State Education Board OKs Rigorous Math Standards

The State Board of Education on Thursday adopted rigorous new math standards for California’s 5.5 million public school students, despite objections from state schools Supt. Delaine Eastin and some math scholars.

The standards, while not mandatory, say students should master the equivalent of two years of algebra and a year of geometry by the time they finish the sophomore year of high school. Today, only a quarter of high school students take geometry and just 14% take a second year of algebra.

The measures are expected to influence textbook selection and development of state achievement tests. And the board’s decision is expected to have national impact, because publishers usually design textbooks with California in mind.

The board voted 11-0 for the new standards. Last week it gave preliminary approval to stricter math guidelines for students through the seventh grade. Thursday’s vote finalized that decision and endorsed standards for grades eight through 12 as well.

In the debate over the divisive issue, the board was accused of sacrificing the understanding of math concepts in favor of calculation. Board members argued that the standards stress both aspects, requiring students to memorize basic formulas so they become tools for solving real-world problems.

California students are close to the bottom in math on national achievement rankings. The state’s fourth-graders were 41st in a 1993 comparison of 43 states.

Some board members and the mathematicians they chose to advise them in revamping standards written by an advisory commission blame that dismal showing on approaches used in some schools that downplay the importance of basic skills.

The eighth- through 12th-grade standards the board approved take no position on the state Standards Commission recommendation of blending ideas and skills traditionally taught in separate geometry and algebra courses into “integrated” classes. But board members, saying there is not enough research showing that such an approach would work, left the decision of whether to integrate up to local school districts.