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151 days ago

It’s the first full week of summer vacation at Fairfax High School. Grades are in. The hallways are empty. My math teacher Tricia Colclaser is on a well-deserved vacation. All of her Algebra II students passed the Standards of Learning test this spring – a feat. That is the standardized test I failed last summer, prompting this journey to revisit high school algebra and find out what I might be missing and what it might take to create a generation of students who aren’t afraid to call themselves “math people.” What I discovered at Fairfax High was a hard-working teacher who knew her math, a fast-paced, too-crammed curriculum, and a group of teenagers who mostly tried their best. Sure, there was a guy who snoozed in the back and a reliable smattering of shrugs when the teacher came around to check homework. But I was surprised by the high number

High School Diplomas - Is One Enough?

157 days ago

I wrote a story for today's paper about two students from my Algebra II class who are pursuing different high school diplomas. Nila Fasihi studies cosmetology part-time in a career academy and is pursuing a standard diploma. Her classmate Simon Lhuillier is taking honors classes and hoping to get into one of Virginia's competitive four-year universities. He's pursuing a more rigorous advanced diploma. Traditional tracking into vocational or academic programs is breaking down in many ways. But Virginia's policy of offering different diplomas remains controversial at a time when the emphasis nationally is on raising academic standards for all students. The standard diploma has been the sticking point. It requires less science, less math, less social studies, and no foreign language. Students who graduate with these minimum requirements are likely to still need remediation in community college. When educators allow for a range of expectations, it is too often poor

Aspiring Elementary Teachers Fail New Math Test

187 days ago

From the Boston Globe today -- Three out of four aspiring elementary teachers in Massachusetts failed a new basic math test the state is administering, confirming fears that teachers in the lower grades are not prepared to give their students a strong math base. I'm interested to know whether other states plan to follow suit and give a similar test. It looks like teacher prep programs are already responding and upping their math requirements.

Is Math Fun? Should it be?

190 days ago

I wrote a story for today's paper about wide ranging public relations campaigns to win the hearts and minds of the average American math student. Plenty of companies and foundations and teachers are trying to polish up math's image -- to make it seem more cool or fun. Here's a link to an award-winning video called "Crank Dat Calculus" that a Virginia high school student designed to show how math can be fun. The Franklin County student won $3,000 from the National Math and Science Initiative, a non-profit that is also working to expand access to Advanced Placement classes and develop strong teacher preparation programs in math and science. Experts disagree about whether singing raps about math concepts or rewriting text books with extra pictures or word problems about skateboarders is really the trick to engaging more students. Math can be interesting all by itself if you don't get too Featured Advertiser You Need the Speed of Norton 2009 Introducing ...

Encouraging Native American Girls in Science And Math

194 days ago

I went to the Arizona desert recently for vacation and had the chance to visit an Indian reservation. While touring a new community college there, I learned about an unusual approach to encourage girls in math and science. The Tohono O’odham Community College created a program this year for daughters who are interested in careers in science, technology, engineering and math -- and also for their mothers. High school drop out rates are high on the reservation. Many of those who do graduate and go away to college find it difficult to live away from their families and their homes. Even an hour away in Tucson, many students feel isolated in the big city surrounded by non-native people - and drop out. Program director Victoria Hobbs said it took her 15 years to earn her undergraduate degree in education. "When things got difficult from me, I just came home," she