academic excellence

Mathematics

In 2010, our Math Task Force set out to find a math curriculum with a track record of helping students reach higher levels of achievement. In their search for the best, they found Singapore Math, and we rolled out the new curriculum during the 2010-2011 school year.

The curriculum is based on the national math system of Singapore and aims to emulate that country's success by promoting a deeper understanding of numbers and math concepts. Students in Singapore have repeatedly ranked at or hear the top on international math exams since the mid-1990s.

Unlike many math curricula, which spiral concepts from year to year, Singapore Math teaches for mastery. Each new math skill begins with the use of concrete objects and progresses to pictoral representations and then to abstract algorithms. The goal is mastery of each concept, and students of Singapore Math spend more time solidifying their understanding of a math concept than do students of most other math curricula.

The results are in, and they are proof positive! Since we adopted Singapore Math, our students' test scores have markedly increased. Results of the ERB standardized tests confirm that Singapore Math has given our students an academic boost. Across the board, our teachers have found it to be the most effective math curriculum they have ever used. No other curriculum has made it so easy to assess mastery

"In past years, we used to solve a problem and move onto the next one," says Daniel Pomerantz,'11 graduate. "With Singapore Math, we would look at that same problem over and over in different ways. We'd have to explain why it worked, not just how it worked. By the time we moved on, we really got it!"