|
|
|
Uploaded: Friday, July 25, 2008, 1:39 PM
Will high-intensity math pay off?
School district hopes special classes at Foothill can bridge gap for Latinos
|
|
by Casey Weiss
Mountain View Voice Staff
| Just four weeks ago, Alejandra Silva said fractions were impossible for her to understand, making school challenging and even disheartening for the soon-to-be seventh grader. She is now hoping math will be easier after attending a four-week intervention program for students who, like Silva, are several grade levels behind in math.
During the pilot program, 75 middle school students in the Mountain View Whisman School District took six hours of math classes each day. District teachers taught the classes at Foothill Community College, where students ate lunch in the cafeteria and generally participated in college life.
"At first [math was hard], but things that seemed hard are now easy," Silva said during the last week of the program.
Depending on their skill levels, participants were assigned to one of three classes where they learned subtraction, fractions and other building blocks for beginning algebra, according to Kim Thompson, a teacher who helped organize the program.
Administrators and teachers designed the program specifically to work with mostly low-income Latino students, who as a group have the lowest math test scores in the district.
Latino students in the district also score lower on standardized math tests than their counterparts in the county and state. In 2007, just over 30 percent of the district's Latino students were proficient or better in math, according to federal measurements. Meanwhile, in both Santa Clara County and statewide, nearly 37 percent of Latino students scored proficient or above on math tests.
"Our kids weren't being as successful as we needed them to be," Thompson said. "They were missing out on basic numbers sense."
There are many theories on the discrepancy in these tests scores, including language barriers and home life, Thompson said. Sometimes students do not have enough time to understand the material in the traditional classroom setting.
This was not the case during the intervention program, which ended this week. Tutors, who are Foothill students, often took students into a private work room to review subtraction, multiplication and other basic math skills.
"Some of these kids say, 'If I wait long enough the teacher will move on,'" Thompson said. "Part of this job is to build relationships -- to say, 'You can do this.'"
Two years ago, with math scores continuing to drop, the district started a math committee of administrators and teachers, including Thompson, to identify district problems that could be contributing to the low scores. The intervention program is part of the district's ongoing goal to increase scores. Thompson, a teacher on special assignment, has left the classroom and is working to increase math scores.
Throughout July, the students were bused to Foothill each morning. They spent most of their time in the classroom, using supplies, books and games specifically designed for math intervention.
"It is better here with the tutors," student Jennifer Alvarado said. "You understand what they are saying."
While the students receive extra help with math during this program, Thompson said many of them also need a boost of confidence. Having the program at Foothill helps students realize that college is an achievable goal.
Every morning, Foothill Dean Patricia Hyland waited for the busload of children, ready to break out in song and dance.
"Math is the vehicle, but so much of what we are doing here is training them to respect themselves," Hyland said. "These are the students who the system is failing. We are trying to make up for that."
"I know how much of a difference it makes when someone believes in you," Hyland added. "I want them to know they are not forgotten."
This spring, a nonprofit called ALearn started writing grants on behalf of the district to fund the program, and received $30,000 from the Packard Foundation.
Hyland organized three classrooms and free food for the program and helped to organize their graduation ceremony on Thursday, July 24, and also provided the students with backpacks and T-shirts.
Individuals also donated $10,000 for scholarships. The district plans to invest the money, and each student will get a portion when he or she is ready to attend school.
The students took a math assessment before starting the course, have frequent quizzes and tests and keep a journal where they reflect on the program, all in an effort to track progress. Although students have not taken their final assessment, teachers agree that there has been a difference on both quizzes and journal entries, and in confidence.
"We are working on things to help them improve their attitude," teacher Agnes Kaiser added. "A lot of students who have come to us have given up."
Since the program is still a pilot, teachers and administrators are still planning curriculum and other logistics, but they agree this is only the beginning. Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
|
|
| Comments
|
Posted by Liz, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jul 26, 2008 at 8:30 am If Latino students in the district means children of illegal immigrants, the school district should be spending the money elsewhere. How could this taxpayer money be better applied to children of legal parents? Just like the school lunch program, it all adds up to negative numbers.
|
|
Posted by Ned, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jul 26, 2008 at 9:07 pm Of course it won't pay off. Put more emphasis on math, then reading and writing skills will go down. Forget about science. The real problem is that standards have gone down in Mountain View Schools due to the influx of illegal immigrants.
|
|
Posted by Angela Hey, a resident of another community, on Jul 27, 2008 at 8:46 pm I coached children in math when I was a student.
