New Math Curriculum to Stress Practical Uses

Westminster School District has adopted a new mathematics curriculum that emphasizes real-world applications and focuses on technology, officials said.

The district’s trustees voted to spend about $400,000 on the new textbooks and other math materials.

The district has not updated its math curriculum since 1987, officials said, and printing of the current series of textbooks is to be discontinued by the publisher.

The new curriculum will integrate more “mathematical investigations,” such as using formulas to draw up a small-business plan, officials said.

“Students will be asked to open their minds and look at all strategies,” said Randi Leach, who helped develop the program. “It goes beyond one answer for one question.”