The teacher attended a three-part conference on the new Common Core Algebra II curriculum presented by the BOCES center. Each session covered one of the four modules of the curriculum. The teacher found the new curriculum to be rigorous but that the large amount of material in each module is overwhelming and should only be exposed to honors students. The teacher recommends leaving the fourth module, which covers statistics, to the AP Statistics teacher and focusing on the first three modules if more time for review is added between lessons.

1. To: Dr. Cynthia Seniuk, Superintendent for Instruction
From: A. Jorge García, Teacher of Calculus and CompSci
Date: June 19, 2015
RE: BOCES CC Algerbra II 2015 Conference Report
CC: BSHS Mathematics Department
Background:
The Nassau BOCES center in Garden City has a conference center that is
state of the art. I came prepared with all my 4G and WiFi devices in hand. First
thing I noticed is that ever conference room had a SmartBoard and several laptops
for use by the attendees complete with power strips all along the floor to charge the
laptops as well as a strong WiFi signal with plenty of bandwidth. So, I needn't have
bothered with my own arsenal of laptop and tablets!
Observations:
This conference consisted of 3 sessions, one in March, one in April and one in
May. All 3 sessions were presented by Ann Davidian PAEMST 2001 NYS Secondary
Mathematics. These sessions were an in­depth look at all 4 modules for the new
Common Core Algebra II curriculum.
The first session was about Module I covering advanced Algebra topics
typically found in a preCalculus course using graphical, numerical, analytical and
verbal techniques. The second session was devoted to Modules II and III relating to
functional analysis including exponential, logarithmic and trigonometric. Emphasis
was given to the concept of function vs. inverse function and solving equations
analytically using inverses. The Last session covered Module IV. Module IV
presents much of the current AP Statistics curriculum including Z­Scores, Normal
Distributions and Hypothesis Testing!
Recommendations:
The new curriculum is well thought out and rigorous. However, the amount
of material presented in each module is overwhelming. I would recommend that
only honors students be exposed to this approach.
Case in point: Module I is 45 lessons long taking at least 45 days to cover.
Each module allows only one test in the middle and one test at the end. If we were
to start Module I in September, we would not be able to give the second test until
the second marking period of the school year! Also, said 45 lessons do not give any
extra time to review, go over homework or quiz along the way. I think this approach
is unsound. Students need time to absorb the material. I typically stop developing
new material in a math class at least once a week. This gives time for
reinforcement, review and assessment along the way.
Modules I­III constitute a very good presentation of most of the present day
preCalculus curriculum. If we added time for review as stated above, perhaps we
could focus on these 3 modules alone. I think we should leave Module IV to the AP
Statistics teacher!
a:BOCES2015.mem.doc