By Shane Evans and Dwight Lundstrom

Math is always a point of concern in Oak Harbor schools. Statewide, tests have shown that Oak Harbor students are about average when it comes to understanding math, with a slight dip at the high school level.

The truth is, in today’s world, average is not good enough. The school board placed Levy 2 on the ballot March 10 specifically because our parents and community have asked that we improve math for all students.

There’s no magic to Levy 2. It doesn’t go for any fancy untested ideas. It has three basic parts:

1. Math coaches in the elementary schools.

2. Smaller math classes with more personal attention at the middle and high schools.

3. Appropriate technology to enable students to practically apply math to real-world situations.

To be clear – math coaches would be for elementary schools only. We know this works because Oak Harbor has been part of a statewide pilot program to test the use of a math coach. We currently have a single math coach for five elementary schools. Despite limited time, math coaching has produced dramatic improvement: Clover Valley Elementary went from the lowest scoring school in Oak Harbor to the highest in a single year, and schools already well above average improved even more.

Elementary teachers have to prepare lessons each day for reading, writing, math, science, spelling and social studies. A math coach helps busy teachers better focus their time and energy to get the most out of each math lesson.

In contrast, our middle and high school math teachers are already specialists. The best way to help secondary students improve in math is to lower class size, a tried-and-tested method to provide more one-on-one attention to help students understand difficult concepts. Levy 2 will pay for five additional math teachers for our middle and high schools. That’s 25 additional math classes every day, allowing for smaller classrooms and more directed teaching.

The technology portion of the levy is also simple. Calculators, computers, and projectors are vital tools in today’s classroom. Computer programs help students understand math while developing practical skills. A physics software program provides all the mathematical challenges that a state-of-the-art physics lab would provide. Graphing calculators allow students to share their work on-screen for the entire class.

Levy 2 is a simple, researched-based plan designed to produce results. As former math teachers and as parents of Oak Harbor students, we’re excited to see our community put forward a smart plan to improve math in our schools.

Dwight Lundstrom is principal at Oak Harbor High School and Shane Evans is principal at Oak Harbor Middle School.