Teacher Uses Accelerated Learning Methods with At-Risk-Youth
By Larry C. Armendariz
Miles Jones has a doctorate in bilingual and foreign language education, specializing in accelerated learning. He believes that using his background to teach sixth-grade students at John F. Kennedy Learning Center is more beneficial than working as a Dallas Public Schools' administrator."I have been given the opportunity to move up to administration," he explained. "But I feel that I would be committing a great disservice to the children."It is Jones' dedication, compassion and enthusiasm for teaching that first caught the attention of Kennedy Principal Carolina Leon.
"When I first interviewed him, he told me what his goals were," she said. "He's a team player and has a strong belief that every child can succeed regardless of social background."
Jones is so dedicated that he personally tutored a group of "at risk" students for three hours a day at his apartment last summer. The students were there to improve their math skills, and in the end, they were able to mentally calculate complicated math problems and were learning algebra. Jones is a proponent of accelerated learning - an educational method designed to allow students to learn any subject at a faster pace.
Jones, who currently has his bilingual inner city elementary students reading Shakespeare, explains that accelerated education is not new. "We focus on the basic skills that are vital to the student," he said. "It's like a pyramid. You can't build [on education] from the top down. You have to start from the bottom up."
Jones' principal says that while she doesn't advocate accelerated learning over other teaching methods, she supports any teaching method that works for the individual instructor and the students. "I've been fortunate because I have been blessed with a teacher who can do anything," Leon said. "[Jones] is motivated and has the desire to teach, and that's what makes him a successful male role model."
Jones taught last year at Sam Houston Elementary School, where he implemented the accelerated learning program to predominantly Hispanic students. The students were taught to read in Spanish, then taught to speak and read in English. Success followed as the student completed both first and second grade studies in two languages before the school year ended.
"At least 75 percent of the students were above the 50th percentile nationally in both reading and math [on the Spanish Assessment of Basic Education]," he said. "Twenty percent were above the 90th percentile in both reading and math."
Jones feels the current curricula for elementary students is too diverse - offering students too many options and not providing enough concentration on learning the basic skills of reading, writing and math.
"I believe we have to challenge the system," he said. "What's the point of advancing children if they're only going to be re-homogenized next year?"
Jones is hopeful that an emphasis on the basic skills will be a priority of the district. "We can do it. I wouldn't be here if I didn't believe we could," he said. "We need to get the right people and place them in the right areas in order to make things work."
He said some administrators and teachers might not agree with the accelerated learning program, but he feels that the method works. "I believe that if accelerated learning methods were more widely used in the district, we'd be seeing our students' test scores going up by enormous amounts, not just by the percentage points that they're going up now."
"Dr. Jones math curriculum is the most advanced, exciting and easy to implement program I have ever found. The kids excelled quickly and came to enjoy a subject they had only tolerated before. My 3-year-old learned the basics of reading and math. My 17-year-old is doing cube roots in her head. What more can you ask of a course of study?"
-Cindy Camp, Garland, Texas
"The Genios regularly stun observers with lightning-fast mathematical calculations. Children are zipping through problems most educated adults would have trouble solving even with a calculator."
-Rebecca Rodriguez, Dallas Observer
"I was in my first college math course. All of the other students were several years older than me. On the first day the teacher asked what was the fifth root of 32. Of course, to a [JG Math] student that is an easy question, but when I answered it everyone turned to look at me in awe."
-Meredith Escobar, Lancaster, Texas
"Those who have gone through this (memory) exercise, at Super-Memory seminars given by Dr. Miles Jones, memory guru and teacher, will have a hard time NOT remembering."
-Bill Marvel, Dallas Morning News
"Kevin is surging into addition and subtraction and phonics. And Maureen "loves" math. They both love the ribbons. Wow! I'm impressed. Being a math kind of guy myself, I can see the incredible depth of understanding of how the mind learns and the amount of tedious work that has gone into this. I want to encourage you because you are really on to something."
-Randle McCaslin, Austin, Texas
"When we first met Dr. Jones, Kristen was in 6th grade and needed a jump-start in math. She was suffering from math phobia and was very behind, barely able to add and subtract, let alone multiply and divide. Within that year she became a Grand Facts Master and her math phobia disappeared. She went on to be on the demonstration team and eventually became captain of the team. I tell people that she went from not being able to multiply to being able to find the cube root of six-digit numbers. Amazing!"
