Be wary of leading MD students down the California Path to Remedial Math.

 

 

Comments by Dr. Jerome Dancis (associate professor of mathematics, UMCP) jnd@math.umd.edu

Presented at the MD State Board of Education meeting, Feb. 24, 2004  

 

The math section of the Maryland State Dept. of Education (MSDE) has been colonized by the MATH Reform movement, which is lead by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). 

 

[Footnote: From the Maryland State Dept. of Education web site  (http://www.mdk12.org/mspp/standards/math/introduction.html): "The Maryland Mathematics Content Standards (Standards) …  are closely aligned with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) 'Principles and Standards for School Mathematics' (PSSM) … . The Maryland Learning Outcomes and the Core Learning Goals support the Standards and represent the core knowledge and skills that are assessed at the state level.  Each local system should use the Standards to guide the development of their local mathematics curricula".]

 

 Look at what this Math Reform curriculum did to California; then be wary of going ahead with Reform pretend Algebra in MD.

 

[Footnote: The main but not only reason, it is a ‘pretend algebra’ exam, is that students get to use their trusty graphing calculators instead of learning math concepts.  This is why popular Washington Post education columnist Karin Chenoweth entitled her Dec. 25 Homeroom column “With 'Pretend' Testing, a Poor Imitation of Preparing Students”.  Also, why she wrote: “I now call the test a ‘pretend algebra’ exam and fear that it will undermine mathematics instruction throughout the state”.            

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A28031-2003Dec24?language=printer]

 

During the period, when "Reform" instruction was becoming official state policy and was being increasingly used in the California schools, with "pretend" Algebra replacing real Algebra, the remediation rate in mathematics (Algebra) skyrocketed from  23%  in 1989 to  54%  in 1998  for freshmen in the Cal. State University System.  Absurd.  (I'm told that this system admits the better  30%  of the high school graduating class.)  See chart.

 

In December 1997, there was a counter-coup, the Reform math orders were cancelled in CA.  Free, once again, to teach real Algebra, the CA high schools proceeded to do so.  The result was a dramatic drop in the remediation rate in mathematics for freshmen in the Cal. State University System, from 54% in 1998 down to 37%  in  2002.  For African Americans the drop was from  80%  to  64%. For the data, go to

http://www.asd.calstate.edu/performance/remediation.shtml

 

Also from 1990 to 1997, only Math Reform textbooks could be purchased by CA schools.  In 1997, elementary school teachers free, once again, to teach reasonable math, proceeded to do so.  The result was that the 1998 Grade 2 cohort, in which only 43% had scored at  50th   percentile or above on the Stanford 9 Math test, grew up to be the 2002 Grade 6 cohort,  then  60%  scored at  50th  percentile or above.  That's a cohort change of  17%.  See chart.

 

The 1998 Grades 3, 4 and 5 cohort, in which only 40% had scored at the  50th   percentile or above, grew up to be the 2002 Grade 7, 8 and 9 cohort in which  51%  scored at the  50th  percentile or above.  That's a cohort change of  11%.

 

The 1998 Grades 6 and 7 cohorts did not make significant increases.  After six years of Reform pretend arithmetic, it hard to learn real Algebra..

 

For this data, go to: http://www.cde.ca.gov/statetests/star/charts/2002.math.pdf

 (The cohorts are color coded.)

 

Maryland is not California.  But what happened in CA in the 1990s, should make us pause. Be wary of making Reform pretend Algebra a graduation requirement.

 

This is also the major reason that our MD college faculty “Petition to Upgrade Maryland's Mathematics Standards” was signed by 50 math and engineering college professors.  (On the web  at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GTAletters/files/Math/MathPetition.htm    One of its main points is that “the State of Maryland's mathematics standards neglect the math skills [like arithmetic] and conceptual understanding that are essential for real algebra.”

 

It notes: "Teaching to such a low standard will increase the already high number of students taking remedial math [that is, real Algebra] in college".

 

See how Reform pretend Algebra is playing out at one MD high school.  The extent that it is mucking-up Algebra II and Pre-calculus courses is described in the article  "State and county math standards hurt student performance"  http://silverchips.mbhs.edu/inside.php?sid=2639 which includes:

 

“ … MCPS mandated changes to the Algebra I curriculum to align the course with the tested material [MD’s Algebra Exam]. "We don't think the material is what they need to know to be successful [in Algebra II and Precalculus]," said Blair H.S. algebra lead teacher Maria Costello. 

