Math Initiative Bill Online
2010 Session
-Sponsor declined to post the bill due to economic circumstances. Good news: some schools are piloting the program anyway.
2009 Session
SB 159 Text
SB 159 Status
Singapore Bar Model Example - Brilliant
Singapore Math example set in Narnia
Full MA Study (Summary / Detail Report)
Longitudinal Study Released-Singapore Math WORKS-early release-Presentation by Dr. Bisk from Massachusetts
Presentation to Utah Legislature Education Committee on 9-17-08 (free download)
Dr. Yeap Ban Har's Singapore Math Powerpoint Presentation in Utah on 6-12-08 (free download)
Singapore Math: Simple or Complex (article)
Agency Based Education
Welcome to Utah's Math Future
2 Part Video Interview by EdCast with NYC Hold's Elizabeth Carson on math education.
Part 2 talks about the advanced Singapore Math program.
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku4blWtO2bc
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3DA2RzLL9k
Series of Singapore Math Articles from The Daily Riff
Part 1: How I Became Interested In Singapore Math
Part 2: Philosophy and Pedagogical Approach of Singapore Math
Part 3: Is This The Most Visual Math?
Part 4: How To Make It Happen In Your School
The Daily Riff's four-part series Singapore Math Demystified! by Bill Jackson, Math Helping Teacher, Scarsdale, NY Public Schools, one of the highest performing districts in the country.
NEW STUDY RELEASED
Longitudinal study of Singapore math in Massachusetts school district proves success of Singapore Math. This graph shows a normalization of the percent of students achieving each score value on the state MCAS test under Singapore math vs. other math programs within this single school district. (Click here to download the summary report, here for the detailed report)
"My point is simple: There is a chasm of difference in expectations between NAEP and the problems used by world-class mathematics leaders. We expect too little from our children, and by lowering our expectations we lower their incentive to achieve."
-John Hoven, PhD (Economist, Co-president of the Gifted and Talented
Association of Montgomery County, MD)The following video shows a Singapore Math example in the classroom. (Please note the reporter's comment at the end slamming Saxon math is made in complete ignorance. There is not room enough to explain here, but please understand Saxon is a great program and 8 of the top 10 scoring schools in Utah use it.)
DID YOU KNOW?
-67% of UVU's incoming freshmen require an average of 3 semesters of remedial math?
(SLCC also has similar figures)
-Utah's above national average math scores are actually in the bottom 6th of the nation when compared demographically?
-Nearly 20% of graduating Utah seniors can't pass a basic 8th grade level math test (UBSCT)
-In L.A. and around the country, schools switching to Singapore are experiencing big score improvements. (LA Times article)
THE COMING ENGINEERING CRISIS
On May 6th 2008 Joe Sciabica, Executive Director of the Air Force Research Laboratory, said, "We are facing a crisis in this nation.” He was referring to a loss of technical talent and experience as an aging workforce of scientists, engineers and mathematicians prepares for retirement. Mr. Sciabica went on to say, ”What alarms me more is that the professors to teach the next generation are also retiring.”
THE GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
These retiring mathematicians and engineers took us to the stars; they engineered our infrastructure, created the internet and invented the personal computer. Who will replace them?
CAN UTAH FILL THE VACUUM?
The United States does not rank well internationally in math and Utah is currently among the lowest achieving states. This places our students out of the running. How do we turn the tables for Utah’s children and place them in the front of the line for these positions?
SINGAPORE: A MODEL FOR SUCCESS
Singapore was a third world country with few natural resources and apparently little future. The leaders embraced the bold goal of become a leading nation in technology development. Achieving that goal would require developing the best mathematicians in the world so they set out to create the best K12 math program in the world. Singapore children now rank number one in mathematics in the industrialized world and have for the past 12 years.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
The result of Singapore’s bold goals is a modern economy focused on electronics manufacturing, petrochemicals, tourism and finances. Singapore is now the 6th wealthiest nation in the world in terms of GDP per capita.
WHAT ABOUT UTAH?
According to some of the best minds in the nation, adapting the Singapore math program to a NASA Standards math program would move Utah students to the front row of the international math class, propelling them into the opportunity vacuum being created by our retiring mathematicians and engineers.
AN OPPORTUNITY LOST?
Do we want to let Utah sit idly by and allow other countries and states to take advantage of the educational opportunity of this century? Today, we the undersigned, urge business, engineering and education to band together and resolve to adapt Singapore Math to a NASA Standards Math program that will send the children of the State of Utah to the stars and beyond.
THIS SITE
This site has a single purpose, to show support for a major moonshot in the state of Utah and to create a system that is second to none in educating our children in math. Math is the subject that more than any other, teaches the thinking skills our children need.
As Dr. Yeap Ban Har from Singapore said when he visited Utah recently, "We are not teaching math, we are teaching thinking through the medium of math."
Math is a beautiful language that anyone can learn. Please show support for these steps that will put Utah on track to be the mathematical capital of the United States. Our children can be the future economic capital of our nation.
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