Dear Members and Friends:

The beginning of a new school year provides us with an opportunity to reflect on our practices, celebrate our successes, and make adjustments, as needed, to improve instruction.

The Common Core Learning Standards continue to be the driving force in mathematics education. Students are being held to higher standards than ever before. But it is not only the students who are held to these standards. Mathematics teachers are faced with the challenge of teaching mathematics in a way that that is different from how they learned mathematics. In The New York Times Magazine article on July 27, 2014, Elizabeth Green poses the question, “Why Does Everyone Hate the New Math?” The answer is posted in a smaller font and upside down, “Because no one understands it – not even the teachers.” The article goes on to discuss/insinuate that while we [Americans] spent a great deal of effort creating “the world's best methods for teaching math to children,” we are not actually implementing these methods. This is something that is in our control. Lesson study, collaboration among colleagues, and professional development are initiatives that our organization can offer to help school districts implement research-based best practices that have been shown to impact student achievement and foster a deeper understanding of mathematics.

As Steven Covey would say, we need to work within our “circle of influence” in order to make small yet incremental changes. With this in mind, it is more important than ever to maintain membership in professional organizations where we collaborate and support one another toward a common goal: Ensuring student success in mathematics. This means making the Common Core accessible to both students and teachers. All educators are welcome to join NCAMS; you do not need to work in Nassau County to be a member. We encourage principals, assistant principals, central office personnel, and anyone who supervises mathematics teachers and observes mathematic classes to join our professional organization.

Please join us at our Jumpstart Meeting on Monday, September 29, at 3:30 PM at Molloy College on Route 110.

You can visit our website for the calendar of events that we are planning for you. http://www.ncams.org/Schedule.html. Our events are planned to help keep all of us informed in this time of great change. If you need additional information about any of the events or would like to become more actively involved in NCAMS, please contact me at hkriegstein@jerichoschools.org.

Sincerely yours,

Helene Kriegstein President, Nassau County Association of Math Supervisors [NCAMS] (516) 203-3600 ext. 3426 Cell: (516) 205-4786