La dolce vita
1st Place
WEEKEND | 16
GENERAL EXCELLENCE
California Newspaper Publishers Association
JANUARY 20, 2017 VOLUME 24, NO. 52
www.MountainViewOnline.com
650.964.6300
MOVIES | 19
School district drops digital math program SUPERINTENDENT ENDS “TEACH TO ONE” AFTER PARENT UPROAR, CITING MIXED TEST RESULTS discontinue the program, calling it flawed and brimming with fter an avalanche of parent problems. Among the concerns, opposition, the Mountain parents noted that topics are View Whisman School taught in an incoherent and District announced last week seemingly random order, are ridthat it will end the controversial dled with mistakes and outright new digital math program Teach wrong answers, and students are to One. But questions remain frequently given math problems whether the district disregarded that are better-suited for ninthits own rules regarding pilot pro- graders and beyond. Worse yet, grams, and whether the superin- many parents say their children tendent erred in agreeing to an are frustrated with math or expensive, nearly half-million have lost interest in the subject because of Teach dollar classroom to One. The letprogram withter was signed out securing the ‘I don’t think that by 180 parents funds ahead of time. there was anyone of fifth- and sixth-graders. In a Jan. 12 At a special email to parents, in the room (who) school board Superintendent Ayinde Rudolph didn’t believe that study session on Teach to One said the Teach to One pilot this wasn’t the right on Tuesday, Jan. Rudolph said program, which approach for us. 17, he takes full has been used in all sixth-grade SUPERINTENDENT AYINDE RUDOLPH responsibi lit y for the challengmath classes es that district since the start of the school year, will be discontin- staff, teachers and families faced ued, effective immediately. The in implementing Teach to One, decision, Rudolph told parents, and that it’s now clear that the stems from test results earlier digital math program isn’t the this month showing that fewer right fit. But from the outset, he sixth-graders are able to perform said, the program seemed like exactly what the district needed. at grade level. In the first few months of the The adoption of Teach to One has been a hotly contested year, district officials were grapmove. The program is a new pling with a new report that curriculum for sixth-grade stu- found deficiencies across the dents, complete with its own les- district’s education programs, sons, exercises and assessments including big disparities in studone on computers. The selling dent performance in math and point of the program is that it’s other subjects. Right around the a “smart” math program with time the district was formulating algorithms designed to adjust to a new strategic plan, Rudolph each student’s performance, with said, someone approached staff lesson plans tailored to strengths with a personalized learning program — Teach to One — and and weaknesses. In a lengthy letter last month, See DIGITAL MATH, page 7 parents called on the district to By Kevin Forestieri
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MICHELLE LE
A collapsing creek bank triggered the closure of a portion of the popular Stevens Creek Trail in Mountain View between Yuba Drive and El Camino Real. Staff from the Santa Clara Valley Water District began inspecting the creek on Wednesday, Jan. 18.
Stevens Creek bank erosion prompts trail closure By Kevin Forestieri
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portion of the Stevens Creek Trail has been temporarily closed after recent storms caused severe bank erosion along Stevens Creek, creating unsafe condi-
tions along the heavily-used trail. The strong wind and rain caused a large portion of the bank to slough off along the trail side of Stevens Creek last week, leaving only a few feet between the edge of the trail
and a steep drop to the roiling waters below. The unsafe conditions prompted city officials to close off a section of the trail spanning from Yuba Drive to just north of the El Camino See TRAIL, page 9
Council to dive into rent control WHETHER CITY WILL DEFEND MEASURE V AGAINST LAWSUIT MAY BE DECIDED AT TUESDAY MEETING By Mark Noack
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ust as its new members settle in, the Mountain View City Council will be diving into rent control rules next week for its first major public meeting — and it will be a whopper. Expected to run six hours or more, the marathon meeting on
INSIDE
Jan. 24 will deal primarily with the Measure V, the new rent control law, and the legal challenge against it by the California Apartment Association. In a 90-minute closed-door session, council members will discuss the lawsuit and whether the city should defend it in court. Advocates with the Moun-
tain View Tenants Coalition are pointing to next week’s meeting as a pivotal juncture when city leaders could decide if they will champion Measure V in court even though many of them opposed it during last year’s election. See RENT CONTROL, page 8
VIEWPOINT 12 | GOINGS ON 20 | MARKETPLACE 21 | REAL ESTATE 23