A new test could help improve the math skills of California students

from Carolyn JonesCalMatters

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Just a few months after California overhauled the way it does it teach children to readA new bill is taking on math education — and it could be just as controversial.

Senate Bill 1067 would require schools to test all children in kindergarten, first grade and second grade for basic math skills and give them extra help if they are behind. The idea is to help these children catch up with their peers who may have had much more exposure to mathematics before starting school.

“A student’s early math skills are the most powerful predictor of their later success in school,” said Amy Cooper, senior adviser at EdVoice, an education nonprofit that co-sponsored the bill. “We’re not talking about tracking kids. There are no labels. It’s just about getting students supported so they can reach grade level.”

California students, in all grades, have long struggled in math. Last year only 37% of students performed at grade level in mathematics, with some groups of students doing much worse. Simple 16% of black 11th gradersfor example, meets the state level standard. Across the country, California ranks 43rd in 4th grade math scores, behind Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and dozens of other states.

Experts say one reason for the poor performance is California’s uneven early education. while transitional kindergarten became available for all 4-year-olds last year, children entered kindergarten with a wide range of abilities and skills. Some had years of exposure to early math—either in preschool or at home—and could count, do basic arithmetic, and even read a little. Others, especially low-income children, have had no previous exposure to ABCs and 123s and are far behind. Even now TK and Kindergarten are optional, so some students start first grade without any prior math instruction.

“Critical Tipping Point”

Some of these children eventually catch up, but many continue to fall further and further behind, research shows. And because the math is consistent, catching up gets harder over time and the gap widens. Some researchers have found that early math skills it can even be a predictor how well students do in high school and college.

It is still too early to assess the impact of transitional kindergarten on students’ long-term math achievement, but so far there is still a gap between children who have had contact with math — either in preschool or at home — and those who have not. Low-income children are much less likely to get such early exposure, said Alice Klein, a developmental psychologist and research director at the education research firm WestEd.

“This is a critical turning point,” Klein said. “Unless these students receive intervention, the gap will widen. It will be more difficult for them to access higher-level math classes later, and that will have an impact on future job opportunities and the economic future of California. This is an ongoing foreclosure of opportunity.”

Klein supports the math testing legislation because she said it’s an effective way to identify struggling students and provide them with support. At least 20 other states have math exams and have seen positive results, she said.

“I am so happy that California is considering passing this bill,” Klein said. “This is a great start and could be the next step” in improving math scores in California.

Numbers and objects

Districts will have a choice of several screening tests to choose from, each lasting 10 to 20 minutes and testing children’s knowledge of basic math concepts. For example, children in kindergarten might be asked to look at two groups of dots and decide which group has more. Or they will be asked to identify certain numbers and show that they understand what the numbers mean – that “three” means three objects, for example. English learners will take the test in their native language.

The bill was authored by state Sen. Aquila Weber PearsonDemocrat from San Diego, and passed unanimously in the Senate Education Committee last week.

Its co-founder, EdVoice, was behind the push to teach phonics in California public schools. That initiative passed, but only after a long battle with the California Association of Teachers, the state’s largest teachers union, and advocates for English language learners, who argued that it didn’t give teachers enough flexibility and wouldn’t be effective for students whose first language is not English. The final version of the bill does not require schools to take advantage of state-funded teacher training, but it does require them to use phonics-based materials in the classroom.

Too many tests?

There may also be a battle over proposed math tests. The California Teachers Association opposes it, as do California county superintendents, the California Association of School Administrators and the California Mathematics Council.

They argue the review is unnecessary because the state already has a comprehensive new math framework and has made other major investments in early math. It will take time for these investments to show results. Additionally, the math framework emphasizes critical thinking and real-world math problems, and the test may be too narrow and not account for differences in young children’s development.

They also argued that the testing would be pointless unless the state funded tutoring to help those students identified as needing extra help.

Nick Johnson, an associate professor of teacher education at San Diego State University, questioned whether schools need yet another standardized test. The federal No Child Left Behind education policy enacted in the early 2000s focused heavily on testing and produced few improvements, he said.

“Because of No Child Left Behind testing, we hypothesized that (standardized testing) would improve student learning,” Johnson said. “But the evidence shows that’s rarely true. Is public education in a better place now than it was 25 years ago?”

The magic of mathematics

Rachel Bacong has taught Kindergarten and TK for 30 years in National City, near San Diego. She weaves math into every activity the children do. When creating an art project, she asks them how many chairs are at the table and how many scissors they will need. When she makes smoothies with them, she asks them how much juice or how many pieces of banana they should add. When the children wash their hands, she asks them how long they spent at the sink.

They also spend much of their day playing with blocks, tiles and pipes, experimenting with shapes and sizes. Bacon’s goal is to make math fun and easy to understand, no matter where the child is developing.

“Mathematics crosses all cultures, abilities and backgrounds. It is accessible to everyone. It is my job to design the learning environment to make it accessible to everyone,” Bakong said. “That’s what’s so magical about it.”

She also spends time every day teaching them math, albeit in a way that is mixed with play. She will teach them songs about numbers, show them how shapes go together, and gently guide them when the solution may not be clear. Math instruction needs to come from multiple angles, she said, because children’s cognitive skills develop at such different rates.

She welcomes the extra help for children who need it, but is skeptical that the test will reflect how individual children process math concepts. She already knows how her students are doing and fears that the screening results will be used to stigmatize children, teachers or schools.

“I’m afraid it will focus on the child’s deficits,” Bakong said. “Math should be joyful, fun, and developmentally appropriate. We want to set students up for success so they’re prepared for whatever they design or build in the future.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.