Singapore maths makes its way to S.
America
Textbooks
based on MOE method adopted in some countries
By MELISSA
SIM
U.S CORRESPONDENT
IN WASHINGTON
AT SOUTHERN Cross School in Santiago, Chile, first- to
fourth-grade pupils became more interested in their mathematics
lessons after the school started teaching Singapore maths.
Says head of the elementary school Shannon Watt:
"They are more engaged and more active and asking more questions
now."
Singapore's maths syllabus - developed by the
Ministry of Education with a strong focus on problem solving and
using model drawings - has been adopted in a number of South-east
Asian countries and the United States.
And it has also slowly made its way to South
America.
Chile, Colombia and Panama have adopted the
syllabus over the past few years.
This year, Chile will introduce a new Mi
Mathematica textbook series to all public school pupils at Grade 2,
the equivalent of Primary 2. The series, based on Singapore's
method of teaching - was jointly developed by Singapore publisher
Marshall Cavendish and Chile's Ministry of Education.
Singapore maths attracted international attention
after Singapore students consistently outperformed their peers in
global assessments such as the Trends in International Mathematics
and Science Study (TIMSS).
In the latest TIMSS 2011 International Results in
Mathematics, Singapore pupils scored highest among fourth-grade
pupils from 63 countries and were the second-best scorers, after
South Korea, among eighth-grade, or Secondary2, students.
Although Singapore maths has been widely praised,
there was some resistance from parents and teachers in Chile when
the syllabus was first introduced.
Ms Watt says that at Southern Cross, which
introduced it in 2010, parents did not understand the programme and
were not comfortable with it. "(So) we did clinics with parents,
just as we did with the students, and now they like it and they see
the strength."
Teachers, too, needed to be trained. Ms Paulina
Estrada, the academic coordinator for Innovacion Tres, a
consultancy working with seven schools in Chile, says: "The
mathematical level of our teachers is not good, they have to study
and prepare more to understand the programme."
"But our students now want to have classes in
maths," she adds. "They love talking about and explaining
mathematics concepts."
Dr Yeap Ban Har, who has given talks on Singapore
maths overseas and is principal of the Marshall Cavendish Institute
- the education arm of the publisher, providing teacher training
programmes - says foreign educators see the advantages of the
syllabus. "Generally, they are always amazed maths can be learnt in
a way where memorisation, rote procedures and tedious calculations
are not central," he says.
In North America, acceptance of the Singapore
approach is also growing. Introduced to the US market in 1998,
Singapore maths is now taught in more than 3,000 schools across the
country.
The state of California approved the syllabus in
2008 and Oregon in 2010. Schools elsewhere have independently
picked up the syllabus for their students.
In April, a new edition of the Primary Mathematics
textbook, which fulfils the requirements of the Common Core State
Standards Initiative, will be rolled out.
The initiative is a joint effort by most US states
to provide consistency in what is expected of students. This means
45 of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, will have the
option to teach Singapore maths.
Seattle's Schmitz Park Elementary School has been
using the syllabus from 2008 to great effect, says its principal
Gerrit Kischner.
While less than a quarter of fifth graders usually
qualify to take advanced maths in the sixth grade, at his school,
two-thirds will make the cut. "That's more than the school with the
gifted students," he says proudly.
Top of The News, The Straits Times, Wednesday, February 5, 2014, Pg
A8