Process of Streamlining Math Goals

Lorelie's goal was to increase the P.A.T. test results in our school at both the grade three and six level. She did this by first reviewing the curriculum with us, since that is where we would be setting our goals from. We created visual displays showing the correlation from grade to grade between the similar strands of math. This exercise gave each grade level teacher a stronger idea of the knowledge and skills which were key for students to learn before they could be successful in moving up a grade level.

After Lorelie reviewed the Alberta Program of Studies we discussed set out main concepts our students needed to learn. For example everyone agreed that number sense was very important understanding for students to grasp where as (even though it's in the curriculum) tessellations were not as important.

Once Lorelie helped us to streamlined our goals across the math strands we then began investigating assessment techniques. We moved away from the knowledge measuring multiple choice tests to a larger mixed bag of assessment techniques; Running records, Math Journals, Task based assessment and class conferencing. We were shown how genuine assessment gains greater understanding of student learning and we practiced this in our classrooms with peers watching.

Next year we plan on reviewing the goals and strategies with Lorelie. We will do this with the help of the data collected from this years P.A.T.s. I am confident that through the help of Lorelie's process we continue to improve math scores and more importantly our students' understanding of mathematical concepts.