-Tara Rose, DeSoto, Texas
"Matrix Math is great for my children because it is individualized for each child. We were able to stay on a concept until they mastered it [...] My seven-year-old is so excited about mastering a concept. She says it "is fun and easy to do!" My six-year-old loved the dots and couldn't wait to do the next sheet. My three-year-old, Simone, is now reading after only a few months in the program."
-Angel Baldwin, Arlington, Texas
"Dr. Jones! Just wanted to thank you for all we learned last year with you and your curriculum. [...] We are using the methods you taught us and applying them to our algrebra I & II lessons. Sometimes we get confused and then a little light comes on and we remember what Dr. Jones taught us and it all makes better sense. We wouldn't be able to make it through [...] without your methods. God bless you!"
-Laura Pool, Fort Worth, Texas
"Clinton took the 8th grade TAKS practice test on the internet and scored 95% for his grade level. His teacher asked for the salt content of the ocean if it increased at a consistent rate for one million years and Clinton was able to figure it out in his head. Clinton had a bad attitude at the beginning about math [...] now after a year he appreciates what he has learned from Dr. Jones."
-Cindy Howard, Dallas, Texas
"Dr. Miles Jones founded an accelerated learning program at Sam Houston Elementary that lets students complete the elementary curriculum as fast as they want."
-Beaumont Enterprise
"Are you ready to be embarrassed by some eight-year-olds? [...] Average kids from average schools who've learned the skills to mental math that make them faster than a calculator."
-Jeff Crilley, Channel Four News, Dallas
"Charis has had a BREAKTHROUGH in addition and subtraction: 3:52 on addition and 4:09 on subtraction. Multiplication is down to right at 5 minutes. [...] She's still fluctuating between 99% and 100% on that. Interestingly enough she's at 100% in division and is just over 5 minutes. We're getting there!"
-Valerie Pope, Fort Worth, Texas
"[Dr. Jones' first grader] Martha was calculating the cube root of 373,248. It took her less than ten seconds. Without putting pencil to paper she came up with the correct answer: 72."
-Associated Press
"It's just so amazing! It really caught me by surprise!"
-Delores Chavez, Dallas, Texas
"I wanted to tell you how thankful we are that Christian has been able to be in your classes. We cannot wait to have him tested. Thank you for your ministry to our young people. It is truly a blessing."
-Chris & Lynn Ellen Petersen, Dallas, Texas
"My daughter now does math at home on her own initiative - something she had not previously been inspired to do, despite the colorful and seemingly enticing curriculum we were using. Dr. Jones uses fun and imaginative board games he has designed to help improve memory and increase knowledge. One of these games, "The Big Potato," involves the memorization of the periodic table of the chemical elements. Another game, "Harvard Yard," helps prepare students for the SAT. Dr. Jones' classes have definitely enhanced my daughter's interest in and knowledge of mathematics."
-Jennifer Kuzbary, Dallas, Texas
"A group of Dallas elementary students took on math educators from several North Texas colleges. The educators even got to use calculators. Students, who didn't, still had the right answers more quickly than the educators. At the end of the '96 school year, 13 of 20 students were double promoted from first to third grade."
-Brad Wright, Channel 8 News
"Our son (age 10) has embraced this program with enthusiasm and great success. [...] He was struggling with an "I'm not good at math" attitude. [...] The change has been nothing short of phenomenal. To quote our son: "The classes are awesome. I have fun learning math." The course has completely eliminated any fear of math, no matter how complex the problem. [...] We unequivocally recommend Dr. Jones and his [JG Math] program to any parent regardless of the age, math aptitude and experience level of their child."
-David & Veda Johnson, Dallas, Texas
"Blessings, blessings, blessings! Before [JG Math], my children loathed math! There were frequent tears and exclamations of "I CANNOT DO THIS!" But now my children, all 7 of them, are excited about math and cannot wait to do it! They love math so much after just 3 weeks of your program that they ask to do it at night and on the weekends! Thanks so much!"
-Mikaela Raine, Dallas, Texas
"The problem was to find the fifth root of 714,924,299. In less than ten seconds, three students correctly answered 59. The adults, with calculators, took more than a minute. Some never finished."
-Karel Holloway, Dallas Morning News