Pam Callahan’s EDUC628 Blog
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Math panel findings
U.S. Secretary Margaret Spellings presents her panel’s findings on how schools can increase math achievement in this article published by the U.S. Department of Education.
“We must teach number and math concepts early, we must help students believe they can improve their math skills and we must ensure they fully comprehend algebra concepts by the time they graduate from high school.”
The biggest problem I see in math classes is a student’s lack of confidence in their own ability to do math. Another problem is that many of them don’t see the relevance of math. The solution that I see that needs to happen to implement the findings of this panel is vertical alignment of the curriculum at the district level. The district needs to create its own panel of teachers from elementary, middle, and high school, and allow them to plan how good math instruction will be implemented. At the high school level, we expect them to have already mastered fractions and percents, and when they don’t, we pick up the slack, but at the expense of teaching our own content. So then our students aren’t prepared for college because we were unable to teach as rigorously as we would like. Colleges then become overloaded with teaching remedial classes to students who cannot earn an 18 on the ACT.
This isn’t a case of placing blame, but changing approaches at the elementary level to insure success at all levels. Students who cannot meet the minimum math requirements are placed in study skills classes to help them master concepts. This is what my school plans to do next year with its freshman academy to help struggling readers and math students bridge the gap.
April 13th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
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April 13th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
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April 13th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
This is an interesting post. I often hear our math teachers complaining about the use of calculators in elementary grades hinders the ability to have number sense. Since, they trust whatever number the calculator spits out and assume it is right, they often miss some reasoning skills. Of course, by the time they are in 8th grade, there is not time to teach the basic skills they should have received in primary grades and 8th grade curriculum.
April 13th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had students tell me they can’t do it because they are not smart enough with Math. The problem is student have developed some learned helplessness when they see decimals, fractions etc. Their brains shut down and they don’t want to fool with them. Once they know how to work with fractions, then they lose the fear. We have to get them over that barrier and instill in them the courage to take on Math.
April 13th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
I don’t think schools and teachers of lower grades realize that if they can’t dot he basics and of add, subtract, multiply, or divided that they can’t do algebra. The importance of understanding why 14 divided by 2 and 7 times 2 are related is the key to understanding Algebra fully. Yes students can skim by, but in order to understand what we are doing they have to understand the four basic operations first. I feel if they are going to introduce algebra in the 4th grade then they should be teaching it by the 6th grade. From what I can remember I took Algebra I, in the 6th grade and geometry in the 7th and was placed in precalculus in the 8th grade (of course I didn’t live in KY). This was able to be done because I took the regions test every year that placed you in higher classes that you excelled in. I then moved to KY where I began Algebra I again. and of course had to take it again in high school. No wonder why I am good at it. Well, sorry to ramble about this, but I feel very strongly that students must learn he basics first then they can accomplish Algebra, geometry, and calculus with no problems. Not all students are ready in the sixth grade but there are a lot that are, so why hold them back? There is no operation in the three required math classes besides addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, but they are expected to know them so we can elaborate on them.