Marblehead wants school math administrator

MARBLEHEAD – Superintendent of Schools Paul Dulac is looking to hire a full-time math and science administrator for kindergarten-grade 6 this year as a way to address a dip in the fourth-grade math section of the MCAS exam and keep the science scores strong.For what may be a first, a majority of 2010 fourth-graders, 52 percent, scored in the Needs Improvement and Failed categories in math, with 48 percent in the Advanced and Proficient categories.Grade 4 is the entry year at the Marblehead Village School. By contrast, 79 percent of the 2010 third- and fifth-graders scored in the Advanced and Proficient categories in math, and only 21 percent scored in the Needs Improvement and Failed categories. “Why do they get better so quickly?” Dulac asked rhetorically.School Committee member Jonathan Lederman asked whether the school should hire teachers who specialize in math to help solve the problem. Dulac plans to have fourth-graders get extra help in math if needed, to help build up those scores. Dulac said he wants to hire an administrator to oversee math and science rather than a curriculum director because the administrator can evaluate teachers. The job will be for one year and will pay $74,000-$76,000, an amount already in this year?s budget.Lederman pointed out that the committee already approved the curriculum director post and offered no objection to the change. The job was approved unanimously.