Just a few months after California overhauled the way it , a new bill takes on math education 鈥� and may be just as controversial.
would require schools to screen all kindergartners, first- and second-graders for basic math skills, and give them extra help if they鈥檙e behind. The idea is to help those children catch up to their peers who might have had much more exposure to math before starting school.
鈥淎 student鈥檚 early math skills are the most powerful predictor of their later success in school,鈥� said Amy Cooper, a senior advisor at EdVoice, an education nonprofit that鈥檚 cosponsoring the bill. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not talking about tracking kids. There鈥檚 no labels. It鈥檚 just about getting support to students so that they can get up to grade level.鈥�
California students, in all grade levels, have long struggled in math. Last year, just 37% of students in math, with some groups of students faring far worse. Just , for example, met the state鈥檚 grade-level standard. Nationwide, California in 4th grade math scores, behind Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and dozens of other states.
One reason for the poor performance, experts say, is California鈥檚 uneven early education landscape. Until to all 4-year-olds last year, children showed up at kindergarten with a wide array of abilities and skills. Some had years of exposure to early math 鈥� either at preschool or at home 鈥� and could count, do basic arithmetic and even read a little. Others, especially low-income children, had no prior exposure to the ABCs and 123s, and lagged far behind. Even now, TK and kindergarten are optional, so some students start first grade with no previous math instruction at all.
鈥楥ritical tipping point鈥�
Some of those children catch up eventually, but many continue to fall further and further behind, . And because math is sequential, catching up becomes harder over time, and the gap widens. Some researchers found that early math skills of how well students do in high school and college.
It鈥檚 still too early to gauge the impact of transitional kindergarten on students鈥� long-term math performance, but so far there鈥檚 still a gap between children who鈥檝e had exposure to math 鈥� either through preschool or at home 鈥� and those who haven鈥檛. Low-income children are far less likely to get that early exposure, said Alice Klein, a developmental psychologist and research director at the education research firm WestEd.
鈥淚t is a critical tipping point,鈥� Klein said. 鈥淯nless those students get intervention, the gap will widen. It鈥檒l be harder for them to access higher-level math classes later on, and this will have implications for future job opportunities and the economic future of California. It鈥檚 a continual closing of opportunities.鈥�
Klein supports the math screening legislation because she said it鈥檚 an effective way to identify students who are struggling and provide them with support. At least 20 other states have math screenings and have seen positive results, she said.
鈥淚鈥檓 so happy that California is considering passing this bill,鈥� Klein said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great start, and could be the next step鈥� in improving math outcomes in California.
Numbers and objects
Districts would have their choice of several screening tests to choose from, each ranging from 10 to 20 minutes long and testing children鈥檚 knowledge of basic math concepts. For example, kindergartners might be asked to look at two groups of dots and decide which group has more. Or they鈥檇 be asked to identify certain numbers and show that they understand what the numbers mean 鈥� that 鈥渢hree鈥� means three objects, for example. English learners would take the test in their native languages.
The bill is authored by state Sen. , a Democrat from San Diego, and last week passed unanimously in the Senate education committee.
Its cosponsor, EdVoice, was behind the push for phonics-based literacy instruction in California public schools. That initiative passed, but only after a long fight with the California Teachers Association, the state鈥檚 largest teachers union, and English learner advocates, who argued that it didn鈥檛 give teachers enough flexibility and that it wouldn鈥檛 be effective for students whose first language isn鈥檛 English. The final version of the bill doesn鈥檛 require schools to take advantage of state-funded teacher training, but it does require them to use phonics-based classroom materials.
Too many tests?
There might be a fight over the proposed math testing as well. The California Teachers Association opposes it, as well as California County Superintendents, the Association of California School Administrators and the California Mathematics Council.
They argue that the screening is unnecessary because the state already has a comprehensive new math framework and has made other big investments in early math. It鈥檒l take time for those investments to show results. Also, the math framework emphasizes critical thinking and real-world math problems, and the screening might be too narrow and not take into account young children鈥檚 developmental differences.
They also argue that the testing will be pointless unless the state funds tutoring to help those students who are 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 education policy No Child Left Behind, adopted in the early 2000s, focused heavily on testing, and led to few improvements, he said.
鈥淪ince No Child Left Behind testing, we鈥檝e assumed that (standardized testing) will improve student learning,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淏ut the evidence shows that鈥檚 rarely true. Is public education in a better place now than it was 25 years ago?鈥�
Magic of math
Rachelle Bacong has been teaching kindergarten and TK for 30 years in National City, near San Diego. She weaves math into every activity the children do. When she sets up an art project, she asks them how many chairs are at the table and how many scissors they鈥檒l need. When she makes smoothies with them, she asks them how much juice or how many chunks of bananas they should add. When the children wash their hands, she asks them how long they spent at the sink.
They also spend a good portion of their day playing with blocks, tiles and tubes, experimenting with shapes and dimensions. Bacon鈥檚 goal is to make math fun and easy to grasp, no matter where the child is developmentally.
鈥淢ath crosses all cultures, abilities and backgrounds. It鈥檚 accessible to everyone. It鈥檚 my job to design the learning environment to make it accessible to everyone,鈥� Bacong said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what鈥檚 so magical about it.鈥�
She also spends time every day explicitly teaching them math, although in a way that鈥檚 blended with play. She鈥檒l teach them songs about numbers, show them how shapes fit together, and gently guide them when a solution might not be clear. Math instruction needs to come from several angles, she said, because children鈥檚 cognitive skills develop at such different rates.
She welcomes extra help for children who need it, but she鈥檚 skeptical that a test will reflect how individual children process math concepts. She already knows how her students are faring, and she fears that screening results will be used to stigmatize children, teachers or schools.
鈥淢y fear is that it鈥檒l focus on a child鈥檚 deficits,鈥� Bacong said. 鈥淢ath needs to be joyful, fun and developmentally appropriate. We want to set students up for success, so they鈥檒l be prepared for whatever they鈥檙e going to be designing or building in the future.鈥�
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