Tag Archive for 'math'

Behold The Writeulator!

Published by Robert Pondiscio on December 1, 2008 in Education Practice. 0 Comments

What if there was a writeulator? wonders Paul, a public school math teacher who blogs at When Galaxies Collide.  Arguing against the widespread use of calculators in math class, he imagines what would happen to a student’s writing skills if there was an ELA version of a calculator.

To use it, you simply type in four sentence fragments; one for character development, one for causality, another for conflict, and the last for a bit of complication. Then you plug the device into a computer through its little port and push the writeulate button. Voila! On the computer you get a complete short story. All the nasty spelling, sentence structure, plot, and paragraph development is done for you by the writulator and the output is delivered nicely wrapped in Microsoft Word.  Far fetched? Sure! But, think for a moment what such a device would do for your writing skills. Even more frighteningly, think of what it would do for your ability to even speak a coherent sentence.

A writeulator would disrupt the connection between a thought and its alphabet, just as calculators disconnect numbers from mathematical reasoning.  ”Fluency with multiplication facts makes you fluent in factors,” Paul writes. ”Factors make you fluent in division. And so it goes, on and on through the magnificent and ancient hierarchy of mathematics. Every such trip, strenghens your lower level skills and builds insights that are cut short by a calculator.”

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Math Scores: U.S. Cities vs. The World

Published by Robert Pondiscio on October 23, 2008 in No category. 0 Comments

Students in six major U.S. cities–Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Houston, New York and San Diego–are performing as well or better in mathematics than 4th and 8th graders in other countries, according to a new study by the American Institutes for Research (AIR).

However, students from five other major cities–Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, the District of Columbia and Los Angeles–are performing below the international average, and sometimes well below.  The research compares data on the U.S. cities math performance in the NAEP 2007 Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in  Mathematics with international numbers culled from the 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). 

USA Today looks at the numbers and concludes “Fourth- and eighth-grade students in…Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Houston, New York City and San Diego actually hold their own against international competitors from Singapore, Japan, England and elsewhere.”  That’s an overly generous description given that Singapore has 73% of its 8th graders proficient in math; Japan has 57%; while the top U.S. cities in the study, Charlotte and Austin, have a proficiency rate of 34%.  However, the international TIMSS average among 8th graders is a mere 21%.  For it’s part AIR concludes:

The findings in this report reinforce the fact that neither the typical student in the United States or in any of the 11 urban districts has achieved the Proficient level of performance found in Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, Chinese Taipei, and Japan. If the United States is counting on today’s mathematics education to seed the future technology and science needed to carry our cities and our nation forward, then we are already at a competitive disadvantage.

A press release on the study is here.  The full report is here.

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Algebra II

Published by Robert Pondiscio on September 22, 2008 in Educational Policy and Teaching. 0 Comments

“If we want kids to master algebra by eighth, we need to focus at least as much energy on getting them proficient in whole number operations by fourth,” writes the New America Foundation’s Sara Mead, commenting on today’s Brookings report.  “That’s a lot harder than simply mandating algebra for all eighth graders, but in the long term the results will be much better.”

Just so.

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Counterfeit Equity

Published by Robert Pondiscio on September 22, 2008 in Educational Policy and Research and Reports. 5 Comments

Twenty years ago, only one in six U.S. 8th graders studied algebra.  Thanks to a national push dating back to the Clinton administration, today more of them take algebra than any other math course.  Take it, yes.  But are they learning it?

A new report from the Brookings Institution’s Tom Loveless notes many students are being pushed into algebra without having mastered basic skills such as multiplication, division and fractions.  Among the poorest math students, nearly one in three were taking advanced math.  As Loveless’ report, “The Misplaced Math Student: Lost in Eighth Grade Algebra,” notes:

These students tend to be some of the nation’s most vulnerable children. We already know that they struggle at mathematics, scoring among the bottom 10 percent of all eighth graders in the country. They also possess characteristics that make recovery from a lost year of math instruction unlikely.

The push to make algebra universal was about increasing educational equity. ”It’s really counterfeit equity,” Loveless tells USA Today, noting that the mismatch inordinately affects black, Hispanic and poor kids in urban schools.

