NYC schools may take cue from South River
City educational group visits boro schools to see Singapore math in action
BY MICHAEL ACKER
Staff Writer

Above: Joseph A. Porzio, of the New York Comprehensive Center, watches as Deyvid Vasilev, 9, and Enadja Barnes, 9, work on math problems as part of the school's Singapore math program. At right: Third-grade teacher RoseMarie Cline instructs Ulisa Soberano, 8, during a math class using Singapore math strategies.

SOUTH RIVER - The borough may have a relatively small school system, but it has caught the eye of none other than the New York City public school system.

Looking to implement a pilot mathematics program in several city schools, representatives of the New York Comprehensive Center recently sat in on classes in South River where Singapore math is taught.

The program is modeled after techniques used in Singapore, the country with the highest mathematics achievement rate for eighth-grade students, according to the Third International Math and Science Study, released in 1999. The United States placed 19th out of more than three dozen nations in the study.

South River schools adopted the program for first- through fourth-graders in 2005, and expanded the program to include fifth grade last year.

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Singapore math focuses on fewer topics in greater depth each year in order to ensure that students master the skills they are taught. The method is said to incorporate clearer and more concise explanations with a more picture-oriented approach.

South River Assistant Superintendent of Schools Michael Pfister told the Sentinel that the district intends to provide Singapore math for the sixth grade in the next school year. He said the results of the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge [ASK] exams indicated that the program is improving student performance in the district.

South River third-graders who took the ASK exams in 2005 improved their performance on the exam as fourth-graders in 2006, Pfister said. The same group of 173 students were looked at in both years, he said.

The number of students who improved to advanced proficient status, scoring over 250 out of 300 on the exam, grew by 35 students, Pfister said. Also, he noted, the number of students who were at partially proficient status, scoring below 200 on the exam, decreased by 13 after a year of Singapore math.

New York City is now considering the program, and representatives from the New York Comprehensive Center, a support group for city public schools that is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, paid a visit to South River schools last month to see Singapore math in use in the classroom.

Joseph A. Porzio of the New York Comprehensive Center described the visit as rewarding.

"All of the objectives that we set out to accomplish that day [were achieved] in terms of seeing materials and how the program is implemented," Porzio said.

The city is only considering switching from what is called "everyday math" to Singapore math, Porzio said, noting that no decisions were made.

Porzio was grateful to South River administrators and staff for allowing his group to see the program at work.

"The professionalism and the collegiality of the South River administrators and teachers in being willing to share this with us will help us with implementation," Porzio said.

One of the classes they sat in on was the third-grade math class at South River Elementary School led by teacher RoseMarie Cline, who told the Sentinel that her students are benefiting from the learning methods used in Singapore math.

"I think that the children are doing very well with it," Cline said, adding that the visual representations increase students' understanding of the material beyond the results that more abstract tools traditionally yield.

Matthew Dovedytis, 9, one of Cline's students, said he enjoys the activities he does in math class.

"She does it in a fun way," Matthew said of Cline. "She partners us up and we can throw dice."

Classmate Bill Jorge, 8, said he enjoys the lessons, including the word problems, which are more varied when using the Singapore method.

"I like multiplication and word problems," Bill said. "Mrs. Cline is more tough on us, and that is better so we learn stuff."