State math standards get Demopolis input

New standards for teaching mathematics received approval from the state Board of Education last week, and Demopolis had a hand in their passing.

Derrick Hester, principal of Demopolis Middle School, was one of 16 math experts across the state to speak on behalf of the new standards, said Kyle Kallhoff, Demopolis school superintendent, who attended the meeting.

The current standards passed in 2010 rely more on computations, “things we can do with a calculator,” Kallhoff explained.

Those passed last week require more involvement. “They make you think,” he said. He hears from employers that they want a person who can reason things out rather than one who simply pulls out a calculator.

Kallhoff said some people will label the standards as “Common Core.” They’re not, he said emphatically. “They are higher order thinking standards. There’s more than one way to get an answer” in math, and the standards adopted last week “introduces children to multiple strategies.”

During the next school year math teachers will undergo professional development and textbooks will be selected, Kallhoff said. The change in curriculum will be introduced in Demopolis schools during the 2021-2022 school year.