Program based on top-performing countries in mathematics, customized for Indian curriculum
Scholastic, the global children's publishing, education and media company, today announced the launch in India of Scholastic ALPHA Mathematics, a mathematics proficiency program that is customized to the requirements of the Indian curriculum. The program joins a rapidly growing portfolio of Scholastic educational programs based on the latest research and proven successful practices and designed to help teachers worldwide raise student achievement in English literacy and mathematics. For more information on Scholastic ALPHA Mathematics, visit: http://scholastic.co.in/en/alpha-maths.
A Position Paper by the National Focus Group of the Teaching of Mathematics, organized by the National Council on Education Research and Training (NCERT), identified problem areas in mathematics education in Indian schools including curriculum that does not serve its students, a sense of fear and failure toward mathematics from students, inefficient methods of assessment, and lack of teacher support. The paper also presented the organization's vision for mathematics education in India, which is comprised of children learning to enjoy mathematics, as well as developing a strong understanding and application of mathematics to their lives. Scholastic ALPHA Mathematics aims to bring that vision to life through engaging and innovative instruction and strong teacher support.
"Scholastic supports teachers worldwide to raise student achievement with programs like Scholastic ALPHA Mathematics," said Neeraj Jain, Managing Director, Scholastic India. "Scholastic ALPHA Mathematics is designed to support mathematics instruction for teachers and students in India, giving them a pedagogical and measurable approach to develop problem-solving skills."
A limited introduction to schools in India in ten cities last year saw the program being implemented in nearly 100 schools, and it has been met with enthusiastic response. "Scholastic ALPHA Mathematics by Scholastic India builds up concepts for application of mathematical terms," said Nita Arora, Principal, Sri VIS School in New Delhi. "Initially teachers were skeptical, but they have since come to see that fractions are to be understood and solved through figures, paper strip folding or related apple/pizza/chapati sections activity. [This is] a wonderful series that empowers the teachers to think in new ways about mathematics instruction and helps children relate numeracy to everyday life."
Scholastic ALPHA Mathematics is a mathematics instructional program for grades 1 through 5, which is based on the successful instructional methods of top-performing countries in mathematics and is a collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Singapore.
Scholastic ALPHA Mathematics is based on a pedagogical approach and instructional design that:
Teaches via problem solving, helping students learn to use different strategies to arrive at their conclusions and develop confidence in approaching problems;
Develops metacognition and mathematical thinking;
Incorporates formative and summative assessment in its instructional design to help teachers guide individual students; and
Incorporates professional learning into the curriculum framework for teachers to improve their practice.
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