Raise the Teaching, and the Expectations
On Wednesday, two milestones, both significant to me, will occur. On that day, I will officially become a senior citizen. On the same day, the scores from the first administration of the Standardized Testing and Reporting program, commonly known as the Stanford 9 or STAR test, will be posted on the Internet. I suspect I will not like the thought of turning 55, and will not like the math scores achieved by California schoolchildren, which I expect to be poor.
I could easily have predicted both events some time ago. That cinematic swoosh of calendar pages is inexorable, and the results of the recent National Assessment of Education Progress test and the Third International Math and Science Study--comparison math tests--have been disheartening.
California is near the bottom in a country that is near the bottom in the world. Low STAR scores merely would confirm what we already know: California children have been subjected to educational fads for too long, and the test scores show it.
I can’t do much about the birthday, but California can use the math scores in the positive way envisioned when the test was proposed--as a beginning benchmark for raising student achievement.
Some teachers have complained that the test is too difficult for their students. I even have heard the word “inappropriate” bandied about. Difficult for many? Yes. That’s what we expect based on the TIMSS and NAEP results. But inappropriate? Not at all, unless one believes California students are somehow born less intelligent or grow up more slowly than their peers in other states and throughout the industrialized world.
The California mathematics standards reflect the international norm, and the test is aligned to those standards. They don’t point to where our students are now; they point to where they ought to be. Look at the sample problems that are posted on the Internet at https://www.mathematicallycorrect.com/star99.htm. These are straightforward, honest mathematics. The algebra 2 problem posted is something my ninth-grade algebra 1 students could have solved easily when I taught junior high school 20 years ago. If our students can’t do these problems, our response should be to improve teaching and learning so that they eventually can.
Students, take heart. This test does not count against you. It won’t show up in your grades or be a consideration for promotion or graduation. Think of the valuable service you have performed--providing a datum (starting point) by which your state can gauge future student performance. If your personal standard is offended by your score, grab a good math book and bone up. Fads and frills in education come and go, but hard work and study always pay off.
Teachers, take heart, too. These tests are difficult, but not out of the reach of prepared students. You will be happy to learn that, this time, the state has not just thrown out a challenge and failed to support you. This time, it is being done right. The standards were adopted in December 1997. Since then, the state board and Department of Education have prepared and adopted a no-nonsense curriculum framework, geared to helping you teach the standards, with suggestions for effective teaching during the difficult transition period.
Even better, two generous governors have provided ample funding, in order to allow schools to purchase new textbooks and other materials aligned with the standards. The state board and the Department of Education have recently gone through a grueling book evaluation, in record time, so that aligned texts might be available in time for the 1999-2000 school year. They will be.
If I am lucky, I’ll grow even older during the next few years. And if I’m really lucky, while I do so I can watch the steady improvement of school math scores in California. It’s time for everyone to quit complaining and start pulling together for the sake of our children’s future.
