Florida Mathematics Policy within the Public School System (Essay Sample)

Florida Mathematics Policy Within The Public School System
Name
Institution
Abstract
Mathematics can be one of the challenging subjects to teach since different students will have different levels of aptitude and understanding of the subject. This paper therefore comes with a brief yet detailed analysis of Florida’s Mathematics Policy within the Public School System and the major structures which have been put in place towards the teaching and execution of the subject. The paper has also been able to come up with an answer on whether the Florida’s Mathematics Policy within the Public School System is consistent with what the educators and school board officials are doing currently. There is also a point of view presentation from the findings of the study.
Introduction
In order to succeed in any teaching activity, it is something important that there is a proper policy which gives the specific guidelines for teaching students. Should be the case when teaching some subjects like mathematics which is quite demanding. In that case, the most important approach towards the success of any given teaching practice within an instructional institution is to come up with competent and fully trained implementers, who are the teachers as well as the school administrators, and more so with public schools (Bascia, 2005). Different states in the United States have come up with different policies which have been aimed in bringing the very best learning to the students. For instance, Florida has been able to come up with its own kind of policy for teaching mathematics as part of the curriculum within the public school system. This has been noted to be the best approach towards ensuring that there is maximum provision of the best education to the students. This is a paper that is aimed at looking into details some of the performances done in Florida especially with the mathematics policy towards determining whether the policy is in accordance with what the educators and school board officials have been doing (Bascia, 2005).
Florida's Mathematics Policy for the Public School System
In order to ensure that expert information and knowledge is given to the students, Florida has been able to adapt a mathematics policy which has been applied in different schools towards provision of the necessary education to the student. To begin with, the Florida’s mathematics policy comes up with a concise outline on the procedures of teaching, organizing and managing the manner in which mathematics shall be taught in the public schools. This policy has been regulated as a necessity within all the public schools around Florida. In terms of originality, the policy borrows from the common policy for all the public schools in the United States. This was drawn up after prolonged staff discussions and agreements (Borman & Dorn, 2007). Generally, this kind of policy has been noted to be something necessary that brings out the best from the teaching staff to the specific students in the public schools.
This policy has come up with a number of guidelines that have to be put into consideration in teaching the subject. The first requirement is with the time for teaching in which the mathematics lesson in monitored and managed in the class setting. In terms of time, there has been the big requirement of having varying lengths of time depending on the stage in which the lesson is being administered. For instance, a general lesson might range from 40 to 60 minutes. This has been dedicated so that the student or the learner might be in a position of getting the very best (Borman & Dorn, 2007). Class organization is another thing that has been competently designed within the mathematics class. In terms of organization, there has been the need to ensure that, right from the very first form, all the pupils should be having daily dedications on the mathematics lessons. This has been done in order to strike a proper balance between the class-work and the group work. The lesson should be combined with proper learning concepts and individual practices, then merging the students together in teamwork to have improved performances.
In Florida, the policy dictates that the mental or oral calculations should be done for about 5 to minutes with every lesson during which the students have to given adequate time to develop their oral skills and developmental knowledge. After the ten minutes, the policy goes ahead to say that main teaching part or activity should be between thirty to forty minutes. During these minutes, there should be the teaching of the input concepts and doing activities for both individual and group works. This has been done as a way of improving and strengthening the intentions from the class setting. Towards the end of the lesson, it is required that the last ten minutes or so should be dedicated for plenary (Borman & Dorn, 2007). This involves an overall whole class sorting and outlining of the major misconceptions in the class and as well identify the progress which has been arrived with the lesson. It is also required for the teacher to summarize the major facts and concepts that have been discussed in the class.
  As it is the case with the other policies, Florida’s policy has been able to give guidelines on daily mathematics classes have to be conducted by provision of home-works to the students so that they can be able to practice and then consolidate all their learned concepts, skills and the knowledge that has been learned from class and develop them through real applications. This has also been outlined within the homework policy (Borman & Dorn, 2007). There should as well be the provision of learning activities which promote overall understanding. The policy also outlines that the subject should be taught by putting into consideration that most of the practices and applications are applicable to all the other subjects taught in the public schools.
The policy has also given an outline on how the schools and class should be organized. This divides the group of students into able students and the ones with special needs. Depending on the nature of specific students, the policy dictates that different students should be taught the lesson in a manner which suits their specific needs. It also calls for the teachers and tutors to put into consideration the specific needs of all the students while giving them the appropriate guidance required. The policy also engages the teachers in the kind of teaching practices which have to be applied when teaching students in their early preparatory classes. This gives an outline of the activities that should be done and how they should be organized depending on the cognitive level of such children. This should be done in a proper manner which integrates the social abilities while at the same time giving overall development in the mathematical languages and overall understanding. 
The policy has also given guidelines on the specific resources which have to be adopted in the teaching of the subject. For instance, there should be mathematical equipments which would be adopted differently for different age groups within the public schools in Florida. There is also the provision on the extent into which the communication and new technological aspects shall be applied in teaching of the subject. This has advocated for the use of Information and Communication Technology equipments such as calculators and computers so that it would be possible to increase the morale towards the teaching of the subject in the public schools. The use of mathematical software has also been appraised in higher levels of learning of the subject.  Assessment is another important part of Florida’s Mathematics Policy for Public Schools. Assessment should take place in three major levels: the short-term, the medium-term and the eventual long-term assessment.  All these levels of assessments should be adopted in a competent manner so as to improve the learning cycle, the planning and understanding. During the assessments, it is an important requirement for the teachers to make appropriate conclusions on the realization of their teaching objectives by keeping summative records which should as well be properly analyzed. Once that has been done, the teacher will be needed to accurately pass the same information to the parent of the child as well as to the next teacher who shall teach the child in the next class or grade to ensure that he or she adopts the necessary strategies in teaching such a student (Brouch, 2005).
Finally, the mathematics policy for Florida has well been able to come up with a guideline on how mathematics should be managed when teaching it. To begin with, it us very important that the coordinator should be able to demonstrate the lessons as much as possible and in the most appropriate manner. Also, the coordinators should as well make sure they familiarize themselves with the lesson plans before implementation on the students and do so by leading with examples on the students (Gwartney & Stroup, 2008). Cooperation is also necessary when teaching the subject and make sure that the students have been addressed and taught depending on their individual needs for the lesson. In case a given school appears not to offer the necessary guidelines and proper teaching modalities of the subject, it is necessary that the school is reported to the Florida’s Public Schools Governors’ Committee for necessary actions to be taken on the given schools (Brouch, 2005).
Having seen the facts with ...