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VanderVeen recounts the dismal state of college readiness -- unacceptable levels of students needing remediation and the low college completion stats for students that need remedial math (only 27% will earn a bachelor's degree). In 2003, the CB began an effort to define pre-collegiate standards and frameworks that could help coordinate or align middle and high schools with college expectations.
Second, the CB felt they needed "a framework to increase the number and diversity of students who were prepared and ready with the skills they would need to succeed in AP." The CB put together an advisory committee made up of teachers, ed school people, college math teachers, research mathematicians, curriculum specialists, etc.
Here's where things get a little sticky. The CB committee put together a sequence of standards from middle school through pre-calculus. The committe "permuted" those expectations to "offer an alternative framework of six integrated courses to support those states and districts that are using an integrated approach to math education."
Hmm. This has me worried -- is the CB going integrated on us? Worse, VanderVeen goes on to highlight the inclusion of statistics and data analysis in the courses. The purpose is to increase courses outside of a math major -- business, science, health science, and finance. The are looking for a decrease in repetition that is seen in traditional sequences. They have developed very specific standards, although these are not available to us through the ed.gov website.
Specific standards sounds good. Especially if it defines algebraic skills. But part of what CB is doing is "to align to national and state content standards as well as the NSF integrated curriculum." VanderVeen switches gears at this point to discuss extensive surveys of what is taught at the best high schools, where things don't mesh between high school and college. While much of this is interesting, there are no real surprises. High school -- college alignment is pretty poor across the country.
But it's the statistics/data inclusion that raised the most heated exchanges between the panel and VanderVeen. Dr. Loveless starts the questioning and really probes the statistics issue. VanderVeen states that 15% of the math instructional calendar in HS should be devoted to statistics and data analysis.
15%???
Loveless points out that the curriculum is already a mile wide and inch deep. Doesn't this exacerbate the problem. Wu says there aren't 15 days available to add another topic. We don't do the basic stuff well enough as it is. This is "fatal" to math achievement. Vern Williams jumps in:
Maybe one reason why students need more advanced courses to become successful in college is because so many things have been taken out of the basic courses because of the addition of topics like data analysis. I can't understand why data analysis would be a part of a geometry couse. American students are extremely weak in geometry. In many cases, that is the only proof-based course, or at least it used to be a proof-based course, that students get. So, of all places, why sould data analysis be included in geometry?The day ends with this basic dispute hanging.
I've left out a lot of information. The ACT was also there. That could be another post.
But I'm stunned by this. If the CB backs off their high standards in the SAT and AP, where will that leave us? Is the SAT and AP a bellwether for the future of math education? Is this the right direction for US math education and what can we do about it?
7 comments:
Universities have input to the college board and what should be tested. Math professors need to speak up about this. Many already have indicated that data analysis and statistics is not something they rate as having high importance for entering freshmen.
"In 2003, the CB began an effort to define pre-collegiate standards and frameworks that could help coordinate or align middle and high schools with college expectations."
Which college expectations are these? The ones that require the student progress through calculus or differential equations? Or, are they the ones that require only algebra and trig? The pre-college requirements are quite different.
"The purpose is to increase courses outside of a math major -- business, science, health science, and finance."
What are the typical math requirements for these fields? Perhaps they should define three levels of math competence for college and lump the different departments based on the level. For each department, list the math courses they require. What level of competence do they expect for freshmen? What is the highest level math course that has to be taken? It sounds like what they are talking about here is a middle level of expectations, where the incoming freshman need to have mastery of Algebra II.
"offer an alternative framework of six integrated courses to support those states and districts that are using an integrated approach to math education."
OK, but will this fix the problem? If they can't define exactly what the problem is, then they can't fix it. If they look at the remediation courses in college that seem to define the problem, then they would know exactly what skills and knowledge are lacking. Then they have a basis for figuring out what to do in middle and high school.
