When something goes wrong,
I’m the first to admit it,
The first to admit it,
And the last one to know.
When something goes right,
Oh, it’s likely to lose me.
It’s apt to confuse me
When something goes wrong,
I’m the first to admit it,
The first to admit it,
And the last one to know.
When something goes right,
Oh, it’s likely to lose me.
It’s apt to confuse me
Because it’s such an unusual sight,
I swear, I can’t,
I can’t get used to something so right,
Something so right.
– Paul Simon
Alas, the STAR results for California in general and Gilroy in particular are pretty bad. There are, however, a few bright spots, defined, in Gilroy Unified, as having about half your students proficient or advanced. When something goes right, ’tis well to try to determine why.
At Antonio Del Buono Elementary School, something is going right in second and third grade math. In 2003, 64 percent of the second graders and 50 percent of the third graders scored proficient or advanced. In 2004, 53 percent of the second graders and 66 percent of the third graders scored that high.
At El Roble Elementary, the second graders are doing relatively well: in 2003, 53 percent scored proficient or advanced, and in 2004, 48 percent scored that well.
At Luigi Aprea Fundamental School, all grades tested, second through fifth, saw 49 to 74 percent of their students score proficient or advanced in both English and math.
Something is seriously right in Glen View Elementary’s third grade math classes, especially when you pay attention to the big picture. In 2003, Glen View’s second grade only had 27 percent score proficient or above. In 2004, 57 percent of the third grade scored that well: largely the same kids, huzzah.
The situation returns to normal in the fourth grade: in 2003, 63 percent of Glen View’s third graders scored proficient or above. In 2004, only 38 percent scored that well: largely the same kids, alas.
Our districtwide English results are sad: at every grade level, the percentage of kids who score proficient or above is in the 30s.
Our districtwide math results are appalling. Of our second and third graders, more than 40 percent are proficient or better. That percentage falls to the 30s in fourth grade, to the 20s in fifth, and to the teens and lower in high school.
I would be more optimistic about the possibility of improvement in math scores if any school official were displaying even a gleam of comprehension about what needs to be done. Alas, all the public utterances I have seen to date are invariably couched in edu-babble.
This is what we actually need to do:
n Explicitly teach basic skills, emphasizing the standard algorithms of arithmetic and algebra, such as the long division algorithm. If a kid masters long division in fifth grade, he is prepared for division of polynomials in Algebra I and synthetic division in trig. If he doesn’t, he is building a pyramid with no base.
n Use no calculators until at least Algebra I. Six of the seven top-scoring nations in international math competitions use few or no calculators in elementary or middle school years. Reliance on calculators hamstrings students just when they should be developing a feel for patterns of numbers.
n Adopt textbooks with a minimum of diversions. Brightly colored pictures may attract pre-schoolers; they do nothing to help a 15-year-old concentrate. Sidebars take away from space that should be used for explanation and examples.
n Lastly, and most importantly, stop resting on our poor, Latino laurels. Stop using race and class as an excuse for poor performance.
Look for schools that beat those odds, such as Bennett-Kew, circa 2001. According to David Klein of the Los Angeles Times:
“Bennett-Kew Elementary School in Inglewood is an example. At Bennett-Kew 51% of the students are African American, 48% are Latino, 29% are not fluent in English and 77% of all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a standard measure of poverty in schools. Yet test scores at Bennett-Kew require no excuses. The average third-grader at Bennett-Kew scored at the 83rd percentile in mathematics on the most recent Stanford Achievement Test, double the score for Los Angeles Unified School District.”
The punchline? This year Bennett-Kew’s results are down to around the 66th percent level. LAUSD forced them to give up Saxon math in 2002.
