Hawaii Regional Center

Spring 2005

IMP Shines Brightly on Maui
King Kekaulike High School (KKHS), on the island of Maui, ispleased to welcome teacher Anne Horn, former Illinois IMP Regional Director. Anne comes to us from the Windy (and frigid)City of Chicago (Northside College Prep High School). KKHS is also pleased to welcome Lesa Moe, who formerly taught in theeven more frigid state of Minnesota. Now the math department of King Kekaulike High has a full complement of IMP-trainededucators, and we are looking to add two more math teachers next year. Teachers interested in teaching IMP on Maui please contact Loren_Ayresman@notes.k12.hi.us.

We at KKHS are working hard to inform our middle schoolstudents and parents about the benefits of taking IMP. We plan to continue working with Maui Community College (MCC) so thatstudents have a successful transition from high school.

This brings us to our next news item: Maui Community Collegehas been awarded a Tribal College Undergraduate Program (TCUP) grant for two million dollars to be used to implement an institution-wide effort to restructure and strengthen introductory Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) courses with anemphasis on math. Placement testing re veals that students need improvement in reading, writing, and, especially, math. As a result, MCC is planning to find and employ non-traditional ways to engage students — Native Hawaiians in particular—in both math andscience. MCC has chosen to implement the Interactive Mathematics Program this summer with the assistance of Hawaii’s new Regional Director, Loren Ayresman of King Kekaulike High School.

Spring 2004

HAWAII Congratulations to Gregory Christopher, IMP Year 2 and 3 teacher at Konawaena High School, island of Hawaii. Greg spent three weeks in Japan last year as an awardee of the Fulbright Memorial Scholarship. Besides engaging in open dialogue with Japanese mathematics teachers, he attended meetings on Japan’s education, economy, and government, as well as special seminars on changes in their educational system.

Greg did all day visitations at the Shimabara Daiichi Elementary School, Shimabara Daiichi Junior High School, the Nagasaki Prefectural Agricultural High School, and the Nagasaki University. He said what really surprised him was, “Japanese students do very well in cognitive aspects, but score low in affective aspects. Therefore, the schools have introduced problem-situation learning (kadaigakushu) into the national course of study.”

Spring 2003

Hawaii was honored when Sherry Fraser, one of the authors and national directors of IMP, visited over a fall weekend this past year. We kept her very busy. As the luncheon speaker for the Fall Statewide Mathematics Conference for department chairpersons and elementary grade level liaisons on October 31 in Waikiki, Sherry addressed the No Child Left Behind Act (“Every Child Included”) and its implications for mathematics education. The next day, Sherry flew to Maui to speak to mathematics teachers, counselors, and administrators from King Kekaulike High and Kalama Intermediate schools. The session provided information on IMP and included topics such as the mathematical content of IMP, college admissions requirements, standardized test results, and overall student performance. On Saturday, at a High School Articulation and Training Session on Oahu, Sherry’s presentation focused on reform mathematics. Hawaii’s educators truly appreciated the sharing of her expertise and knowledge.

Spring 2002

Aloha from Hawaii! We’ve been going through many exciting changes: a new Superintendent (Patricia Hamamoto), a new Assistant Superintendent (Katherine Kawaguchi), a new name (Office of Curriculum, Instruction, and Student Support), and renewed efforts to get all schools to be standards-based.

Freshmen entering King Kekaulike High School on the island of Maui, are enrolled in either Honors Geometry, IMP 1, or Algebra 1. They have had to face many challenges with this initiative but they still manage to have smiling faces because they believe that the range of mathematics in IMP should be for all students.

Last month, teachers across the state were fortunate to have Michael Serra, author of Discovering Geometry: An Investigative Approach, teach some of their classes as well as work with them on The Geometer’s Sketchpad®. Farrington High, Moloka’i High and Intermediate, and Waiakea High (IMP sites) hosted these sessions for teachers from all islands. Teachers were excited and felt rejuvenated as they worked alongside the students and on the computers. One teacher said she’ll use the Patty Paper Geometry® ideas with the constructions in Orchard Hideout.

Fall 2001

Kapolei High School has added IMP™ Year 2 to their curriculum this school year. Expansion of IMP to all freshmen and sophomores has enabled the school to hire four more math teachers. All teachers are busy working on interdisciplinary projects that incorporate mathematics. The math department plans to use the Star Math/Accelerated Math software with freshman and honors students this year.

