Middle school math classes find right mix

New approaches push test scores up

Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2009

Math class time in middle school has doubled in recent years and teachers have adjusted their methods, using a new series of textbooks and accompanying material.

Dramatic increases in Maryland School Assessment scores in the county have resulted from these changes, and from gearing instruction to individual students' needs, said Alex Jaffurs, supervisor of math instruction for St. Mary's public schools.

"They all know they are important, they all know that they can learn," sixth-grade teacher Bernadette Scheetz said of her students.

The Esperanza Middle School teacher said she celebrates even the smallest successes with her students, which leads to increased confidence and more success. She also gets to know each student, including their hobbies, what their home life is like and what their academic strengths and weaknesses are.

"It's basically like making a quilt,' Scheetz said. "It takes a whole lot of little pieces to make a quilt and you have to pull those all together."

County math scores in grades six, seven and eight have skyrocketed since the test results were first reported in 2004, increasing about 33 points in sixth and seventh grades and 41 points in eighth grade.

More students are scoring at the advanced level on the tests, too.

This year St. Mary's middle schools ranked sixth in the state among the 24 school jurisdictions.

The overall middle school pass rate of 82.1 percent this year is about 11 points higher than the state rate.

Bonnie Beavan has taught math at Spring Ridge Middle School since 2003, just before the MSAs came into being. She attributed the gains in middle school math scores to the 90-minute blocks of math most middle school students have each day and building students' confidence.

"We went from 45 minutes of math to 90 minutes of math instruction. I think that made a huge difference," Beavan said.

The extra time allowed teachers to "fill in holes and gaps through reviewing," she said.

Probably about half or a little more than half of the 90 minutes is spent on new concepts, she said, while the remainder of the time is devoted to reviewing old concepts, called recursive teaching.

"It's not just the academic effect, it's the relationships that are built in these 90-minute periods," Jaffurs said.

"There's a comfort level that's forged and developed," between students and their teachers, he said. "When you have that sort of comfort level, great things happen."

Students are more familiar with the tests, which does lead to better test-takers, Beavan said.

"I'm sure they are becoming better test-takers. [However,] I don't think that's the reason they're more successful. There is more instruction going on in the classroom," she said.

The school system last year adopted new math textbooks for all grades at a cost of $1.2 million. The new middle school math books, called Math Connects, are aligned by content from fourth through eighth grades.

"I like them a lot," Beavan said, adding that the students seemed to like them, too. The books are accessible online, something students seem to use when doing homework.

Another recent change in St. Mary's and throughout Maryland is a push for more students, if not all students, to take algebra by the eighth grade.

Having the algebraic and pre-algebraic concepts early can help students better understand math, educators said.

Every grade at each middle school went up in MSA math scores from last year except for one slight decline at Margaret Brent Middle.

Esperanza's eighth grade posted the largest increase at 11.8 percent over the previous year; however, each of the middle schools had jumps at or near 10 points in at least one grade.

Since the tests started, Spring Ridge Middle School has made some of the largest gains, with the number of students passing the MSA rising nearly 30 percent in the last two years in grades seven and eight.

Leonardtown Middle School's sixth grade broke the 90 percent pass rate barrier, the first of any St. Mary's middle school class to accomplish this since the tests began five years ago.

The gains over the last few years are "nothing short of staggering," Jaffurs said. "Our teachers, first and foremost should be commended for the sharp gains."

But some problem areas still persist. Countywide, only about half of special education seventh and eighth graders passed the math assessments last year.

Margaret Brent and Spring Ridge special education students did not meet their state goals, known as adequate yearly progress, in math.

African-American students in seventh and eighth grade across the county did not meet the goals either.

For teachers, these indicators mean they must focus instruction even more on individual students.

"Good instruction is good instruction for anybody, no matter ethnicity or race," Beavan said.

Jaffurs said that teachers use an eclectic mix of teaching tools, including the new textbooks and other materials they feel work well.

"We don't teach the text, we teach the topic," he said.

He said the new textbooks are "the last piece of the puzzle we've been looking for." It's the other resources that come with the textbooks, including note-taking guides and workbooks, that are pushing students' scores to the top, he said.

For the next school year, he has asked teachers to use workbooks that correspond with the texts, especially for special education students and others who struggled with the assessments.

Also, the school system is buying nearly 100 high-tech Smart boards for middle school math classes.

jyeatman@somdnews.com