APRIL 2007 INLAND EMPIRE

Who Needs ALGEBRA?

Often mentioned as students’ least favorite class, yet deemed critical by educators and politicians, algebra can be surprisingly controversial. What makes those equations such a headache? We look at teaching methods and test scores in the Inland Empire to figure out why students are succeeding or struggling with this crucial subject. Teachers and administrators give their opinions on the best approach to y = 2x -3, and why everyone benefits from better math training. Read carefully—there could be a test later.

BY TAMMY MINN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY TRINA GONZALEZ 

Reprinted with permission of Inland Empire Magazine.

Why is Lindsey lost? The 13-year-old eighth-grader is sitting in an algebra 1 class, hoping the letters and symbols on the board will suddenly make sense. The A’s and B’s she enjoys in her other classes elude her here. She jots a few notes, hoping it will help later when she tackles the homework. Dreaming of a career in theater arts, she asks, “Why do I need this stuff?”

Algebra used to be the great divide. Future doctors and physicists were the ones who used fancy calculators and, in the really old days, carried slide rules. They advanced to calculus before their classmates could drive and spent their lunch breaks solving for x. Everyone else took “college-prep math,” often followed by a stint in accounting or “business math.” It seemed a logical approach to dividing the higher-ordered brainiacs from the worker bees.

No more. Between rolling blackouts and the recall election of 2003, Gov. Gray Davis handed a new set of standards to the kids of California. In 2000, he signed a law, written by then-state Senator Chuck Poochigian (R-Fresno), known as the Algebra Bill. It required high school students, beginning in the 2003-04 school year, to pass algebra 1 in order to graduate. Falling test scores and fears of losing high-tech jobs to other states and nations had lawmakers looking to the future workforce to fix the problem. So far, 17 other states have also adopted the algebra for all graduation requirement.

While quadratic equations and polynomials were once food for the college-bound, they are now standard fare for the state’s diverse teenage population beginning as early as eighth grade. Statewide, ninth grade is usually when the highest number of students tackle algebra 1. But the Big Idea from politicians came before the recipient of change, the educational system, was ready to implement it.

The Inland Empire feels the pain. Statistics show that Lindsey is not alone.

On the state’s Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) exam given each spring, students are scored by grade and by the subjects they’ve taken that year. Based on their mastery, they’re scored in one of the following categories: Advanced, Proficient, Basic, Below Basic and Far Below Basic. The state’s goal is to have 100 percent of the students in the proficient category. The tests are based on the California Academic Content Standards that define what students should have learned in each subject for that grade level.

According to the California Department of Education in 2005-06, of the ninth graders enrolled in algebra 1 in Riverside County, 1 percent were advanced, 13 percent proficient, 26 per­cent basic, 40 percent below basic, and 20 percent far below basic.

In San Bernardino County, of the ninth graders enrolled in algebra 1, 1 percent were advanced, 12 percent proficient, 25 percent basic, 41 percent below basic, and 20 percent scored far below basic. Statewide, of the ninth graders tested, 2 percent were advanced, 17 percent were proficient, 27 percent were basic, 36 percent were below basic and 16 percent were far below basic.

In the Riverside Unified School District, about 40 percent of the 2,187 eighth graders who took algebra 1 in 2005-06, enrolled in it again as ninth graders, though not all of them necessarily failed, according to the district.

So what makes algebra such a beast?

Roughly speaking, algebra is an extension of arithmetic that uses symbols to represent operations and letters to represent numbers and quantities. It differs from the math learned in elementary grades “because it is not as concrete, not as easily visualized,” says Anne Marie Montgomery, a secondary educa­tion specialist in mathematics for the Riverside Unified School District.

Supporters of algebra for all, like Herb Fischer, superintend­ent of schools for San Bernardino County, see algebra as the gatekeeper to higher math courses, the first step in understand­ing technically complex subjects and the key to earning more money in higher-paying jobs.