Farrington High School, one of the original IMPlementation sites in Hawaii, is offering a “two-year” IMP 1 class to a group of freshmen who need more time to understand the material (Farrington has a 4x4 block schedule). Besides doing IMP, the class is using the Cognitive Tutor curriculum to help improve and sustain algebra, reading, and writing skills.

Kalani High School, another original IMPlementation site, is offering AP Statistics for the first time this year. IMP teacher Kristen Kawasaki is teaching the course. She has two IMP students in this class. Both are very comfortable using the statistical features of the graphing calculator and are confident in class since they are going over material previously learned in IMP.

Spring 2001

Content and Performance Standards are parallel in scope. The Interactive Mathematics Program supports students’ meeting Hawaii’s Content and Performance Standards and General Learner Outcomes very well. The alignment of IMP to the Hawaii Content Standards shows that all grades 9–12 benchmarks (except one: “Analyze and apply coordinate systems on a sphere”) are met in Years 1, 2, and 3. Student work from IMP was used by our teachers to demonstrate “How good is good enough?” as teachers worked hard to build the Performance Standards, a composite of performance indicators, student work, and commentary for all Content Standards. We raised our standards (Hawaii Content Standards II) and through curricula such as IMP, we are working towards living up to them (Performance Standards)!

Equally important to learning academic content is developing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that all students need to lead full and productive lives. IMP lends itself well to helping teachers contribute to the attainment of Hawaii’s General Learner Outcomes by all of our students. Through presentations and portfolios, working together in groups, working on Problems of the Week (POWs), and creating rubrics and using them to critique each other, students are doing more than learning important mathematics. They are also doing the following:

• Developing their ability to be responsible for their own learning
• Understanding that it is essential for human beings to work together,
• developing their ability to be involved in complex thinking and problem solving
• Developing their ability to recognize and produce quality performance and quality products

IMP also prepares students for Hawaii’s newly developed state test where students are expected to explain answers on the short-constructed and extended response portions. Kapolei High School, newly opened this year on Oahu, is a showcase for other schools, integrating IMP and technology. Diana Agor and Michael Long combine their classes in a large room with four television monitors. A camera is used to project student-led presentations (from their desks) as well as teacher-led discussions.

Awesome!

Fall 2000

IMP teachers have been actively participating in mathematics reform in the state of Hawaii. The state has identified 14 Content Standards grouped in five content strands.

Diana Agor (Mililani HS), Elaine Denny (Kapaa HS), Michael Long (formerly Moanalua HS), Jeanette Tanaka (formerly Kalani HS), and Wendy Tokumine (Farrington HS) are members of a cadre of high school teachers working on Hawaii’s Performance Standards. They are identifying performance tasks that may be used to show where students are with respect to the grade 9–12 math benchmarks. Throughout the year, the high school cadre have met to “design” performance tasks and have been collecting sample student work for these tasks. The exemplar (typical student work) with teacher commentary (teacher notes that discuss the evidence found in the work that show that the standard is met) will soon be posted on a Web site.

Elaine, Michael, Jeanette and Wendy also participated in a three-day item review for the Hawaii Assessment Program (HAP). They were among 80 education personnel whose task was to review test items for mathematics and language arts according to four criteria (standards congruence, instructional sensitivity, out-of-school factors, and absence of bias). The items were field tested last May as part of the HAP criterion-referenced exam.

Diana and Michael will be transferring their talents to Kapolei High School (a new high school in Leeward, Oahu) when it opens its doors in August 2000. The philosophy of the school is based on integrated curriculum that involves intensive reading and writing. It will be a performance-based school that will require students to present a final project that integrates all disciplines, to a committee as a graduation requirement. To keep with the vision of the school, IMP will be the mathematics curriculum.

Spring 1999

Hawaii schools are under the guidance of a new Superintendent, Dr. Paul G. LeMahieu. His message to the schools on preparing teachers, students, and schools for success resonated with what IMP is about: clear sets of goals; a standards-driven curriculum; instruction, assessment, and accountability; access for teachers to a high quality curriculum; investment in professional development; and on-going, sustained, best-practices. High schools using IMP are moving in the right direction-toward standards-based education.

