By Lori EhdeAfter several years of implementing a controversial new math program in Luverne Schools, teachers are seeing positive results.Results of Minnesota’s Comprehensive Assessment Tests were released Thursday, and Luverne students scored far better than the state average and notably better than most area districts.Across the state, 78.5 of students achieved acceptable 11th-grade math scores on the MCAT, and 80.7 percent did so in 10th-grade reading.Luverne students, however, fared much better, with 95.7 percent achieving acceptable scores in math and 94.8 doing so in reading.Luverne Curriculum Coordinator Jan Olson said the test results are exciting indicators that work is paying off."My hope is that when we’re up for a review of our math program, our parents and teachers will be able to see that we’re moving in the right direction," Olson said."We’ve had a lot of controversy and complaints over the past five years, of our math program, but when you look at the data, we can see it’s done the job."The new program was controversial because it introduced a drastic shift from traditional math."It was a whole new integrated way of doing math," Olson said. "It moved us away from the traditional math as far as rote memory and moved into more problem solving."Bill Stegemann, School Board member and parent of a Luverne High School student, said he’s pleased with the outcomes he’s seen with the new math program."Even though there was controversy about the math program, it struck me, too, that the kids scored that well," he said.He said he believes students are learning valuable problem-solving tools that will benefit them more than the former memorization math did."In complex math, the how-to method becomes quite important."State Education Commissioner Cheri Yecke released the test results last week along with a message about math.She said Minnesota’s math results were generally good, but the math trend isn’t promising.With just 49 percent of Minnesota students taking advanced math, even geometry, that’s the second-lowest in the country.Yecke said doing well in higher-level math classes is a good sign a student will complete college, and she’s encouraging parents, teachers and students to do better.New academic standards adopted by the Legislature this year will require three years of math in high school for a student to graduate. Some schools, including Luverne, already require three years, but by 2005, all schools must do so.Stegemann said he’s thrilled that Luverne students did so well on the tests, but he hopes students and teachers are prepared to maintain that level of excellency."When you’re at the top of the hill, the climb gets very hard, and the fall down could be very easy."To repeat those scores would be very tough, but if we can do it, I say, all the better."
