Transcript BellevueMathF.ppt

K-12 Math Education:
A University View
Professor Clifford Mass
Department of Atmospheric Sciences
University of Washington
Bellevue Math Program
Bottom Line
• Students are coming to the State’s colleges
and universities without adequate math
skills and knowledge.
• This situation has worsened over the past 10
years.
• Part of the problem has been the transition
to reform or discovery math in K-12.
Not my opinion only…
• The decline in math skills is universally
noted by math and science faculty.
• Two years ago, nearly 300 UW faculty
members in the sciences and technical fields
signed a petition stating this fact.
• Most are “dumbing” down the math level of
introductory classes.
• Even majors are having problems.
Objective Evidence
Roughly 30% of Washington State
students required remedial math
during their first year in college.
Approximately 50% of the students
required math remediation in
community and technical colleges.
The revenues of math tutoring
companies in Washington State went
up by 340% from 1994-2004
$149 million in 2004, compared to
$44 million 10 years earlier.
Large Numbers of UW Students
Are Taking High School Level
Math
But Algebra was REQUIRED to get in!!
Poor Performance on the Math WASL-Which is NOT a Difficult Exam
Atmospheric Sciences 101
Math Assessment Exam
Roughly 200 sampled each year
Math Assessment
Exam 2006
2009: No
improvment
Only 53% knew the
definition of a cosine
Only 57% could do a simple long
division without a remainder!
231/7=33
Only 14% could solve a simple
algebraic equation
y= x
(1-x)
solve for x
Same
Results in
Other
Classes
And these are students at the
flagship university of the State!
Most students had had high
school GPA above 3.6
Increasing GPA of Incoming Freshmen
3.7
3.65
3.6
3.55
3.5
3.45
1990
1991 1992
1993
1994
1995
1996 1997
Year
1998
1999
2000
2001 2002
2003
What about Bellevue
• In the same assessment exam the average
score for Bellevue students, students from a
rich district with good demographics, was
59%
• Virtually the same as the rest!
Why the decline?
• Poor state math standards
– Some improvements made recently at the behest of the
state legislature (F to B-)
• Poor curriculum and textbooks
– Dominance of “discovery” and “reform” textbooks that
lack essential materials and follow an approach that has
no scientific basis.
– Heavy use of calculators, lack of direct instruction, lots
of group and discovery projects.
• Lack of math knowledge of many teachers,
particularly in elementary school.
Discovering Math Has Major
Weeknesses
• “ these books have far too much verbiage
for students to read, and too little in the way
of clearly stated mathematical principles.
Definitions, computational algorithms, and
formulas seem to be stated vaguely when
they are stated at all”
UW Professor of Mathematics, Jack Lee
Discovering Math was pronounced “mathematically
unsound” by the Washington State Board of
Education.
Here is what their consultant mathematicians had to say:
• “Discovering was the weakest, with all three areas
considered inadequate.”
• “One way Discovering Algebra and Discovering
Advanced Algebra compromise mathematics is by
leaving important mathematics undefined and
assumed.”
• “The use of technology in Discovering Algebra in lieu
of algebraic approaches contributes to the lack of
opportunity to develop algebraic skills”
Holt
Discovering Algebra
An Essential Problem
• Many districts seem unwilling to let
objective information and true math experts
provide critical guidance.
• Case in point, Seattle, where Discovering
Math was chosen even AFTER it was found
unsound in ALL reviewed areas by
mathematicians hired by the State Board of
Education.
The End