Some news from around the state: Kapa'a High School, on the island of Kauai, has a new Hawaiian Immersion Program on their campus. The instructor, Keoni Inciong, has elected to use IMP as his mathematics curriculum. Some of his IMP students are "flying high" with their celebrity status as models in the Year 3 textbook. Mililani High School, on the island of Oahu, also has students enjoying their celebrity status with their pictures in the Year 3 textbook. Honoka'a High and Intermediate School, on the island of Hawaii, and Moloka'i High and Intermediate School, on the island of Moloka'i, are thankful for having three new teachers aboard, all teaching IMP. Ryan Cabalse and Dan DeMattos are at Honoka'a High and Intermediate, and Szhameen Terazono is at Moloka'i High and Intermediate School. Dole Middle School, on the island of Oahu, has expanded from one 8th grade IMP class last school year to four classes this school year! A supportive principal and school funds allowed the purchase of TI-83 calculators and Year 1 textbooks.

Fall 1999

Farrington High School's IMP classes were visited in April by ten educators from Liaoning Province in northeastern Mainland China (pop. 70 million; 336,700 teachers and administrators). China is just starting to experiment with moving away from teacher-centered instruction to student-centered classrooms. They were surprised that our teachers have their own rooms and can select their own curricula and materials. In China, students remain in the same room all day while teachers roam. Class size can be as large as 60.

Although China has a national curriculum with standardized textbooks, teachers are allowed latitude in how to teach the content and are provided ample time to collaborate. The Chinese visitors were intrigued with the idea of open-ended questions and the method of allowing students to work in groups to solve mathematical problems in IMP classes. They felt that what they observed in IMP classes at Farrington was the right way to go.

Moanalua High School piloted a "laptop" IMP Year 2 class during the 1998-99 school year. Students had to provide their own laptop computers and learned to use Microsoft Office to write cover letters and end-of-unit reflection papers, critique POWs, do PowerPoint presentations of their POWs, and use Excel spreadsheets as a tool to organize their work and solve certain POWs. This year the program will expand to three sections (two Year 1 classes and one Year 2 class). Teacher Mike Long initiated the project last year and teacher Lance Ogata will assist him this year.

NCTM's Western Regional meeting was held July 27-30 in Waikiki. Wendy Tokumine and Lynn Otaguro, IMP teachers at Farrington High School, provided an informational session on IMP. We welcome King Kekaulike High School on Maui to the IMP family. Every major island in the Hawaiian Islands now has at least one IMP school (one on Moloka'i, one on Kaua'i, one on Maui, five on Hawai'i, and seven on O'ahu).

Nawahiokalani'opu'u, a Hawaiian Immersion school located in Kea'au on the island of Hawaii, held its first graduation ceremony in June, with five students in the senior class. These students were taught three years of IMP in Hawaiian. It's interesting to note that IMP has helped to add new Hawaiian words to the language. There were a number of mathematics concepts for which there was no equivalent Hawaiian word. A Hawaiian word for the concept had to be created and submitted to the Lexicon Committee for approval. Upon approval, the new word was included in the Lexicon Dictionary of New Words which gets printed every couple of years.

Spring 1998

With the School-to-Work program going strong in the state, schools such as Waialua High School and Waiakea High School are finding that IMP meets their students' needs well, not only in terms of alignment with Hawaii Content and Performance Standards, but also with School-to-Work principles such as learning mathematics in the context of real-life situations.

In January, a video describing IMP in Hawaii was well received by the Assistant Superintendent for Instruction. The Assistant Super- intendent has shared this video with principals as part of Hawaii's literacy project. The video will be used by Hawaii's IMP schools during Family Nights, student orientation/registration and other related activities.

Kudos to Wendy Tokumine from Farrington High School. She was selected as Hawaii's Secondary Mathematics National awardee for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

Fall 1998

Hawaii had a very successful summer of IMP training sessions for Years 1–4, using our own local talent! While we miss our mainland friends, it was wonderful to see Hawaii teachers in action with their peers from around the state.

