Setting the bar for college – and work-ready math
Do any of these statements sound familiar?
“I don’t understand how math translates to the ‘real world.’”
“I don’t want a job where I need math skills, because math is too hard.”
“My major is going to be political science – why do I need advanced math?”
Many high school students say this, but they couldn’t be more wrong.
In today’s information-dependent society, students must be equipped with critical thinking, communication and problem-solving skills to be successful in both college and the workplace.
These are the skills developed when students take higher-level math courses in high school.
They are also the skills employers need and are looking for in the workforce to remain competitive in a global economy.
National studies, such as the American Diploma Project’s Workplace Study, have proven there is a direct correlation between the level and rigor of math a student takes in high school and the level of income they earn in the workforce.
But Washington colleges and businesses report high school graduates are unprepared for entry-level math classes and jobs.
And because of this, it is no longer acceptable to say, “I’m no good at math, so why bother?”
Mathematics is the most common deficit for high school students entering higher education.
Forty-six percent of all recent high school graduates coming to two-year colleges need to take pre-college math courses, compared to only 17 percent needing to take pre-college writing.
“The most common reasons students need to take a pre-college math class are that they either didn’t take enough math classes in high school or have not used their math skills for so long, they’ve become rusty,” explained State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) Policy Associate Bill Moore.
To reduce the number of recent high school graduates taking pre-college math, the SBCTC, the Office of the Superintendent for Public Instruction (OSPI), and four-year colleges and universities are collaborating to get students to take more math – and the right kind of math – in high school.
Much of this work is being done through the Transition Math Project (TMP), jointly funded through state funds and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
“Preparing students for the math they need to know beyond high school is a two-part process,” said Kyra Kester, OSPI assistant superintendent for government relations. “First, we clearly define standards for college readiness, and then we integrate those standards into both our classrooms and college placement exams.”
This process requires the K-12 and higher education sectors to work together to ensure the expectations are clearly defined, she said.
“One of the driving forces behind the Transition Math Project is the growing interest in adequately preparing all high school seniors for a full range of post-high school choices,” said SBCTC’s Moore. “These choices include going on to a two- or four-year college, or preparation for the workforce.”
The first phase of TMP began in 2004 and produced standards to define what students need to know to be ready for college-level math at two- and four-year institutions. These “college-readiness standards” were developed by project partners from K-12 and higher education, including math content and teaching experts.
“The standards specify math knowledge and skills that students need to gain through courses typically taken in their junior and senior years,” explained John House, project coordinator for the Transition Mathematics Project. “They represent expectations that are above the minimum two years of math currently required for high school graduation in Washington.”
In other words, passing the 10th grade math WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning) doesn’t necessarily mean a student is ready for college-level math, he added.
“The skills measured by the WASL are the floor, not the ceiling, for achievement,” House said.
To help send this message, TMP developed practical communications materials to give students and parents a better idea of what it takes to be prepared for college-level math and quantitative reasoning.
As part of these efforts, TMP developed “Got Math” and “Why Math?” brochures directed to parents and students, and written in English and Spanish. The project also hosts a comprehensive Web site for educators, parents and students to clearly identify what students need to know for success after high school.
In addition to the communications strategy, TMP established 13 local and regional partnerships with high school and college instructors to share math curricula, teaching methods and best practices.
“These partnerships have allowed high school and college faculty to work together to apply the college-readiness standards in real classrooms” House stated.
What is learned from these partnerships will be used to guide future TMP efforts.
The second phase of the Transition Math Project, which started last summer, continues its support of the 13 local and regional partnership projects across the state.
“This is where the bulk of our energy and funding is focused,” said SBCTC’s Moore. “The regional local partnership is where the real work of the Transition Math Project is happening.”
They are making significant progress in developing best practices in math curriculum, instruction and teacher support, communication efforts, and college assessment and placement.
