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Guidance from Expert Panels
SREB’s Getting Students Ready
Getting Students Ready for Algebra I, a report published by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), provides the 12 “content-specific readiness indicators” that we used as the organizing structure for this Mission:Algebra website. The technology guidance offered in the report is not specific to the indicators, but the report acknowledges the role that technology should play in teaching and learning middle grades mathematics and argues that it should mirror the role of technology in our society:
Calculators and computers are indispensable tools in the fields of mathematics, science, technology and in everyday life. They permit searching for solutions to problems that without technology would be difficult because of the complexity or number of calculations involved. (p. 10)
Concerning middle school mathematics in particular, the report’s advice is brief and to-the-point:
"Technology needs to be an integral part of mathematics instruction throughout the middle grades. As students take on more complex calculations, create more complex explanations of solutions and reasoning, and explore different types of relationships, their technological skills must keep pace. (p. 10)”
This statement is supported through several short illustrations including calculators (4-function, graphing, and scientific) and spreadsheet and graphing software. For example:
Students use 4-function calculators to determine how this type of calculator treats the order of operations. Then students use scientific calculators to repeat the activity and compare their results. Students share their conclusions with the class. (p. 10)
The Mission:Algebra website aims to complement the SREB focus on mathematics content with examples of how technology can help students master this content. For example, Calculator Mystery (Classroom Example #10) illustrates the use of four-function and scientific calculators (referenced in the quotation above) in the context of a classroom activity. This classroom example, and each of the others, demonstrates the link between the technology and a specific SREB content-readiness indicator. (For each classroom example, see the sections titled “The Value of This Technology” and “Skills.”)
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