When children have moved from school to school, have language difficulties or feel at the bottom of their math class, individual tuition - even for a short time - can really make a big difference.
Congratulations to the Foothill students who took part. Congratulations to the school children who took time off from their summer vacation to learn. Congratulations to the teachers working on the program.
This is a terrific idea and hope the program continues.
|
|
Posted by Observer, a resident of the Jackson Park neighborhood, on Jul 28, 2008 at 3:31 pm That's all fine and well said and done, but who pays for it and from where does the money come? What is going on in schools to address these problems during the year? I would love to send my daughter to a collegiate environment in the summer to improve in her already high math skills. Is there any tax dollars left for her?
|
|
Posted by Wondering, a resident of another community, on Jul 30, 2008 at 11:13 am Liz, Ned, et al:
Is every issue always a gateway to attacking "illegal" immigrants? Would you two and the others do the rest of us a favor and just start a forum on this site entitled: "Illegals: The cause of all our problems"?
|
|
Posted by Carl, a resident of the Monta Loma neighborhood, on Jul 31, 2008 at 8:56 am I think it would be foolish to think that illegals aren't presenting a good deal of problems to our schools. I was dropping my child off at school one morning last year and was hit in the parking lot by a Mexican immigrant--no license, no insurance, no English, four school-aged kids and my problem to take care of in the end.
|
|
Posted by Wondering, a resident of another community, on Jul 31, 2008 at 7:58 pm Carlitos,
Are you writing about "illegals" or Mexicans? Which ones are the problem? Do other nationalities count? Are you able to tell who is legal and who is not by skin color? If you can, we can work together and put brown stars on their shirts so we can readily identify them.
|
|
Posted by Carl, a resident of the Monta Loma neighborhood, on Aug 4, 2008 at 5:45 pm Wondering:
I know because I ask since I am fluent in Spanish, and they have no problem telling me. I work with these people daily. If you want to put a rascist spin on it, fine. What I am saying is that their operating outside of our system and illegally is costing us all, our schools, our hospitals, and our social welfare system. It's systematic abuse of the system. Is that such a hard concept to comprehend? You rush to judge.
|
|
Posted by Wondering, a resident of another community, on Aug 4, 2008 at 9:21 pm Carl,
I'm fluent in Spanish, too. Still waiting for my medal, though. My question stands. A Mexican is not necessarily an "illegal" and an "illegal" is not necessarily a Mexican. "You rush to judge" is exactly rushing to judge. Be careful about that.
|
|
Posted by Carl, a resident of the Monta Loma neighborhood, on Aug 5, 2008 at 4:40 pm Wondering, it's pretty obvious who's the one rushing to judge here. It's you.
|
|
Posted by Wondering, a resident of another community, on Aug 5, 2008 at 6:22 pm Now it's my turn! Okay, you are the one rushing to judge. Now is it your turn. Can't stay on topic, can you?
|
|
Posted by Robin Iwai, a resident of the Martens-Carmelita neighborhood, on Aug 9, 2008 at 10:54 pm This divisive argument about the legal status of schoolchildren disgusts me.
Why don't you come in person, come visit and volunteer at our public elementary schools, surround yourself with the happy, eager, smiling, adorable children from all different backgrounds, and then focus on the challenge here which is how to best help our children improve their understanding of math?
|
|
Posted by Enough!, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Aug 12, 2008 at 1:48 pm Robin:
What is in dispute here is "our children" and "our schools" I'd say about half are our children and the other half are ruining our schools and costing plenty of money that could be spent somewhere else.
|
|
Posted by Wondering, a resident of another community, on Aug 12, 2008 at 8:22 pm Enough!,
I simply don't trust your calculations. Perhaps you can petition to audit a high-intensity math class.
|
|
Posted by Parent, a resident of another community, on Aug 20, 2008 at 1:31 pm As for how this program was paid for--my guess is that it came from a pot of "categorical" money designated by the state or federal governments to be used just for under-performing or low-income students, or for improvement of math scores, or some other restricted use. Which means that the money could only be spent for that purpose and could not be spent to send high-achieving kids to a summer enrichment program or to roll back into the "general fund." And, if the argument that it's all the illegal immigrants' fault extends to the idea that, if they weren't here we wouldn't have so many low-income kids and could spend that money elsewhere--well, the money would disappear along with the low-income kids.
School budgets are a nightmare. So much of the money comes with strings attached, and the districts don't have much control over where to spend it. With that said, I think this program is a great idea, and I certainly hope those 75 kids benefitted from it.
|
|
|
| |
|
Send this story
Print this story
