South River schools to follow Singapore’s lead

BY JOHN DUNPHY
Staff Writer

SOUTH RIVER — School officials hope a new way of learning can get students to the head of the class.

Starting this September, the district will implement a new form of teaching mathematics, called Singapore math, to students in first through fourth grade.

According to Superintendent of Schools Ronald Grygo, Singapore math came about after the Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS) was released in 1999. Of the 38 nations tested within the TIMSS parameters, the United States placed 19th.

But it was the top five placements that have piqued the interest of many educators in America. All five countries were Asian, with No. 1 honors being given to Singapore.

Second through fifth place went to South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Japan.

“The question we began to ask in the West was, ‘What are these Asian countries doing that we’re not?’ ” Grygo said.

This is where Singapore math comes in. Grygo said there are some distinct differences between Singapore’s methodology for learning math and the way the United States has been teaching mathematics for years.

“Fewer topics are covered each year,” he said. “However, each topic is covered in much greater depth.”

Grygo said the program was language-based and highly visual in nature, providing a variety of visual methodologies that the student can take advantage of.

“The student is never at a loss as to how to approach a problem,” he added.

Gerri Misiewicz, mathematics director for South River’s K-12 school district, said Singapore’s math program is far more concrete in nature than what has traditionally been taught in this country. She said children in elementary school grades generally respond much better to concrete examples within mathematics.

“A lot of time is spent on making sure the students understand the fundamentals and understand a particular idea in a number of ways,” she said. “It hits the topics from a number of different ways and ties them together.”

Misiewicz first caught on to the idea of bringing Singapore math to the district when Metuchen held a workshop on it last year. To her knowledge, of all New Jersey districts, only Metuchen and Paterson have thus far begun to use the new system of learning.

South River educators are currently being trained by a teacher in Middlesex, Mass., whose school district has been using the method of learning for five years. Before the system was used, that school district had placed 200th out of 400 districts in Massachusetts, Grygo

noted. After five years, it now ranks 35th out of 400, which is within the top 10 percent, he said.

“To say it another way, they had about 35 percent of their students failing their statewide tests every year,” Grygo said. “Now, only a 3 percent failure rating exists.”

Currently, all seventh-grade students in Middlesex, Mass., are in pre-algebra and all eighth-grade students are in algebra, he added.

“Not only is that a type of result that would be very attractive here, I would also urge other schools in the area as well as the state Department of Education to take a serious look at Singapore math,” Grygo said.

Misiewicz agreed, saying the new program encourages a higher order of thinking skills within its students.

“I am very hopeful about the program,” she said. “It seems to me to be a way for students to understand mathematics and be able to get a solid foundation of ideas.”

An introduction to Singapore math for parents will be held at 7 p.m. June 22 at the elementary and middle school’s cafetorium, with an all-day training session for teachers the following day.

School officials said Singapore math should be in place for first through fourth grade when classes begin in September. They anticipate that training for teachers in grades five through eight will follow.

Though the new method of learning math poses a challenge for students, Grygo said, the children will gain a whole new depth of understanding that will give them confidence in their mathematical skills.

“We’re very excited about the program,” he said.