The key point is that what they are doing is to close doors for students and limit them to a smaller set of departments in college. This is fine if the students (and parents) know what's going on. Unfortunately, we at KTM all know about the surprise parents get when their children are only fit for the "integrated" math track in high school. Also, the problem is not "alignment". It's low expectations of real math knowledge and skills.
"But it's the statistics/data inclusion that raised the most heated exchanges between the panel and VanderVeen."
So, in other words, the problem is that kids need more remediation in data pushing and graphing in college. For the mid-technical-level that they are talking about in college, one of the required courses they probably have to take is a solid statistics course. Which is a more important preparation for the college statistics course, more graph analysis in high school, or solid skills in algebra?
Does any college cover "data analysis" (collecting data and reading graphs) as a main topic in their remedial courses? Does anyone think this will go far in a "killer" college statistics course? By killer, I mean that many college students dread their department's top-end math course. For the mid-technical fields they are talking about, statistics is the one.
"If the CB backs off their high standards in the SAT and AP, where will that leave us?"
Are they backing off on the difficulty of the SAT and AP tests? If so, I would be very worried. It sounds like they are just trying to prepare (align?) kids more for the mid-technical fields. I don't think they are focusing on exactly why the problem exists in the first place. It's not just about content.
Students don't take remedial courses in college because of missing content in high school. If you do well in traditional Algebra II and Trig in high school, there is not much more you need. It's about competence and expectations starting from Kindergarten.
Great questions, Steve.
I think some of the answers -- Which college expectations are these? are found in the power point that we online don't get to see.
Right now, I think CB is talking alignment. BUT, if they set up an aligned curriculum standard that pushes for data analysis in geometry and integrated approaches, it isn't a huge leap to think you might see more of this reflected in AP and the SAT.
The CB is clearly worried about the lack of diversity in AP courses and the performance of minorities on the SAT. The question is, will they solve this problem by pushing for a stronger k-12 curriculum or by watering down their expectations?
In many cases, that is the only proof-based course, or at least it used to be a proof-based course, that students get
For those who think of math as being about calculations, proofs are some sort of wierd vestigal organ. If it's not on the SAT and you don't have to take a harder version of it in college why bother?
"The CB is clearly worried about the lack of diversity in AP courses and the performance of minorities on the SAT."
The diversity problem is not a college alignment problem. It has to do with the hard work of getting the diversity students to the AP courses in the first place. The SAT will take care of itself. I guess I don't understand exactly what problem they are working on? Do they? Students aren't in remedial math courses in college because of alignment issues. And more diversity students won't be in college if there was better alignment.
"it's not on the SAT and you don't have to take a harder version of it in college why bother?"
I don't have a strong opinion about it, but others do. How much of the traditional high school geometry course is taken up with proofs. Is it really a problem?
In college, there are different geometry paths, some of which have little to do with proofs and everything to do with vector and matrix algebra.
There isn't enough information for me to really assess what's going on here, but:
"VanderVeen states that 15% of the math instructional calendar in HS should be devoted to statistics and data analysis."
If VanderVeen got this from surveys, conversations, and his "board" mentioned in the article (nearly all university faculty), a couple of things need to be said.
First, most university faculty are oblivious to what's going on in primary and secondary schools. Even many faculty who have kids in school and are up in arms about their kids' education for some reason seem to believe that it's only going on in their school.
Second, on any university campus, ed schools (and their faculty and students) are a running joke. Very few faculty, unless they're in a position that for some reason puts them in close contact with ed faculty or programs, know what ed people are doing, saying, or care. Put ed people in a faculty gathering and the rest of the faculty tune them out.
Without knowing anything about what is going on in pre-university ed these days, I find it wholly believable that faculty would want their incoming students to be able to critically analyze data -- even though anywhere from a third to half the departments on any campus teach their own statistics and analysis courses. After all, if students came in knowing it, they wouldn't have to teach it.
Oh. And business (and finance, which is part of business and shouldn't therefore have been in the list) is extremely math intensive.
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