The Washington Post’s Jay Mathews, a booster of 8th grade algebra for all, says the Brookings report is giving him second thoughts.  “It would be better to think of algebra as we do swimming,” he writes. “Something everyone should learn, but most importantly learn well. Get everyone into the pool as soon as possible. But let’s not mark them as having passed the course until we are sure they can swim several lengths without drowning.”

 

 

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Georgia Parents Demand Math Basics

Published by Robert Pondiscio on August 10, 2008 in Curriculum and Parents. 0 Comments

A controversial math curriculum in Georgia is being expanded to the state’s high schools.  That’s raising the eyebrows and the ire of parents, who notes test scores in the Peachtree State haven’t exactly been lights out in math.  The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports 38 percent of the state’s eighth-graders failed the state’s new, redesigned math exam, which was based on harder material.

“While parents and teachers expected some students to struggle with the new math, they were shocked by the high failure rates,” the paper notes. 

After years of criticism that the state’s math curriculum was too weak, the Georgia Department of Education drastically changed the way students learn the subject. Officials adopted an “integrated” design, which weaves elements of algebra, geometry and statistics into a single math class, rather than teaching each separately. Elementary-school students use more hands-on activities to learn about numbers, geometry, multiplication and division. Middle school students learn some of the algebra previously taught in high school.

A parents group called Georgia Parents for Math wants more emphasis should be placed on math theory and basic concepts.  “We have not come up with some foreign math,” Martha Reichrath, deputy superintendent for the state Education Department, tells the AJC. “It is an enriched math. Our students will do better with this math. I do believe we will be the national leader in math.”

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The Innumeracy of Intellectuals

Published by Robert Pondiscio on August 6, 2008 in Core Knowledge and Higher Education. 1 Comment

Inside Higher Ed“I know nothing about art or music,” writes Chad Orzel at Inside Higher Ed. “I don’t know Beethoven from Bach, Renaissance from Romantics. I’m not even sure those are both art terms.” Orzel, is not a high school student, or even a middle school student. He’s a professor of physics at Union College.

Given my line of work, this doesn’t rise to the level of a liability, but it’s awkward. I’m a professor at a liberal arts college, putting me solidly in the “Intellectual” class, and there’s a background assumption that anyone with as much education as I have will know something about history and philosophy and literature and art and classical music….On those occasions when I’m forced to admit my ignorance (or, worse yet, the fact that I don’t even like classical music), my colleagues tend to look a little sideways at me, and I can feel myself drop slightly in their estimation. Not knowing anything about those subjects makes me less of an Intellectual to most people in the academy.

Alas, it’s a one-way street. Intellectuals in the humanities don’t look askance at those who confess an ignorance of math or science. In fact, it’s something of a badge of honor. “Students seeking to avoid math or science classes can expect to get a sympathetic hearing from much of the academy,” Orzel writes, “where the grousing of physics majors is written off as whining by nerds who badly need to expand their narrow minds.”

I’m not exaggerating when I say that I think the lack of respect for math and science is one of the largest unacknowledged problems in today’s society. And it starts in the academy — somehow, we have moved to a place where people can consider themselves educated while remaining ignorant of remarkably basic facts of math and science. If I admit an ignorance of art or music, I get sideways looks, but if I argue for taking a stronger line on math and science requirements, I’m being unreasonable. The arts are essential, but Math Is Hard, and I just need to accept that not everybody can handle it.

“It simply should not be acceptable for people who are ignorant of math and science to consider themselves Intellectuals,” Orzel concludes. “Somehow, we need to move away from where we are and toward a place where confusing Darwin with Dawkins or Feynman with Faraday carries the same intellectual stigma as confusing Bach with Beethoven or Rembrandt with Reubens.”

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Viva No Difference!

Published by Robert Pondiscio on July 25, 2008 in Assessment and Testing and Research and Reports. 7 Comments

Sorry, Larry Summers.  An analysis of standardized test scores from more than 7 million students in grades 2 through 11 finds no difference in math scores for girls and boys.  Everybody is on this one, including the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, TIME, lots more.

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Renegade Parents Teach Math! (Teachers Too.)

