Tag: Math

Commentary: Dual Enrollment Is a Homeschool Resource

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Mom and daughter learning

This year marks the completion of high school for two of my children. Navigating the high school years has been both exciting and challenging. By the time our children had reached high school age, two things were apparent. First, homeschooling had allowed my kids to find and pursue their special interests—ones that had future career potential.

Second, while mastery of most subjects had been relatively easy, math and science were a bit more difficult. Despite overall higher testing outcomes within the homeschool community, there is a documented math gap for many homeschoolers. In other words, most homeschoolers score slightly lower than their non-homeschooled peers in math and science. (This is understandable, of course: I don’t know many mothers qualified to teach high-level math or science, and most of us don’t want our kitchens being turned into chemistry labs.)

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Report: Wisconsin Choice Schools Score Better in Reading, Math

The Center Square
School Work

The latest report on school choice in Wisconsin again shows choice schools outperform public schools in Milwaukee’s biggest cities and rural areas.

The Apples to Apples report from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty compares proficiency rates in math and English language arts in public schools, charter schools and private schools part of Wisconsin’s voucher program.

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Commentary: Charter Schools Rise to the Challenge

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Due to pandemic-related issues, declining birthrates, inferior education, radical curricula, etc., government-run schools are bleeding students. Whereas traditional public schools (TPS) had 50.8 million students enrolled in 2019, the number had shrunk to 49.4 million one year later. The federal government now projects that public school enrollment will fall even further – to 47.3 million – by 2030, an almost 7% drop in 11 years.

Where are the kids going? The U.S. Census Bureau reports that families are moving to private schools and setting up home schools at a great rate. But what can parents do if they can’t home-school or afford a private school and there are no educational freedom laws on the books? Their option then would be charter schools, which are independently operated public schools of choice that aren’t shackled by the litany of rules and regs that TPS are encumbered with and, importantly, are rarely unionized.

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Poll: Americans Say Schools Should Focus on Math, Reading, and Writing

The Center Square

A large majority of voters say that public schools should focus on the basics – math, reading, writing, science and social studies – to improve the quality of public education in the country.

That’s according to the latest The Center Square’s Voters’ Voice poll conducted in late October in conjunction with Noble Predictive Insights. The poll of 2,605 likely voters includes 1,035 Republicans, 1,074 Democrats, and 496 true Independents, and is among the most comprehensive in the country.

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Zero Students Proficient in Math at 40 Percent of Baltimore High Schools

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Not a single student is proficient in math at 40% of Baltimore public high schools in the spring of 2023, according to state exam results obtained by Fox45.

Nearly 2,000 students took the state math exam across the 13 schools with no proficient students. Of the students who took the exam at those schools, 74.5% of them received the lowest possible score, Fox45 reported.

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Former Mississippi Governor Points to Success of Legislation Leading State’s Fourth-Graders to Become Top Reading and Math Achievers

Susan Berry, PhD

Former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) is celebrating the “comeback story” of his state’s fourth graders, who ranked on 2022 national test scores as the nation’s top performers in reading, and second in math, following the enactment of literacy legislation he spearheaded that saved the state from its “dead-last ranking in the United States.”

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Middle School Math Scores See Biggest Drop in 50 Years

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Math test scores for 13-year-old students have plummeted by the largest drop ever recorded in 50 years, according to a Wednesday report.

Between 2020 and 2023, 13-year-old students’ math scores dropped nine points and the students’ reading scores dropped four points, according to test data from the National Center for Education Statistics, better known as the “Nation’s Report Card.” The latest set of data demonstrates the learning loss students have suffered as a result of education disruptions, such as remote schooling, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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NYC Teachers Union Gets Massive Pay Raise as Student Math Scores Plummet

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The New York City teachers union struck a deal Monday guaranteeing a large pay raise in their new contract with the city while students’ math test scores continue to plummet, according to Reuters.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and the United Federation of Teachers agreed to a $6.4 billion, five-year contract that includes a 15% pay raise for teachers over the period of the contract, according to Reuters. The new contract comes as just 38% of the city’s third through eighth graders met math grade-level expectations in 2022, an almost eight point decline from 2019, according to the Chalkbeat New York.

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Report: Wisconsin Schools Directing Largest Share of Federal COVID Aid to Construction Projects

M.D. Kittle

A new report shows Wisconsin schools are marking a significant amount for federal COVID relief on construction projects, outpacing planned pandemic aid for core educational and mental health programs.  

The Institute for Reforming Government’s updated K-12 COVID relief Audit found some $265 million of the current $1.49 billion in taxpayer funds allocated is going to construction.

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Not One Student Proficient in Math in 10 Minneapolis, St. Paul Public Schools: Report

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At least 10 elementary and high schools in the Minneapolis Public School District and St. Paul Public School District in Minnesota, did not have a single student meet grade level expectations in math during the 2021-2022 school year, according to a Wednesday report by the Center of the American Experiment, an organization focused on state public policy.

State wide, 19 school districts did not have one student test proficient in math on the 2022 Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment, a standardized test used to determine what students have learned, according to a Center of the American Experiment report. Of elementary schools in the Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts, seven did not have a single student meeting grade level expectations in math.

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Not a Single Student Is Proficient in Reading or Math at 55 Chicago Schools: Report

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In 55 Chicago Public Schools, not one student met grade level expectations in either math or reading during the 2021-2022 school year, according to a Wirepoints report.

Out of 649 Chicago Public Schools, 22 schools have zero students who met grade level expectations for reading while no students were proficient in math in 33 schools during the 2021-2022 school year, according to a Wirepoints report. The data analyzed is from the Illinois State Board of Education annual report which details how schools within the state are performing.

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Not One Student Met Grade-Level Expectations for Math in 23 Baltimore Schools: Report

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In 23 Baltimore City Schools, zero students tested proficient in math in 2022, according to a report by Project Baltimore.

Through an analysis of 150 Baltimore City Schools, 23 of them, including 10 high schools, eight elementary schools, three high schools and two middle schools, no students met math grade-level expectations, according to a report by Project Baltimore. Approximately 2,000 students took the state administered math exams that tested proficiency levels.

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Commentary: Large Racial Reading and Math Performance Gaps Persist as Children Age

RealClearWire

The dominant response to the recently-released NAEP Report Card on 4th and 8th grade proficiency scores has been to focus on the adverse effects of school closures: declining competencies, particularly for the lowest performing students. What is buried in the report is the continued alarmingly low black student scores on both reading and math sections and their inability to close the racial gap as they move from the 4th to 8th grade.

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Analysis Shows Some Tennessee Students Lost Months of Learning Between 2019 and 2022

The Center Square

A new analysis of data from the Nation’s Report Card shows that Tennessee students lost, on average, what equals five months of math learning between 2019 and 2022 while the state’s students lost four months of reading learning.

The Education Recovery Scorecard, from researchers at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University and Stanford University’s Educational Opportunity Project, includes interactive district-level learning loss information from across the state of Tennessee and the country.

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Gov. DeSantis: Nation’s Report Card Scores Show Keeping Schools Open the Right Decision

The Center Square

The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) rankings indicate that Florida students are “well ahead of their peers, especially with younger and educationally at-risk students who were harmed the most from distance-learning in other states,” the governor said.

“We insisted on keeping schools open and guaranteed in-person learning in 2020 because we knew there would be widespread harm to our students if students were locked out,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said. The results, he said, “once again prove that we made the right decision.”

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Ohio Scores Fall in Math, Reading for Both Fourth Graders, Eighth Graders

The Center Square

Ohio recorded three-year decreases in scoring across the board for fourth graders and eighth graders in math and reading, respectively, according to a national study released this week.

The Nation’s Report Card, a product of the National Assessment of Educational Progress which began producing the report in 1969, cited an overall trend of decline in the United States. It comes in the COVID-19 era, when schools were closed by governments and students scrambled to learn remotely or get back into classrooms.

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Tennessee Says Students Upped English, Math Scores After 2022 Assessment

Peter D'Abrosca

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) says that its students have rebounded after the COVID-19 pandemic, and that Math and English Language Arts (ELA) scores increased in the 2021-2022 school year. 

“Results from the 2021-22 TCAP assessments show that elementary students significantly improved their ELA scores and are performing at a level similar to pre-pandemic years,” said a TDOE press release. “Additionally, improved performance in math was evident for Tennessee students of all ages. Every student group showed an increase in proficiency as demonstrated on the 2022 TCAP assessments.”

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16 Michigan Schools Get $205,028 for STEM

The Center Square

Sixteen Michigan schools have been awarded $205,028 to develop Great Lakes-based science, technology, engineering, and math – STEM – programs.

“These grants will support freshwater literacy programs and offer students access to real world STEM experiences,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. “Our Great Lakes are our greatest asset, and we must empower young Michiganders to learn more about them and continue advancing conservation efforts. Michigan’s economic competitiveness depends on a workforce proficient in STEM and committed to solving our biggest challenges. Investments like these will help prepare our kids to lead our state into the future.”

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Minnesota Department of Education Proposed Academic Standards Emphasize ‘Cultural Perspectives’ in Math

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For the 2021-22 school year, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) has been conducting a review and revision of its K-12 academic standards in mathematics as required by state law.

The math standards committee is comprised of 39 people — including parents, teachers, school administrators, school board members, university faculty, and members of the business community — from “varying perspectives and backgrounds.” One of their most notable revisions emphasizes Native American “representations” in public school math courses.

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Detroit Schools Reach New Contract with Union

The Center Square
Terrence Martin and

The Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD), Michigan’s largest public education system responsible for educating 51,000 children, has reached a new agreement with the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) Local 231 on a two-year successor contract before starting the ’21-22 school year.

DPSCD Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti and DFT President Terrance Martin agreed to terms on August 26, and DFT members ratified the agreement on September 1.

In August, the unit reached a safe reopening plan outlining the safety guidelines, additional hazards, and blended learning bonuses.

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The Human History of Counting and Numbers

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by Peter Schumer   The history of math is murky, predating any written records. When did humans first grasp the basic concept of a number? What about size and magnitude, or form and shape? In my math history courses and my research travels in Guatemala, Egypt and Japan, I’ve been especially interested in the commonality and differences of mathematics from various cultures. Although no one knows math’s exact origins, modern mathematicians like myself know that spoken language precedes written language by scores of millennia. Linguistic clues show how people around the world must have first developed mathematical thought. Early clues Differences are easier to comprehend than similarities. The ability to distinguish more versus less, male versus female or short versus tall must be very ancient concepts. But the concept of different objects sharing a common attribute – such as being green or round or the idea that a single rabbit, a solitary bird and one moon all share the attribute of uniqueness – is far subtler. In English, there are many different words for two, like “duo,” “pair” and “couple,” as well as very particular phrases such as “team of horses” or “brace of partridge.” This suggests that the mathematical concept…

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More Than 2,000 People Fail North Carolina Math Exam to Become Licensed Teachers

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by Neetu Chandak   An education standards commission in North Carolina unanimously voted to phase out a portion of a teaching licensing test as about 2,400 teachers failed the math exam. The commission voted to replace for-profit Pearson publishing company’s math test with a math exam from Praxis, created by nonprofit test provider Educational Testing Service (ETS). The standards commission consists of educators, administrators and those working in colleges, The Charlotte Observer reported Tuesday. Those against the Pearson math test say the exam requires middle- and high school-level math skills, often not used when teaching younger kids. Pearson math test supporters, however, believe teachers need to understand higher-level math to prepare those in the lower grade levels, according to the Observer. The standards commission will share its recommendations with the North Carolina Board of Education (NCBOE) in January. The option to take the Praxis math test instead of Pearson’s could begin as early as February if the guidelines pass with the NCBOE, the Observer reported. “We’ve got teachers who are taking that same Pearson (math exam) over and over and over and are not passing, and the cost’s coming out of their pockets at $35,000 a year for a beginning teacher,” Glenda Jones, an assistant superintendent in Cabarrus County…

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More Than 2,000 People Fail North Carolina Math Exam to Become Licensed Teachers

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by Neetu Chandak   An education standards commission in North Carolina unanimously voted to phase out a portion of a teaching licensing test as about 2,400 teachers failed the math exam. The commission voted to replace for-profit Pearson publishing company’s math test with a math exam from Praxis, created by nonprofit test provider Educational Testing Service (ETS). The standards commission consists of educators, administrators and those working in colleges, The Charlotte Observer reported Tuesday. Those against the Pearson math test say the exam requires middle- and high school-level math skills, often not used when teaching younger kids. Pearson math test supporters, however, believe teachers need to understand higher-level math to prepare those in the lower grade levels, according to the Observer. The standards commission will share its recommendations with the North Carolina Board of Education (NCBOE) in January. The option to take the Praxis math test instead of Pearson’s could begin as early as February if the guidelines pass with the NCBOE, the Observer reported. “We’ve got teachers who are taking that same Pearson (math exam) over and over and over and are not passing, and the cost’s coming out of their pockets at $35,000 a year for a beginning teacher,” Glenda Jones, an assistant superintendent in Cabarrus County…

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