Is CPM Adding up to Failure for Coatesville?

Good afternoon, my name is Lenny Bucio. I’m currently studying in the 10th year of high school in this institution, but it wasn’t always so. I’ve been here at Coatesville since the beginning of December, and I have to confess I’ve been quite impressed with it.

For the past two years, I’ve been in three different schools, but I’ve never experienced math the way CASD does it. Math, without a doubt, is my favorite subject. Well, it was my favorite subject.  I’ve always had good grades in any math-related subject, and I still do, but not as good as they used to be. I used to enjoy math, but I don’t anymore.

The College Preparatory Math (CPM) program hasn’t been useful to me or any of the classmates I’ve spoken to with respect to the progress the program has made in our understanding of mathematics. According to some students, the fact that the program is designed to work with other people does not help them to succeed in completing the assignments. They have to go home and try to teach themselves. They also specified that the teachers aren’t the ones with the problem, but the program is.

The teachers have said that the program has a better impact on the students who have higher levels of understanding the language of English. Because of the complex wording that the problems use, some of the students get behind and instead of trying, they just give up and try to move on. 

According to the philosophy of CPM: “Mathematics should not frustrate anyone to the point of giving up.” Students ARE giving up. They are experiencing frustration from the execution of the program.   

Sadly, I know I’m not the first student to talk about this. Last year, a group of students decided to raise their voices to try and make a change in the math program but no change was made. The numbers that my classmates discovered express that since 2015, when the CPM program was incorporated to the school, the number of students scoring below basic in the Keystone exams have almost tripled and with respect to the PSSA results 2014 through 2017 the results were shocking. (See our recent post "Is CASD Misrepresenting its Test Scores" for updated information on these statistics.) 

Last year 351 students were surveyed regarding CPM  

• 144 students hated CPM while only 8 loved it

• 203 students believed CPM is confusing & makes concepts more difficult

• 178 students believe they aren't prepared for the next level of math

• 214 students believe CPM should be replaced; 97 said maybe; only 40 students said it should not be replaced

• More than half of the students believe that CPM is hurting them

We are supposed to be the leaders of tomorrow, but without the right tools, we are being set up for failure. As I mentioned earlier I’m not the first one to highlight this problem and certainly not the first one on raising my voice. Someone help us to solve this problem so hopefully, I’ll be the last one raising the concern.

Written By Lenny Bucio

Editor's Note: CPM relies on students discovering how to do the problems through discovery with peers.  CCAP wanted to let the community know that the last year when students spoke about their concerns at the school board meeting, the math teachers were observed for that week. It was in the last week of school, during final examination time. Teachers were told to continue instruction in classes that had finished their examinations. What was relayed to the administrators who were not in attendance at the meeting, was that the students said the teachers weren't teaching. The students' message was loud and clear: 

CPM isn't working for them and the program should be discontinued.