From the late 1980’s to the mid ’90’s the hi-tech hiring problem grew to crisis proportions in...
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Transcript of From the late 1980’s to the mid ’90’s the hi-tech hiring problem grew to crisis proportions in...
From the late 1980’s to the mid ’90’s the hi-tech hiring problem grew to crisis proportions in California
Most of the huge increase in H1b visas were going to people
needed in California
The K-12 system in California was not
producing graduates capable of hi-tech work or
obtaining a university degree in a hi-tech area
Percentages of Entering CSU Students Requiring Remedial Mathematics Courses
Year 98 97 96 95** 94 93* 92 91 90 89
% remediated 54 54 53 52 48 45 39 26 24 23
The * indicates that from 1993 three years of high school mathematics were required for admission to the CSU system. The ** indicates that in this year the special admission students are not counted.In 1998 approximately 80% of entering students in the CSU system failed the Entry Level Mathematics Examination, ELMThe average question on this examination is set at mid-sixth grade as measured against the current California Mathematics Standards
It should be no surprise that by high school our students, nationwide, ranked at the bottom internationally in the ’90’s
The only industrialized nations that did worse were Italy and New
Zealand
The CA State Board of Education in 1997
Yvonne W Larson, President
Robert Trigg, Vice President
Marion Bergeson
Timothy Draper
Kathyrn Dronenberg
Marion Joseph
Marion McDowell
Janet Nicholas
Gerti B. Thomas
Marina Tse
Richard Weston
Yvonne Larson and Marion Joseph are nationally known educators
Marion Bergeson was the previous CA secretary of education
Janet Nicholas was the governor’s chief trouble-shooter
The California Board decided to apply the best available knowledge to fix the system in California
Not just from the US Education Establishment but From All Over the World.
The actual Genesis of the Current California
Mathematics Standards were Foreign Models
Only the highest achieving countries were used
We did not use New Zealand
We did use Singapore, Japan, and Poland as guides to what works for all students.
In these countries virtually every citizen graduates high school and upwards of 90% of graduates have had calculus in high school
Next we Put Together a Framework
Throughout the Framework we reiterated that we would not recommend teaching methods. This was the proper domain of teachersBut we carefully delineated the mathematical issues and likely problems in teaching each standardThe Framework also served as the legal specification of the material that publishers had to provide to sell their programs in California.
The new standards balanced problem solving and skills development
They back-mapped against the objective of algebra for all students by eighth grade
The problem solving component was a big improvement on the previous California (and current NCTM) model
Making algebra in grade 8 possible for all students was a critical part of the development of these standards.
Math in high school determines success in college
For a program to be purchased in California, it has to meet the criteria of
the Framework
In the successful programs for K – 6, typically every third lesson involves problem solving
These lessons use the California problem solving model
AND NOW WE BEGIN TO SEE THE RESULTS
Note the troubling lack of improvement in scores for students who were in grade 6 or above in 1998.
At the same time students in lower grades rapidly reached the limits
of validity for the test.
Every 7 years California is required to revise the standards
For the first time the Board decided not to change the
Framework in any way.
With this Data Set We Can Look at Individual Districts
Outcomes for Selected Districts in California
Grade 5 SAT 9 Scores, California
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Los Angles
San Fran
Oakland
San Diego
San Jose
Inglewood
San Diego Unified Decided to use Foundation Money to buy programs like Connected
Mathematics, TERC, Everyday Math and IMP, not California
aligned programs.
Scores for San Diego Elementary Schools
San Diego City Unified API
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
API
SIM SCH
API 5.95833 5.95081967 5.6 5.6667
SIM SCH 8 7.81967213 6.7419 6.6538
1999 2000 2001 2002
Scores for San Diego High Schools
San Diego Unified School District High School API
0
2
4
6
8
API
SIM SCH
API
SIM SCH
API 5.421053 5.7368421 5.47368921 5.21052632
SIM SCH 6.947368 7.15789464 6.10526316 6
API 5.421053 5.7368421 5.47368921 5.21052632
SIM SCH 6.947368 7.15789464 6.10526316 6
1999 2000 2001 2002
San Diego Unified School District High School API
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
API
SIM SCH
API 5.421053 5.7368421 5.47368921 5.21052632
SIM SCH 6.947368 7.15789464 6.10526316 6
1999 2000 2001 2002
IT SHOULD NOT BE THOUGHT THAT THE CALIFORNIA PROGRAM HAS SOLVED ALL OUR PROBLEMS WITH MATH ED
AT BEST IT HAS ONLY PICKED THE LOW-LYING FRUIT
TO GET FURTHER WE MUST IMPROVE TEACHER CONTENT KNOWLEDGE IN MATHEMATICS
But this is not simple. The way in which teachers need to know school mathematics is different from the way in which engineers need to know it.
Also, the prevailing culture in mathematics departments makes them unwilling to expend the effort
and value the results when mathematicians try to construct
courses for prospective elementary school teachers.
Likewise, most Education Schools seem equally unhappy when actual mathematics content is required for prospective elementary school teachers
But having mathematics faculties teach well designed content rich courses to this audience provides the only hope for a long term fix.
Secretary Paige’s Office is Supporting this Development
We are creating new courses for pre-service teachers to be taught by mathematicians
Among the most difficult of the issues we’ve had to work through is how to present a more robust model for problem solving in these classes
We’ve also had to rethink the role (or more properly the absolute lack) of definitions in K–6 mathematicsWe’ve had to revise the teaching of fractions and we’re still discussingHow to even define ratio, rate, percent and proportion
A test case is standard algorithms
We don’t care if students become highly skilled at long division, butLong division contains within it the core of understanding approximation and convergence. Understanding WHY long division works opens the doors for more advanced mathematics to students.Not teaching it (or teaching it as a rote skill) helps close those doors for many students.
What are the key topics in algebra that teachers need to know?
Currently symbolic manipulation has been almost entirely removed from the K – 8 curriculum
What is the best way to explain to prospective teachers why it has to be part of the curriculum?
What is the best way to present this material to prospective teachers?