 

Changes in the curriculum are cited as a main cause for students' deficiencies in basic algebra, which are manifesting themselves in higher level math courses that require an understanding of concepts taught in Algebra I. "Our Algebra II students are worse than ever. Our Pre-Calculus students are worse than ever. It's falling apart as we go up the ladder," said Costello.”

 

This will also increase the already high number of MD graduates who need to take remedial Algebra classes in college.  Ask John Wisthoff.

 

Fairfax county, VA, (with median or mean family income of $90,000) implemented such a "Reform" curriculum in 1987.  On the Grade 8 Mathematics – Computation part of the IOWA test, Fairfax's percentiles dropped from  77  in 1987-88 to  60  in  1996.  For blacks, from  50  to  35  and for Hispanics, from  67  to 41.  This large drop in computational skills was predictable given the Reform movements antagonism against computation.

 

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Why are students flunking the MD Pretend Algebra and Pretentious Data Analysis Exam

 

Grade 6 math books, California (CA) editions, contain instruction for 60% of the questions on the sample MD Pretend Algebra and Pretentious Data Analysis test.    Even Maryland State Assistant Superintendent (with responsibility for the exam) Gary Heath, said, "We would be the first to tell you it doesn't have a lot of algebra, nor was it intended to."  (Washington Post Aug16, 2002)

 

But about half of MD Grade 9 students are not passing the exam.  This begs the question:  WHY?

 

An algebra teacher, at a Montgomery County high school, with many English, as a second language students, provided me with the following info  [I added comments inside braces]:

 

1.   Many students have difficulty reading and understanding the math problems.  [The syllabus is mostly based on MD Algebra test, on which the reading level is higher than the math level.]

 

2.  There are too many topics, so no time to do anything thoroughly. [Makes it easy to quickly forget.]

 

3.  Many students not having calculators -- even though school is willing to loan them cheaply to FARMs (Free And Reduced Lunch) students.  Many calculators are lost or stolen.

 

4. The county syllabus includes solving equations like  4x = 2x + 10, but does not specify the method.  Solving via graphing is suggested. There is not enough time to teach this two ways, both the old-fashioned mathematicians' way as well as via graphing.  [Too many topics]  To teach it the old-fashioned mathematicians' way requires students to do some Arithmetic, of which many are not fluent.  So only solving via graphing is taught.

 

My other notes:

 

Re. #3.   Students not having calculators probably contributes (big time) to education gap between economic groups as measured by MD pretend Algebra and pretentious Data Analysis test.  There is an irony here: The use of graphing calculators was supposed to level the Algebraic playing field and not put at a disadvantage those students, who were not fluent in Arithmetic and/or who are not part of "[The] limited population who can do math symbolically, the way mathematicians do" as the head of math instruction for the state, Donna Watts, put it. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A28031-2003Dec24?language=printer)

 

Re. #4.   State officials say that the state syllabus for MD pretend Algebra and pretentious Data Analysis test is only supposed to be 60% of the syllabus for the Grade 9 Algebra etc. course.  There is supposed to be another 40% or almost four months.  At this school, solving equations like  4x = 2x + 10, the old-fashioned mathematicians' way is still not taught.

 

Re. #4  The reason that students are much less fluent in Arithmetic is that MCPS has ordered teachers to allocate much less time to arithmetic calculations.  This is consistent with the MD state math curriculum.  So one colleague reports that his child's Grade 3 class in Montgomery county allocated only 6 weeks for all multiplication from  2x3 to 23x 37 -- not enough time to learn multiplication. And another colleague reports that his child, in Grade 5 in Montgomery county, is struggling with long division because the child did not learn the multiplication table in Grade 3.

 

Re. #1.  The following test-taking skill might help:  Ignore the usually-distracting, introductory paragraph of the questions on the MD Pretend Algebra and Pretentious Data Analysis Exam.  This will save serious time, especially for slow readers.

Another major reason for students failing MD Pretend Algebra and Pretentious Data Analysis test: