What the Scores Tell Us

Math proved to be California’s best subject on this year’s Stanford 9 exam, accounting for the highest overall scores and the biggest statewide gains since the test was introduced two years ago.

All grades enjoyed solid performances in math, but it was the youngest students who led the way.

Third-graders showed the most progress: 56% of them reached the national average on the exam compared with 40% two years ago, an increase of 16 percentage points.

Similarly, 57% of second-graders met the national average--an increase of 14 percentage points over the two-year period.

Results tapered off somewhat in the upper grades: 48% of 11th-graders reached the national average--an increase of 5 percentage points since 1998.

State education officials said the math gains in the lower grades--along with smaller improvements in reading--were the result of an aggressive return to basic skills instruction in the two core subjects and vigorous professional development.

“We gave our elementary educators across the state intensive training in how you teach mathematics,” said Delaine Eastin, the state superintendent of public instruction.

California’s schools began to reemphasize basic skills instruction in reading and math about five years ago, but the pace intensified after new standards were adopted in 1997 for what children should know at each grade level.

The new math standards played down the use of calculators for young students and stressed the importance of mastering computational skills that underlie math concepts.

Second-graders, for example, are expected to learn the multiplication tables for the numbers 2, 5 and 10, while third-graders are expected to know the tables all the way up to 10.

Millions of dollars have been poured into new textbooks and teacher training programs that reflect the standards, which experts say most closely reflect the test in the lower grades.

“If you are a teacher and you do a good job of teaching the standards, your children will do superbly on the Stanford 9 because it is a basic skills test,” said Janet Nicholas, an economist and former state Board of Education member who has reviewed the exam. “The test is much easier than the standards.”

Some math educators, while applauding the test gains, question whether the results will be sustained in years to come.

The skepticism reflects an ongoing divide among educators about how best to teach math. Some educators believe the emphasis on basic skills means students are not learning to think conceptually. Without concepts, students will not be able to solve complex problems.

“Feeding back rote information out of context only works for a short period of time,” said Elizabeth Sullivan, president-elect of the California Mathematics Council and director of curriculum and instruction for the Fresno County Office of Education. “If you teach the skills in isolation, you never give children the chance to apply them to something they understand.”

Although most experts called the lower-grade gains substantial and real, some said the smaller increases in the upper grades probably resulted from test preparation and familiarity.

“You have [older] students who have never mastered basic skills,” said David Klein, a math professor at Cal State Northridge. “No matter how skilled the teacher or how good the materials, there are limits to how good the students can do because there are limits to what the students know.”

Still, Klein and others marveled at the increases in the lower grades. Teachers and administrators at Los Angeles County schools with big gains said they paid close attention to the standards.

Beverly James, principal of Niemes Elementary in Artesia, said her teachers examined their test data for the last two years to uncover strengths and weaknesses. Then the teachers looked carefully at the state math standards and made sure daily lessons reflected the grade level expectations. Teams of teachers meet each week to discuss their progress.

All the attention paid off.

Niemes has seen a huge increase in the percentage of its students meeting the national average: 61% met the mark this year, a 33 percentage point increase over two years ago.

“We look carefully to make sure our daily lessons are including all the skills required by the state,” James said. “Where the teachers see gaps, they develop materials and lessons and share ideas for filling them.”

The school’s progress, and its ambitious reading drive this year that had its students reading millions of pages, drew Gov. Gray Davis for a visit Monday.