Published by Robert Pondiscio on July 16, 2008 in Curriculum and Teaching. 11 Comments

Uh-oh…the secret’s out.  If you want your child to do well in math, teach ‘em long division at the kitchen table after school.   Traditional formulas have been supplanted, the Associated Press has discovered (long after the horse has departed the barn) by concept-based curricula aiming to “teach the ideas behind mathematics.”  This is leading “renegade parents” to teach basic math formulas on the sly at home. 

Renegade teachers too, as Matthew Clavel described in a terrific piece in City Journal some time back:

If school officials knew how far my lessons would deviate from the school district-mandated math program in the months ahead, they probably would have fired me on the spot. But boy, did my kids need a fresh approach….Not one of my students knew his or her times tables, and few had mastered even the most basic operations; knowledge of multiplication and division was abysmal. Perhaps you think I shouldn’t have rejected a course of learning without giving it a full year (my school had only recently hired me as a 23-year-old Teach for America corps member). But what would you do, if you discovered that none of your fourth graders could correctly tell you the answer to four times eight?

You’d teach them the algorithms, like Clavel did, I did, and countless others.  The idea that teaching for understanding precludes automatic recall and traditional methods of instruction–that children haven’t learned unless they ”construct” their understanding of math–is one of those mindless orthodoxies that have squeezed out common sense and strewn failure in its wake.   Watch a 4th or 5th grader struggle with partial sums addition and lattice multiplication and you’d quickly revert to time drills and memorization too. 

If I run into one of my 5th graders even 20 years from now, I will ask him or her, “Do you know how to divide?”  I’d bet my rent money I’ll get the answer, “Does McDonalds Sell Cheese Burgers?”  Sue me.  Take away my teaching license.  But I’ll bet they can divide. 

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Circle Time On the Rug at 08:00 Hours!

Published by Robert Pondiscio on July 15, 2008 in Teacher Training. 2 Comments

West Virginia wants more veterans in the classroom. Not veteran teachers, just veterans. State education officials are looking to expand their involvement in the federal “Troops to Teachers” program, which was created over a decade ago to encourage more National Guard, reserve and former active-duty military veterans to become teachers.

“Veterans possess a wealth of knowledge, talent, skills and experience that they can share with West Virginia students,” the state’s Superintendent of Schools Steve Paine said in a news release. “Many of them have science, math and engineering backgrounds that we desperately need. They also bring a world view to the classroom that works well with our 21st Century Learning initiative to help our children succeed in a global economy.”

I have to admit that I utterly was unaware of this program, which sounds like a rock-solid idea. It’s surprising to hear it’s been in existence since 1994. A study cited on the TTT web site gives the program high marks for bringing more men, more minorities to education, as well as more teachers in inner cities, especially in special education, math and science.

I’d invite anyone involved in the program to post more about it.

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Math Meltdown

Published by Robert Pondiscio on July 10, 2008 in Education Practice and Teaching. 0 Comments

When it comes to Math education, less is more says Virginia teacher Patrick Welsh in a USA Today opinion piece. Virginia’s Standards of Learning features 64-pages detailing “what math gurus in Richmond think kids should absorb at every step in their 13 years in school.” Still he notes at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va., where he teaches English, “we have been graduating hundreds of kids who need a calculator to figure out that nine times five is 45.”

One reason for the teacher frustration is that the state’s math gurus have de-emphasized memorization in favor of “conceptual thinking.” The same philosophy has crept into English classes, where “creativity” has been elevated over knowledge of grammar, and into history classes, where knowing historical trends — “the big picture” — has replaced knowing dates of important events. The result is seniors who are not just incapable of multiplication, but also unable to identify the verb in a sentence or come within 100 years of placing the Civil War.

“Kids also are taught the wrong material at the wrong time,” says Welsh, who counsels slowing down and giving kids the time and ability to master basics. “Students are not the only ones who must ‘get’ math. Many elementary school teachers are notoriously weak here.”

Related News: Every California eighth-grader will be tested in algebra — ready or not — under a policy approved Wednesday that could make the state the first in the nation to require an upper-level math class before high school, the L.A. Times reports.

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