In addition to these efforts, TMP is focused on developing a common college-readiness placement test for both two- and four-year institutions based on the college-readiness standards.
The two-year college placement test will include an expanded component to assess students’ level of math skills in order to place them into pre-college level courses.
TMP Partnership Project: The local perspective
The West Sound Education Leadership Council High School Junior Assessment Project is a current TMP project between Olympic College and their local school districts to help students gauge how prepared they are for college.
The project, funded by a grant from TMP, allows high school students to take college placement tests, and meet with both a high school and college advisor to go over the results and develop an educational plan.
Over the past three years, assessment centers have been established at seven high schools and nearly 1,000 high school juniors have taken the college placement tests.
“For many students, the project has served as a wake-up call,” said Rick MacLennan, vice president of student services at Olympic College. “For others, it confirmed that they were on track and motivated them to stay with it …there is a real connection between the assessment and advising activity and their perceived futures beyond high school.”
MacLennan said that students are responding positively to what they are learning through the process.
Of those students who participated, only 19 percent were enrolled in a math class during their junior year. After the assessment, 83 percent indicated that they would take a math class during their senior year, he said.
“Three of our school districts are now having trouble meeting the demand for senior-level math because of this project,” he said. “As far as we’re concerned, this is a good problem.”
MacLennan explained that an online advising tool, such as Ed Plans, developed by Walla Walla, Yakima Valley and Columbia Basin community colleges, would help students know which classes they need to meet their future educational goals.
“This tool could allow college or high school staff to show students different educational pathways based on their placement information,” he explained. “An advisor could say, ‘Pick a college, pick a program … this is where you are. Now, what do you need to do to complete your goals?’”
Many additional colleges are adopting similar strategies to take placement exams out to their local high school students to improve readiness for the transition to college or work.
The Transition Math Project is also supporting a unique math initiative in the Yakima Valley to enhance teacher-to-teacher collaborations.
The goal of this work is to increase success in math for allstudents and enhance the professional development of teachers. In an effort to observe and share helpful feedback, college math instructors sit in on high school math classes, and high school math teachers visit college classes.
The early results are showing promise.
Wanda Merz, Wapato High School math teacher and George Lopez, Yakima Valley Community College math instructor, have gained increased understanding of their counterparts through this process.
"We need more observation opportunities like this,” said Lopez of his recent high school observation experience. “By talking to each other – across the sectors – I gained increased respect for the work of the teachers I was observing.”
Merz stated how different, yet surprisingly similar, high school and college classes can be.
“This is an exciting opportunity and it's helpful to see the same content taught in different atmospheres, each with unique approaches,” she said.
"I walked away from the experience knowing that important mathematics is being taught,” said Lopez. “And I look forward to more in-depth conversations with my K-12 math colleagues.”
According to the Yakima Valley Partnership grant, success will be measured by an increased number of students choosing to take math classes beyond those required for graduation.
Having high school instructors who know what will be expected of students once they enter higher education is a major step in reaching that goal.
The math debate is alive in Washington state and the pressure is mounting.
Gov. Gregoire’s Washington Learns recommendations have raised the bar for math and science. Meanwhile, she has proposed delaying the timeline for the math WASL while mathematics standards are re-evaluated. And yet, there is increasing demand from Washington’s businesses for the education system to produce an educated and skilled workforce.
Regardless of the WASL timeline, there has never been a more important time to make the connection between what students are learning in high school and what they need to know to be successful after they leave.
“We know that getting students to take more math is key,” explained SBCTC’s Moore. “We also know students can learn the same skills through courses that teach the math they’ll use on the job.”
Workforce training classes that incorporate the college-readiness standards allow students to gain math skills in new and innovative ways.
“What is important is to provide students with a foundation of knowledge and skills that adequately prepare them to enter college or workforce training programs ready to learn,” Moore stated.
The Transition Math Project is helping to make this possible.
Link to the Transition Math Project at http://www.transitionmathproject.org/.