“The technical requirements for the job market are increasing rapidly, so the need for higher levels of mathematical skills aren’t just for those who want to go to college,” Fischer says. He notes that firefighters, plumbers, electricians, and even cosmetologists who mix assorted chemicals for hair color use random acts of algebra, even if they don’t realize it.

And in most school districts, without a B or C in algebra, students are locked out of many science classes like math-based physics and chemistry, both desired subjects on a transcript for college entrance.

Chris Shore, chair of the math department and an algebra and geometry teacher at Great Oak High School in Temecula, believes “almost everyone can learn and benefit from algebra.”

In 2001, he received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. He is also editor and co­founder of The Math Projects Journal, a professional publication that provides teachers with lesson plans and materials for inno­vative mathematics activities.

In Shore’s view, the need to teach algebra to everyone has to do with how we as a nation define our educational goals. He says the goal currently tends to be focused on measurable output: high test scores that lead to good colleges which lead to higher-paying jobs. But another goal should be considered, he says.

“In a lot of countries, including those that are kicking our butts in math and science, the goal of education is more about developing the minds of the kids, getting them to evaluate things, and challenge themselves. With that in mind, you know very clearly why you’re teaching algebra—to transform the mind,” Shore says.

Shore says he has discovered what other nations seem to know: kids are capable of learning.

“We have kids passing algebra now that 10 years ago would have been stuck in what I call a bonehead math class,” he says. They might struggle, they might not get A’s, but “I think they’re benefiting from learning it and they’re benefiting from the doors that it opens. It also develops their minds, much more so than doing the same kind of math they did in fifth grade.”

Shore’s district, Temecula Valley Unified, is one of the math bright spots in the Inland Empire. There, on last year’s algebra 1 portion of the STAR test, 3 percent of the ninth graders scored in the advanced category, 41 percent proficient, 37 percent basic, 16 percent below basic and 3 percent far below basic. In the eighth grade, 0 percent were far below basic.

Shore acknowledges his district’s student demographics that typically include well-to-do, college-educated parents who are involved in their kids’ educations. But he and other school officials in the region agree that the way algebra is taught to a mass audience is the key to success.

“We will not be successful in the algebra for all movement until teachers start teaching algebra differently,” he says.

In the past, lecturing and doing a few problems on the board might have worked with the 10 percent of kids who were ready to learn algebra 1 at age 13, says Anne Marie Montgomery of RUSD, who taught math before moving to administration several years ago.

Her district includes 43,000 students—who all will learn algebra at some point—and who come from various socio-economic backgrounds and levels of academic readiness. She notes that reaching a mass audience of multi-tasking, tech-driven kids of diverse learning styles requires assorted teaching methods.

“Algebra is very conceptual, but there are ways to teach it to make it concrete, to give specific examples that are relevant to kids of that age,” Montgomery says.

Students like Lindsey, an artist at heart who can memorize dance routines and musical scores, need to have absolute value, for example, taught in a way they can visualize it.

But finding the time and the budgets to retrain classroom vet­erans is a challenge that piggybacks on an existing shortage of qualified math teachers, administrators say.

While the numbers have improved since 2000 when the Algebra Bill was passed, a high number of the state’s math class­es are still staffed by what the California Department of Education (CDE) calls “underprepared” teachers. According to a 2005 report from the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning, 40 percent of teachers in California middle schools who teach algebra 1 classes lack “a subject matter credential in mathematics and may lack the background and preparation necessary to effectively teach the subject.”

According to the report, in 2005-06, San Bernardino County had 1,332 underprepared teachers, and Riverside had 1,074, coming in second and third in the state behind Los Angeles County, which had 6,891 underprepared teachers.

The report states that, “Of particular interest is the high incidence of eighth-grade mathematics teachers who do not hold a single-subject credential in mathematics, given that algebra content has been moved into the eighth-grade curriculum. Although middle school mathematics teachers are not required by state law to hold a mathematics credential, it may be unreasonable to expect teachers with multiple-subject credentials who may have limited mathematics backgrounds to successfully teach the more specialized content that has traditionally been taught at the high school level.

