Despite data, private meetings, some Wake parents remain skeptical of MVP math

The Wake County Public School System released a 17-page report Monday detailing its use of the controversial MVP math curriculum and said a separate, third-party audit will be done this fall. Some parents who reviewed the report said they were still not pleased with the school system's response and questioned the accuracy of the report.

Posted 9:03 p.m. Jun 17, 2019 — Updated 10:26 p.m. Jun 17, 2019

Kelly Hinchcliffe, WRAL education reporter,

and

Ken Smith, WRAL anchor/reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Wake County Public School System released a 17-page report Monday detailing its use of the controversial MVP math curriculum and said a separate, third-party audit of the program will be done this fall. Some parents who reviewed the report said they were still not pleased with the school system's response and questioned the accuracy of the report.

Wake school leaders convened a committee to review Mathematics Vision Project, or MVP, after parents repeatedly shared their childrens' struggles to learn the material and demanded the curriculum be dropped.

The committee "determined there were no violations of school board policy and no violations of law. In addition, no member of the committee recommended removing MVP and replacing it with a new curriculum," according to the report. "While the 2017-18 results indicate a modest improvement in student performance, additional years of data will be needed to confirm details."

The committee did recommend some changes, including more professional development for teachers and support materials for students.

Wake schools to continue using controversial math program, but with 'changes and improvements'

So far, 16 parents have filed formal complaints with the district about MVP math. But opponents of the program say many more parents have shared concerns on a Parents of MVP math students Facebook group, which has nearly 1,300 members.

The 16 parents who filed formal complaints were invited to private meetings at Wake schools' headquarters Monday to review the report and hear from district leaders about the findings. After the first meeting Monday, the parents remained skeptical, including Blain Dillard, who said he didn't trust the report.

"They showed us data that basically says, 'Nothing to see here.' The grades that they claim they're seeing with MVP are pretty much flat or maybe down just a tad from prior years," said Dillard, who has been documenting his efforts to investigate MVP. "The reason for that is because they're fluffing the grades, there's all kinds of curves, there's all sorts of redos ... There's various ways they keep tweaking the mastery processes to allow kids to score the average that they want to see."

Edward McFarland, chief academic advancement officer for Wake County schools, disputed that.

"What we are seeing right now is that early on in the implementation, that our scores, the data that we have, are very similar to what we had prior to MVP. So there has not been a precipitous drop in student performance or grades since the implementation of MVP," McFarland said. "Our teachers do not fluff grades ... When you look at data from the state, North Carolina final exams and Math 1 and 3 data, that is data that is not fluffed."

McFarland said he wants parents to know he hears their concerns and is taking them seriously.

"We want parents to trust us. We know that that trust is fractured at this point around the curriculum, but we don't want kids to struggle either," he said. "I want parents to know we are committed to doing this work right. When any student struggles, it is incumbent upon the school system to figure out a way to meet their needs, and we are committed to doing that for all students."

Parent Carrie Bley said her son is one of the students who has struggled to learn math under the MVP program. She also attended Monday's meeting.

"It's very frustrating because I won't let my child take higher math classes in high school because then he'll fail and then he won't get into college," she said. "So he's taking the most remedial courses he can and he'll just do his learning in college."

Wake schools has invested more than $1.4 million in MVP math since the program launched last year. In a previous statement, Utah-based MVP said its materials "have received top marks in unbiased curriculum reviews, have been selected by numerous school districts and schools for classroom use and have been deployed with great success in the United States and internationally."

But some parents, including Karen Carter, want the program gone. She attended Monday's meeting wanting to get "answers and truth" but emerged feeling dissatisfied with the information she received.

"The committee members were handpicked," she said. "Wake County (should) be honest and stop the lies, and stop the coverup. They just continue to spin it."

Carter is one of several parents who has filed numerous public records requests with the school system to learn more about MVP math and the school system's decision to use it.

'We want to know the truth': Wake parents request records in math curriculum battle

Wake school leaders say they hope to share more data about the program this fall, when new numbers come in. In the meantime, they want parents to know they are working to make improvements.

"We hear from teachers and parents that we need more materials, and we are working on that. That's one of the goals for the summer is to enhance resources for parents and students," McFarland said. "We can do a better job on that, and we are going to do that this summer."

The Wake County Board of Education plans to review the committee's report at its meeting Tuesday. Parents who attended Monday's meeting say they will be there to continue sharing their stories and advocating for their children in the hopes that the program is removed.

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