State board of education adds new math requirement to middle
school
California Department of Education board members are raising
mathematics standards while students in San Benito County struggle
to meet current standards, and local educators are concerned.
In just two years, all eighth graders will have to take Algebra
I, said Deb Sigman, deputy superintendent for assessment and
accountability for the California Department of Education.
State board of education adds new math requirement to middle school
California Department of Education board members are raising mathematics standards while students in San Benito County struggle to meet current standards, and local educators are concerned.
In just two years, all eighth graders will have to take Algebra I, said Deb Sigman, deputy superintendent for assessment and accountability for the California Department of Education.
California is the first state to set that requirement, Sigman said.
In a typical move, board of education members set a new standard without providing district officials with the money necessary to help kids to meet that standard, said Ron Crates, superintendent of the Hollister School District.
“A couple of years ago, Maze put all the kids in algebra and the kids were not successful,” Crates said. “One of the reasons they were not successful is that they were not prepared.”
That is not a dig at teachers, Crates said. District officials need the money to adequately train teachers, he said.
Statewide, less than half of eighth graders took the Algebra I exam in the 2006-07 school year, according to a Web site from the California Department of Education.
In San Benito County, less than 30 percent took the exam. Of those, 73 percent scored proficient or advanced.
Students who took the General Mathematics test, which tests sixth and seventh grade standards, faired less well. The majority, 69 percent, scored basic, below basic or far below basic.
That is the challenge, said Tim Foley, San Benito County’s superintendent of schools.
“A lot of kids do not succeed in math,” Foley said. “You fall behind and you just don’t get caught up.”
All educators want students to master Algebra I, Foley said.
“They disagree with the timetable and think that it’s too extensive a problem,” Foley said.
The class is important, Foley said. Kids are tested in algebra on the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE), a test that students in the state must pass to receive a diploma.
Officials in each school district will be responsible for developing a plan to get eighth graders ready for Algebra I, Foley said.
“Three years is optimistic, but that’s what we got,” Foley said. “Certainly the County Office of Education will be available for planning and mapping curriculum. That’s what we do.”
Some children will need extra support to pass Algebra I, said Jacy Leibold, who has two children in the Hollister School District, a daughter who is going into eighth grade and a son who is going into second grade.
Although her daughter has always passed her classes, she struggles with math, Leibold said.
“I guess its okay for kids that math comes easy to,” Leibold said. “Think about the kids with special needs and learning disabilities. How is it going to affect them?”
Falling behind in school can cause self-esteem issues, Leibold said.
“I just hope that if they make this a law, then the state is going support the kids so that they are not setting the kids up for failure,” Leibold said.
To adequately prepare students, the elementary school math curriculum needs to be restructured, Crates said. Kids need to be introduced to algebra concepts early, in the second, third and fourth grades.
“The universities do not do the best job of getting teachers prepared to teach math,” Crates said. “I’m not a person who cries, ‘we need more money,’ all the time. Our job is to figure out how to get kids successful with the resources we have.”
The Hollister School District has a leadership team that consists of all the teachers and principals in the district.
“I have to sit down with our leadership group and put it at a state of emergency,” Crates said.
Department of Education staff have no advice for district officials, Sigman said.
“This is a new event and we’re trying to sort it out to give districts some good information,” Sigman said.
Getting kids prepared will take a lot of resources, Sigman said.
“We are looking at instructional material issues, curriculum issues,” Sigman said. “We’re looking at teacher credentialing issues. It’s a huge, huge issue.”
There is already a shortage of math and science teachers, Sigman said.
“This certainly exacerbates the issue,” Sigman said. “And that’s not fixable overnight.”
The Algebra I requirement was prompted by a ruling from the U.S. Department of Education that California’s general math test is out of compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act, Sigman said.
Experiencing failure puts kids at risk of dropping out, Sigman said.
“Putting students into a very complex class before they are ready can be dangerous,” Sigman said. “That’s a real problem.”
