Seventh Grade Math Shifts to New Connected Program

Swampscott Middle School seventh graders will learn math together under a new Connected Mathematics Project program when school starts in September.
The CMP3 program, selected by middle school teachers, brings students of different abilities together in the same class, said Principal Robert Murphy and Vice Principal Jason Calichman.
The administrators met with about 40 parents in the school library late last month to talk about the new program and answer their questions.
Under the new system, seventh grade honors math will not be offered. 
Some of the parents were worried that the new curriculum would teach to the middle of the pack, and not be challenging enough for high achieving students, the vice principal said.
Some parents were more receptive to the new approach when they learned that CMP3 was more challenging for the entire group, the assistant principal said.
Some parents continue to support the honors math approach.
The principal said he expects the students who would otherwise be in seventh grade honors math will be challenged to at least the same extent under the new program.
CMP3 teaches common core state standards and allows for different instruction among different groups within the same classroom, the administrators said.
It also allows students to serve as mentors, helping classmates make major progress in their math skills.
The new approach is inquiry based and uses technology to a greater extent to help teachers organize their lessons more fully and to help students develop skills, according to the Connected Mathematics 3 program description.
The same skills that were developed in honors math will be developed under CMP3, among them rates and linear relationships, probability, ratios, geometry, number systems, three-dimensional measurements and using samples to make predictions.
The classes will meet daily and class sizes will remain about the same, the principal said.
Eighth grade honors math will continue to be taught.
To learn more about CMP3, visit this website on the program.