The Discovering Mathematics series (part 2)
Coe: We just received recently a letter from a teacher up in your area. Her math experience with her students up to that point is, "Your homework is to do 1 thru 50 odd." And when she started using Discovering, the homework was: "Do 1 through 10 odd." And the kids thought they had scored. And actually, they came back the next day and said, "You tricked us, you made us think." And I think that's what's possibly going on in some of those reactions you're hearing.
The Discovering books have been criticized by parents, but they've been the top pick of a couple of districts in our area, including Seattle and Issaquah. Any thoughts on why the textbooks seem to be more popular with educators than with parents?
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Coe: I think because (parents) lack familiarity — this doesn't look like what I was taught. I don't know how you get students to a place where more is required of them by repeating things that have been done in the past. That's not how we move forward in life.
What can you tell parents who are struggling with this book, and can't find examples of how to do the math?
Coe: We appreciate that parents won't find what's in front of them familiar. We have a Web site dedicated to parents, students and mentors: www.keymath.com.
Two math experts who reviewed textbooks for Washington state wrote a report that called Discovering "mathematically unsound."
Coe: Our books are mathematically accurate. We don't publish books with errors in them.
Ryan: There were also the two Washington mathematicians, Jim King and George Bright, who found the materials were mathematically sound as well. The materials were also the top-ranked by OSPI (Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction) in their study as the best match.
The Discovering series was on OSPI's initial list of recommended textbooks, but last year the state whittled the list down to just one series, Holt Mathematics. Do you think your books should have remained on the list?
Coe: Well, a book (the Algebra I and II books) that gets ranked highest among 12 publishers, and the series as a whole ties statistically in first place with Holt, that was looked at by a team of over 50 experts — yeah. (Laughs.) We think that.
Is this tug of war over math textbooks being played out elsewhere in the country?
Coe: There is a very healthy debate, as there should be, around this selection of textbooks. A district makes a big commitment when they buy into a program. Quite right — whatever is getting looked at ought to be scrutinized very carefully. What's unusual is that having gone through that process, and the (Seattle) school board having made the decision based on the evidence in front of them, that a lawsuit was then filed. This is very unusual.