Success Story

The climate was not the only change Evelyn McQuillen encountered when she moved from Texas to South Dakota . The Aberdeen high school mathematics teacher also noticed a difference between the two state’s content standards. “When the new South Dakota math standards became available online, I was somewhat shocked at how broad they were,” McQuillen said. “ Texas ’ state standards read like an instruction manual.”

After the start of a professional development course, offered by the Department of Education, Evelyn quickly learned she was worrying about nothing. The standards appeared comprehensive and well-structured. The course was designed to encompass one of the five strands of the mathematics standards, in each of five, one-day workshops.

According to McQuillen, there was a time when she would design her curriculum around the textbook’s table of contents. She described her instruction as, “at best, addressing the standards in a hit-or-miss manner.”

The professional development course opened her eyes to what she was missing. Evelyn and her colleagues began to understand how and where the standards are covered. “It became apparent that a better understanding of where each standard is covered would be necessary in order to produce a successful vertical alignment of all grade levels,” McQuillen said. “The course evoked a greater understanding of what we all need to focus on.”

Knowing where the standards are to be covered has allowed McQuillen to improve the construction of her curriculum. She also has derived ways to better deliver the curriculum. “It became apparent that statistics and probability are often taught on a ‘if there is time’ basis,” she said. McQuillen found that there are actually many places in the curriculum that statistics and probability can be integrated with other topics.

By taking this course, McQuillen found that she did not have to spend long hours rewriting her curriculum, as she had originally feared. Instead, she concluded: “Knowing the standards and knowing where they will be covered at all grade levels seems essential for a successful mathematics program in any school or district.”

Two other Mathematics Standards courses are slated for later this summer. One is July 11-15 in Sioux Falls and the other is Aug. 1-4 in Brookings. For information, contact Anne Thompson at (695) 773-3247.

Click here to view the state’s revised mathematics standards (approved summer 2004).