“Of all middle school algebra teachers, 23 percent are fully credentialed in some subject area but lack a mathematics authorization. These out-of-field teachers teach nearly 60,000 students statewide. An additional 9 percent of middle school mathematics teachers do not hold a full credential of any kind.”

Turning out fully-credentialed qualified teachers takes time, however. And while that’s happening, school districts are taking steps to help existing math teachers deal with the wide range of students they’re encountering.

Brian Balaris, assistant principal at Temecula Valley High School and a former math teacher, is chairman of the Mathematics Curriculum Council for the Temecula Valley Unified School District.

He has worked with math teachers throughout his district to design assessment tests based on the California Academic Content Standards (the specific points of knowledge that students are supposed to master each year) that will be given at the beginning and end of each school year.

“That way, we can identify weaknesses early in the semester so the new teacher can adjust lesson plans to include remedia­tion. At the same time, we can go to the the previous teachers and point out those weaknesses so they can improve on them,” he says.

In addition, the district has helped teachers streamline lesson plans that teach students the required state standards without relying on cumbersome algebra textbooks as sole sources. Balaris says doing so allows teachers to teach less but with greater depth so they can incorporate different teaching meth­ods into the curriculum.

“If the students master what the California standards require, they’ll also do well on the STAR tests, the high school exit exam and college entrance tests,” Balaris adds.

Once in college, recruiting people into the field of mathemat­ics education is a challenge, especially when so many college freshmen have trouble with numbers.

Milton Clark, dean of undergraduate studies at Cal State San Bernardino, which offers a teacher-credentialing program, says 47 percent of the first-time freshmen for 2005 were proficient in math. Fifty-three percent had to take remedial courses through INLAND EMPIRE APRIL 2007 the university. The good news is, most students become profi­cient within a year after taking math classes through the university.

At UC Riverside, Pam Clute has devoted her career to math education. She is Assistant Vice Provost of Academic Outreach and Educational Partnership and executive director of the ALPHA (Academy of Learning through Partnerships for Higher Education) Center, which works with local school districts on programs designed to improve math and science skills.

One of her goals is to “rejuvenate excitement” about mathematics and the possibilities it offers, she says.

“For our own best interest as a nation, we need to develop and encourage more STEM (science, math, engineering and technology) majors,” Clute says.

She notes that in California last year, there were 20,000 baccalaureate degrees given in the STEM fields, but only five percent of those graduates entered a teacher credentialing program. But bringing people into teaching who are good at math has its challenges, starting with the economics of it.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, teachers in Riverside and San Bernardino counties in 2005 earned a mean annual income of $49,520. Secondary school teachers, except those in special and vocational educa­tion, had a mean income of $53,790. Those who taught college level math had a mean income of $70,150.

Related fields in the private sector in the category of Computer and Mathematical Occupations earned a mean annual income of $59,900 in the Inland Empire, while those in math-necessary fields, such as architecture and engineering, had an annual mean of $60,080.

Clute says besides money, there needs to be a greater empha­sis on professional development for teachers in the STEM pipeline.

“If you’re a good teacher, you should also be allowed to help develop curriculum or teach a college course or do something that allows you to share your expertise beyond the four walls of the classroom,” she says.

If changes aren’t made, not only will there be a shortage of math and science teachers, “We will also have a shortage of scientists, researchers and technically skilled people in all fields. It is already happening,” Clute says, noting that many of those math-related jobs are being filled by people from other countries.

That reality is on the minds of algebra for all supporters, like Superintendent Herb Fischer, who hope a higher number of math-skilled workers will boost all segments of society. But getting there is like turning the Titanic.

“We’re in the process of changing the way we’ve always done things, so it might take a generation,” says Chris Shore.

The kids who will probably struggle the most are the ones like Lindsey who were well into their school years when the first mass wave of high schoolers had to tackle the beast. But few see going back as an option.

“It might have been easier when we focused on simply graduating a student, and not on making sure he learned the most he could. It will be harder to find a new way to reach more kids, but I think it’s worth trying,” Shore says.

In the meantime, Lindsey and her classmates will have to do the best they can.

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