SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT

Now it’s math’s turn

School systems have started to pay attention to reading skills over the past decade: now it’s time to pay attention to math skills.  The latest study in a series of studies that looks at math ability of Ontario college students calls for action at the elementary level.  The York - Seneca Institute for Mathematics, Science and Technology has just released their final report and concludes that a large portion of students are lacking in fundamental math skills that are taught in the 6th grade.  Other findings:

 67.6% of students achieved good grades (A, B or C) in first-semester college mathematics, while 32.4% were considered to be “at risk” (having received a D or F or having withdrawn from the course). This percentage (of good grades) represents very little change from the previous two years.
 Of the Very Recent Ontario Graduates - those who have taken the most recently revised mathematics curriculum in secondary school - 61.6% of the males and 68.7% of the females achieved good grades.
 Second Career students achieved better than other students: 80.0% of males and 84.5% of females achieved good grades.
 Graduates of French-language school boards attend English- and French-language colleges in approximately equal numbers; the mathematics achievement of students attending French-language colleges has increased since last year while that of students attending English-language colleges has shown very little change.
 Older students, particularly females, achieve significantly better than younger students: for example, 77.6% of males and 85.5% of females aged 30-39 obtained good grades.

The report recommends a provincial numeracy strategy be developed and, among other things, a Grade 10 numeracy test similar to the existing literacy test, a numeracy test for teacher candidates, and better instructional materials to support the teaching of numeracy.  The report found that basic math skils (order of operations, fractions, decimals, percertages, ratio, and algebra) were concepts and skills that are introduced the grades 6 - 8 curriculum, yet one in four college students are being taught them in college prep (remedial?) math courses.

What I found interesting, but not surprising, is that older students (in their 40’s and 50’s) performed better than students who just graduated from high school and that women did better than men.  WISE Math founder and U. of Winnipeg professor, Anna Stokke, would say the problem starts way back earlier in the primary grades:

       If they don’t know their math facts, she says, they won’t be able to do fractions, which means they won’t be able to handle algebra, which means calculus is out, which means they can’t be engineers, doctors, pharmacists, economists, programmers, or any discipline that requires math, including skilled tradeswork. But one thing they can become? Teachers, who can go through the system with minimal math training and arrive in class expected to inspire children to create and conceptualize their own mathematical knowledge—and relying on a new set of parents to fill the gap. “This is a never-ending cycle of innumeracy,” says Stokke. “And we have an obligation to speak up for the kids.”  (Macleans March 19, 2012)

And so says SQE.

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P.S.  SQE’s Stairway to Math is a good way to get extra practice in those skills for your young students.