McGraw-Hill Education Develops Math Connects to Help Florida Prepare K-12 Students for Today's Job Market

Recognizing the critical need to teach students 21st Century skills to help them compete in today's global, technology-driven economy, McGraw-Hill Education has recently realigned its operations to support and champion today's digital and diverse learners.

The company's unique new structure includes a Center for Digital Innovation and four Learning Solutions Centers, which house highly specialized groups that focus on fundamental issues and an integrated PreK-12 approach to product development. This strategy brings an unmatched depth of understanding and expertise to each academic discipline.

As Florida prepares to implement a new Grade K-12 math program in 2010, McGraw-Hill's Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Learning Solutions Center has developed Florida Math Connects, a vertically aligned K-12 basal math program that continues to successfully progress through Florida's district review process.

After careful study and research, McGraw-Hill Education developed Florida Math Connects to completely match Florida's Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for Grades K-12. These standards, based on NCTM Focal Points, include mathematical processes, numbers and operation, algebra, geometry, measurement, and data analysis and probability. Florida Math Connects K-8 has made the cut in Palm Beach County and other Florida districts.

The authors, using the NCTM Focal Points for each grade level as their guide, developed Florida Math Connects by "backmapping" from desired math mastery goals in Algebra I, Geometry and beyond to ensure that all Florida students have the knowledge and skills they need to achieve these goals.

To further contribute to student success across grade levels, Florida Math Connects is a true vertically aligned mathematics curriculum. Vertical alignment provides learners with an articulated, focused and coherent sequence of content. It ensures that content standards and units of study are introduced, reinforced and assessed, and that instruction is targeted to student needs and state standards.

Florida Math Connects has met the approval of districts across the state -- indicating that this unique strategy is attractive to educators and administrators.

"Vertical alignment is essential and accommodates a wide variety of developmental levels," said Mary Russick, vice president of sales, McGraw-Hill School Education Group. "Vertical alignment offers consistent instructional design throughout grade levels, which increases the comfort level of students because they know what to expect. It also helps teachers reinforce critical lessons and cumulative knowledge from year to year."

Florida Math Connects sets a new standard in educational instruction because the comprehensive program was built to drive student achievement at each grade level and future student success in Algebra I and beyond.

The importance of this future success is supported by a College Board study, which found that nearly 80 percent of students who successfully complete Algebra I and Geometry by Grade 10 attend and succeed in college. These findings were consistent across racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Through ConnectED, a unique one-click portal, Florida Math Connects offers an integrated technology solution that provides students, teachers and parents with an engaging experience that allows students to learn math through online animations and graphic novels, while teachers can easily create lessons students will enjoy. Parents will find a wealth of resources including online tutorials to help them support their children's learning at home. This suite of digital assets includes online content, digital assessment tools and customizable PowerPoint presentations that will facilitate both teacher and parent instruction while making math engaging and interesting to students.

An ongoing assessment system, which includes diagnostic, formative and summative assessment; data-driven instruction, intervention options, and performance tracking, is available throughout the program.

Strategic intervention options are offered for all grades, with intensive intervention references to Math Triumphs, a Tier 3 companion intervention program under the Response to Intervention three-tier method.

For additional support, the program is horizontally aligned with McGraw-Hill Education's National Science Foundation companion program, Impact Mathematics.

"As Florida districts work to prepare their students for the future, we look forward to helping these young people develop the math skills they need to be successful in school, in their jobs and throughout their adult lives," added Russick.

About McGraw-Hill Education

McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, is a leading global provider of print and digital instructional, assessment and reference solutions that empower professionals and students of all ages. McGraw-Hill Education has offices in 33 countries and publishes in more than 65 languages. Additional information is available at www.mhsegsolutions.com.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies:

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP) is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2008 were $6.4 billion. Additional information is available at McGraw-Hill.com.

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SOURCE: McGraw-Hill Education

CONTACT: Tom Stanton, McGraw-Hill Education, +1-212-904-3214,
tom_stanton@mcgraw-hill.com; Caroline Golon, Paul Werth Associates,
+1-614-580-2445, cgolon@paulwerth.com

Web Site: http://www.mheducation.com/