Letter to the editor

For some parents, our elementary schools’ math program doesn’t add up.

An open letter to the Scarsdale Board of Education:

We write this letter due to the urgent need to immediately halt the use of Reveal Math in Scarsdale Elementary schools. On Monday, March 24th, the Board held a public meeting which included a presentation on Reveal Math, the new math curriculum instituted in Scarsdale schools initiated in 2022. This curriculum change was the result of an initiative led by Edgar McIntosh, who was hired in 2018 as Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment. Previously, Singapore Math was the curriculum in Scarsdale for years, and was well received by parents and students alike. Notwith-standing parental skepticism regarding Reveal Math, the Administration pushed ahead, releasing this curriculum resulting in the current educational disaster. It also results in a heavy burden on the teachers having to fill the gaps themselves, which is implemented differently from class to class. Notably, Reveal Math has serious deficiencies, including:

1) Language heavy

2) Poorly worded questions and instructions

3) Focus on “social-emotional” learning instead of focus on fundamental math computations

4) Insufficient focus on computation and math facts

At the March 24th Board meeting, the Administration admitted to these deficiencies but minimized their impact by suggesting that all of these problems are solved by individual customization of instruction by each teacher for each student. Students that struggle with reading comprehension actually benefit from the heavy word content because Reveal Math offers more opportunities to read. Further, students who struggle with reading comprehension also can be read to or can visit the Learning Resource Center.

At no point was any evidence put forth that these theoretical solutions were actually taking place successfully in the classroom. Moreover, no evidence was presented that somehow makingmath less accessible to struggling early readers was a benefit as opposed to a detriment. Notably, parents pointed out the blunt reality—the school is failing to teach math and the bulk of the Elementary school parents are engaged in dogged efforts either at home, with tutors or additional outside schooling (e.g., Russian School of Math) to resolve these failures. In fact, the local Russian School of Math and Logicus are filled to the brim with local students because of Scarsdale’s failures.

Simply put, there is no need to continue to harm students— this can end immediately and the School can revert to Singapore math.

Respectfully submitted,

Parents of Scarsdale Elementary School students