Dan Bennett of Molokai High School and Brian Okada of Farrington High School were co-instructors for Year 1. Their class consisted of 25 teachers, including those from schools already implementing IMP, those from new implementation sites (Waiakea High), teachers from prospective new implementation sites, and teachers who want to learn about IMP. Carolyn Okunaga of Mililani High School and Lynn Otaguro of Farrington High School teamed to teach the Year 2 curriculum. Ed Sawada of Mililani High School also taught a core of teachers from Waianae High School. For Year 3, Wendy Tokumine taught teachers from Farrington High School while Thelma Ryusaki taught a teacher at Honokaa High and Intermediate School. (Good Luck and Best Wishes to Thelma, who recently retired from the Department of Education). Jeanette Tanaka of Kalani High and Ed Sawada were co-instructors for the Year 4 training.

Dan Bennett and Robert Brown have been busy completing the Teachers Guide for their IMP unit, Polynesian Voyaging (see IMPressions, Fall 1997). They presented Polynesian Voyaging at the Pacific Resources for Education and Learning conference on the island of Kauai, held August 4-6, 1998.

Over the summer, nine teachers addressed the task of aligning the IMP curriculum with the Hawaii Content and Performance Standards. Their findings will be shared with other IMP teachers and administrators at the Statewide Articulation/Training session in October, 1998.

Spring 1997

Hawaii is in its third year of IMP implementation in nine schools on four different islands-Oahu, Molokai, Kauai, and Hawaii. Seven of the nine schools have Years 1, 2, and 3. Its two newest sites are Hawaiian Immersion schools which provide all IMP instruction in the Hawaiian language.

The Polynesian Voyaging

Daniel Bennett and Robert Brown, IMP teachers at Molokai High and Intermediate School on the island of Molokai in Hawaii, developed The Polynesian Voyaging-a Polynesian migration version of The Overland Trail-during the summer of 1996. The mathematical concepts of The Overland Trail were set in the context of Polynesian migrations and Hawaiian history. Fifty-six percent of Molokai students are part-Hawaiian and had some difficulty relating to The Overland Trail unit. Dan and Robert felt their students could better identify with their own culture's historic migration.

Examples of changes made include replacing barrels of water with gourds of water; preparing for the journey with supplies for ocean voyaging (taro, bananas, pigs, chickens); traveling with outrigger canoes instead of oxen and wagons; and doing Fair Share on Watches (for land, weather changes), instead of Fair Share on Chores.

Three Hawaiian schools have piloted The Polynesian Voyaging this school year. Teachers report that their students (regardless of their ethnicity) are relating better to the Hawaiian version. This might be because all seventh graders take a required course in Hawaiian history or that students can relate unit content to past personal experiences.

IMP in Hawaiian

There are two Hawaiian Language Immersion Schools using IMP-one on Oahu and one on the island of Hawai. The intent of the Hawaiian Immersion Program is to preserve the Hawaiian language, as well as prepare students for success in all English-speaking realms. All classes, except for one hour a day in English for grades 5 through 10, are taught in the Hawaiian language.

At the Hawaii site, two University of Hawaii at Hilo students, Kamalamalama Kaopuiki and Hanakahi Kalua are teaching IMP Years 1 and 2, using modules which have been translated into Hawaiian. At the Oahu school, Mahinalani Hussey, a certified secondary math teacher and fluent Hawaiian speaker, teaches Year 1 to a class of ninth graders and a class of tenth graders.

Fall 1997

Aloha! Hawaii is beginning its fourth year of IMP implementation. And the ohana (family) of IMP schools has now expanded to 13 schools on four different islands-Oahu, Moloka'i, Kauai, and Hawaii. Seven of the 13 schools offer IMP Years 1 through 4. Our five newest sites are Moanalua High School, Konawaena High School, Waianae High School, ASSETS School, and Dole Intermediate (grade 8).

The Hawaiian-language version of Overland Trail entitled "Polynesian Voyaging" was piloted last school year at Kalani, Kapa'a, and Mililani High Schools. The mathematics is more meaningful for our students as Polynesian voyaging is a part of our Hawaiian history and culture. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of Polynesian Voyaging, you may contact Kathleen Nishimura at (808)394-1341 or kathleen_nishimura@notes.k12.hi.us.

Congratulations to Wendy Tokumine, an IMP teacher at Farrington High School on the island of Oahu. She is one of Hawaii's three secondary finalists for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

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