received a BS in counseling and theatre from Empire State College in 1984; and an MS in elementary education from Bank Street.
Good riddance.
Amen (emphases mine). I won't include Ms. West's resignation letter in full, but I think this small excerpt fully conveys her love for meaningless educational prattle and her hostility towards standards, accountability, and genuinely effective and useful math education:
It's easy to believe that accomplishing a mission requires prescriptive remedies--mandated curriculum materials, required numbers of periods devoted to the study of mathematics and literacy; a set of standards; and high stakes tests. While these things may play a role, they are just as likely to keep us entrenched in a factory model of teaching as they are to catapult us into a new paradigm for education. They are at least in part based on mechanistic models of change and the misguided premise that change and people are controllable; the myth that programs, structures and a fearless leader are what it takes to make a difference.
Got that? A set of standards aren't useful; they keep the students "entrenched in a factory model". It's a "myth" that programs and structures are useful in math education. It's misguided to think change - i.e., math education - is controllable.
And this person was a director of math curriculum in NYC? Horrifying. Go read the stuff at HOLD's and Bas Braams' sites to learn more.
Posted by kswygert at July 2, 2004 04:51 PM