News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
White County Schools advocating to increase the use of an integrated math curriculum at the high school level across the state.
Director of Schools Kurt Dronebarger said most districts use the AGA model where Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II are three separate courses. Dronebarger said the district has been resisting the state’s efforts to switch all school systems to the AGA curriculum so the state can have one unified testing model.
“It sets them up for success when it comes to test taking,” Dronebarger said. “Just think, if you don’t see Algebra I for two years before you take an ACT test, well you’ve got to believe that that has an effect on your ability to recall that information. So integrated just keeps that information fresh and out in front of students piece by piece.”
Dronebarger said White County is one of three districts in the state that has math classes combining the courses and teaching the different concepts together.
Dronebarger said he expected to be forced into the AGA model next year but the state recently said the district can use the integrated model for the next five years. Dronebarger said the district hopes to persuade other school systems to return to the integrated model so it can stay in use for even longer.
“If you look at national statistics, the United States is somewhere around twenty-fifth to thirtieth in the world in math and all the countries that are above us use an integrated model,” Dronebarger said.
Dronebarger said the district adopted the integrated model about eight years ago. Dronebarger said the benefits of the system can be seen with the high school’s exceptional math scores in recent years.
“Not to say that they couldn’t do it in an AGA model, but we’ve proven that we can do it,” Dronebarger said. “It’s been successful and so we want to stay with something that’s working.”
Dronebarger said Bradley County and the Metro Nashville School System are the other two districts using integrated math classes. Dronebarger said the state has the ability to force them all into using the AGA model but school officials from each district have been working hard to buy time and find compromises.
“We’re now working with the TDOE to try and establish some training so that maybe we can encourage other districts to come back to the integrated model,” Dronebarger said. “That was one of the things that shied people away in the first place was it wasn’t well-supported maybe from the state level.”
