Math

A new report from the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution finds that 120,00 students nationally are enrolled in algebra as eighth graders even though they have math skills comparable to those of the average second grader. That may not sound like a lot of students, but it's nearly 8 percent of all American eighth graders enrolled in algebra courses, and to the extent that these underprepared students are spread across algebra courses with students who are better prepared, their presence may have a negative impact on the quality of algebra instruction offered to a much larger population of students.

Report author Tom Loveless suggests that this finding calls into question the recent policy push, particularly in some high-poverty urban school districts, to enroll increasing numbers of eighth graders (in some cases, all eighth graders) in algebra. But it also highlights the need to get much more serious about improving the quality of math instruction provided to students in the elementary grades. Students arrive in eighth grade doing math at a second grade level only when their elementary schools have seriously failed in teaching them basic math knowledge and skills.

Washington Post reporter Michael Alison Chandler takes a look at math instruction in the early years, as part of a longer Post series on key issues in math instruction. When it comes to early education, policymakers and practitioners often tend to focus on language and literacy, since abundant evidence shows that it's very important for children to develop a strong foundation in language and literacy by third grade. But building foundational math skills in the early years is also important, and the too-often-overlooked subject is getting much needed attention now in the wake of a recent National Math Panel report that emphasized PK-3 math instruction. When it comes to improving children's PK-3 math development, policymakers need to think about several issues, including pre-k access, math focus in early education programs, teacher training, curriculum, and aligning math standards, curriculum, and teaching strategies across the PK-3 years.

The National Mathematics Advisory Panel’s (NMAP) new report on math instruction in America has drawn a lot of press attention. Of the dozens of recommendations outlined in the report one thing is abundantly clear: We need to focus more on building core math skills in the early grades PK-3.

We all know that American high school students are falling behind in math. American 15 year olds rank 25th in math among their peers in the 30 most industrialized nations, according to the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). But another international study, the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), finds that the international math gap starts even earlier: Only 7 percent of U.S. fourth graders achieved the “advanced” level on TIMSS, compared to 38 percent in Singapore.