Thursday, March 1, 2007 Older Editions

2007 School Committee race: All candidates see some change needed in math program

School Committee interviews by April Guilmet

Since the Connected Math program was chosen by Andover, some parents have questioned whether middle-school students talented at math are being challenged enough. Following a recent discussion with parents on the subject, the Townsman asked the three candidates for School Committee: Should the current middle school math curriculum be changed?

Robert Coffill Jr., 50

7 Quail Run

Married with three adult children

Serves on corporate boards of publicly traded companies; teaches graduate classes in education at Fitchburg State

Should the middle school math curriculum be changed?

"For one, it clearly needs examination. The group of educators on my campaign committee have assessed it. One question is 'will proper implementation for teacher development be put into place?' There's too many students that are getting outside tutoring, so this says that something is wrong with the instruction. There are too many potholes in the algebra department, for one. Curriculum is an ongoing process of development and evaluation. If you say you're going to put kids first, you must get in the trench and see who's giving the instruction and which curriculum is being implemented and have sound evaluation of the instructional pattern. When you compare Andover's with that of surrounding middle schools, this is a good question for the School Committee to answer. A big concern is leaving a large part of the student population behind. We're trying to make life better for all students."

Richard 'Dick' Collins, 75

117 Lovejoy Road

Married with five adult children, four stepchildren and 21 grandchildren

Retired Andover High School coach and teacher, current School Committee member

Should the middle school math curriculum be changed?

"That's a very difficult question. For most people in the school, it should not be changed. On the other hand, I do believe there are some extremely advanced math students out there - we should offer programs for them. So keep the math program the way it is, but also offer an advanced math program for those students who have demonstrated that they're qualified."

Debra Silberstein, 47

28 Burton Farm Drive

Married with three children, youngest is a freshman at Andover High

Attorney in Andover

Should the middle school math curriculum be changed?

"Yes, some change is needed. I think the data presented at the recent forum indicated that there were some concerns and that we need to do what's best for all the kids. The role of the School Committee should be to ask the right questions and make sure that education reflects the values and expectations of the community. The role of educators is to do something to move us forward. Our comparable communities do advanced math with a middle school concept and also bring in math coaches. We should look at both those options."