Lower School Math Program
The overall goal of the Eagle Hill Mathematics program is to develop our learning disabled students’ understanding and appreciation of mathematics while acquiring skills that will enhance their success in traditional programs when they transition from Eagle Hill. The curriculum and overall instructional program have been designed to be consistent with the school’s mission statement. Classes meet once daily for forty minutes and range in size, though the average class size is about five students. Such small classes allow for instruction that can be tailored to individual skill and learning profiles. A diagnostic prescriptive approach is the hallmark of the program. While many commercial materials are utilized, much of the work is teacher designed to meet the developmental levels of students. A success-oriented approach is important in helping students gain self-confidence as they move along a hierarchical sequence of mathematical skills.
The objectives in the Eagle Hill Math curriculum have been designed by gleaning material from three major sources- the standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the Greenwich Public Schools’ curriculum, and experience with learning disabled students at Eagle Hill. The program keeps current with ongoing changes in national and local standards while tailoring specific instructional programs to our learning disabled students.
Consistent with the standards and with what we consider to be sound instruction, emphasis continues to be on conceptual understanding and the meaning of mathematics. There is a strong emphasis on the use of concrete materials and visuals in order to stress comprehension of the meaning of mathematical operations. The Eagle Hill Mathematics program is divided into four main emphasis areas that encompass the standards recommended by NCTM and reflect the areas being instructed in traditional programming. These areas are problem solving, number sense and estimation, concepts and operations, and practical application units. Our problem solving curriculum continues to place emphasis on “global strategies” such as understanding the question posed, estimating an answer, extracting the pertinent information, translating verbal information into a mathematical sentence, and checking the validity of a solution. In addition to these global strategies, specific strategies (e.g., make an organized list, make a table, look for a pattern) are emphasized according to a monthly calendar. Ample time needs to be spent on specific strategies in order for learning disabled children to become facile in their use. Emphasis on computation stresses meaning of the operations. Micro-uniting and overlearning of algorithms is necessary to facilitate mastery, but tedious computations have been de-emphasized. Coordinated with the emphasis on computation is a focus on number sense and estimation so that students can put their computations in context of the “real world” and so that they can be "math literate". Topics of “practical application” are instructed in monthly units and are coordinated with the other instructional areas.
As noted, a diagnostic prescriptive approach is critical in the math instructional program. Assessment is an ongoing process, as teachers need to constantly determine the individual student’s understanding and skill mastery in order to design effective programming and instruction. Informal assessments through observation and conferencing and task analysis of student work guide teachers as they plan instruction. Formal assessment, utilizing the Stanford Diagnostic Math test, is conducted once yearly in mid-April.
A major strength of the math program is that it is consistent with the mission of the school. With the strong emphasis on diagnostic prescriptive teaching, teachers are not bound by having to keep up with a timetable for a specific textbook. Instead they are to design a program in line with the Eagle Hill curriculum that allows students to increase skills while also developing their confidence in approaching the subject of math.