Los Angeles Times, Monday, March 15, 1999, [Home Edition], p. 1
(Section A)
Column one headline
Math equals fear at 2-year colleges
For many students, the subject is a nemesis that blocks them
from a career
or transfer to a university
Teachers struggle to provide help
By Jill Leovy, Times Staff Writer
Allis Snyder-Crabb's life plans are stalled in intermediate
algebra. The
Glendale College student has dropped classes, repeated them,
lost time and
money, and still hasn't put algebra behind her.
"I've been in tears, I'm not kidding. I've broken dishes over
mathematics,"
said Snyder-Crabb, an aspiring English teacher. "I see it as
standing in the
way of my academic success, my career - everything I wish to
accomplish.
I'm 30, and I want to move on with my life, and math is blocking
my way."
Snyder-Crabb is part of what Glendale College math instructor
Peter Stathis
calls the math "bottleneck" in California community colleges.
Of all academic subjects, math is the biggest barrier to student
advancement. It is the subject with the lowest student success
rates and
highest "drop" rates-the subject most feared and most postponed
by
students.
"I would have a two-year degree in business administration right
now but for
math," said Sam Shabot, who is struggling through beginning
algebra at West
L.A. College. Shabot has repeated courses and even switched
schools in his
desperation to complete the course. "Math is killing me," he
said.
State community colleges, home to 75% of post-secondary
students, claim a
diverse student population that includes a share of
university-qualified
students and math whizzes. But above all, community colleges are
the domain
of the C student, the immigrant and the late bloomer.
They come seeking a leg up the social ladder, or a second chance
at
universities, only to hit a wall in a lowly algebra course.
Standardized tests for years have revealed the low level of math
achievement in U.S. schoolchildren. But it is in community
colleges that
the human cost is visible in tears of frustration, wasted time
and deferred
careers.
Students who can't get past community college math classes-and
about 47%
don't the first time - are not just weeded out from medicine or
science.
They are held back from entering universities, and from such
relatively
modest careers as preschool teachers, office administrators, art
teachers
and counselors.
"They are trying so hard, but nothing makes any sense," said
West L.A.
College math instructor Mary J. McMaster. "I feel like I'm
teaching in a
foreign language."
The bottleneck is forcing many colleges to reassess math
offerings. Several
have added slower or learn-at-your-own pace courses, tutoring
and math labs
to help students study.
Instructors drill 23-year-olds in how to add and subtract
fractions,
multiply decimals and combine negative numbers. They lecture
students on
how to study and even teach classes in conquering math anxiety.
Sid Kolpas, a Glendale College instructor, teaches such a class.
The
sessions are draining because they "are like psychotherapy
sessions," he said.
"I hear so many tears and horror stories. After I teach it, I
want to crawl
in a corner somewhere."
Students complain about exams and throw tantrums during office
hours.
Counselors face a parade of would-be transfer students with the
same problem -
they've taken every class they need except math. Instructors
resist
pressure to dumb down their classes, as aggravated students
blame math for
holding them back.
Reina Arriega, 36, started to cry as she explained how she
failed her first
attempt at arithmetic at East L.A. College. "I was devastated,"
she said.
"They said no counting on fingers, no using calculators. I had
to drop the
class."
The Cal State system, in response to low math scores, recently
tightened
entrance restrictions, forcing transfer students to complete
their math
requirements before moving to the university level.
Because community colleges must take essentially all comers,
they face a
more profound educational gap than Cal State. Only 4% of Los
Angeles
Community College District students test at college levels in
math on
placement exams; that is, above the level of intermediate
algebra.
Of the remainder, 42% are deemed ready for intermediate algebra
classes,
and 54% deemed ready only for beginning algebra or below. "It's
a massive
problem," said Stathis, math division chairman at Glendale
College.
Placing the Blame
Experts offer a variety of explanations for the problem:
increasing math
requirements at college levels, poor study skills among
students, an erosion
of the depth of math instruction. Most also agree that math is
intrinsically
hard, and a subject that seems to fade especially rapidly from
people's
memories.
But other researchers and teachers put the blame squarely on
K-12 schools
for allowing large numbers of students to graduate - the vast
middle - with
insufficient math preparation.
"If I knew it was going to be like this, I would have taken high
school
more seriously," said Patricia Duenas, a South Gate High School
graduate
studying at East L.A. College.
Duenas, 20, wants to be an elementary school teacher. But in the
course of
getting her associate degree, she failed algebra, a subject she
had taken
in high school. She took the college course, got a C, took the
next course in
the series - the last she needed to transfer - dropped that
class and is
now taking it again. All told, math has cost her four extra
semesters of classes. San
Francisco State professor Dan Fendel blames the state's "very
severe tracking
system," which labels schoolchildren as gifted or not,
college-bound or
not. In the end, many kids relegated to lower rungs progress
through grades without
learning critical lessons.
Shabot, the West L.A. College student stalled in algebra, said
in high
school he was categorized as, "a low-track person" and was
placed in remedial
classes where he learned no algebra. "I was definitely a
beneficiary of social
promotion," he said. "But I am suffering now."
Algebra is required for an associate degree and some vocational
certificates
at most community colleges. One course above intermediate
algebra is required
to transfer to many four-year schools. Students must receive a
grade of C or
better in classes.
Don Miller, a student at Glendale Community College, is one of
many who
want to transfer to a university but can't because of the new
policy that he
complete his math requirements.
Math has blocked his way before: Thirteen years ago, it drove
him from
Pasadena Community College.
"I gave up on math before because I wasn't winning, and I'm not
winning
yet," said Miller, 32.
Miller said he received virtually no algebra instruction in high
school.
"It's to the point of frustration ..." he said, trailing off.
"It's like,
what can I do?"
After years of working in customer service at banks, Miller is
seeking a
bachelor's degree in psychology to fulfill his dream of becoming
a
counselor for teenage runaways. But because he is not passing
elementary
algebra, the job he seeks may be out of reach.
Quality Control
The state has taken some steps to improve its math instruction
in K-12,
said Doug Stone, spokesman for the state Department of
Education.
In 1997, the board passed new standards for algebra and more
advanced math
courses, and spelled out the skills students should acquire by
the seventh
grade. The controversial standards, which emphasize basic
computation and
correct answers, was seen as a departure from a decade-old trend
toward
teaching math concepts and using games to make the subject more
accessible
to students.
Proposals for high school exit exams may also help boost math
proficiency,
Stone said. But efforts to require algebra and geometry as a
condition of
graduation throughout the state have so far failed.
One obstacle to improving math instruction in high schools is
the shortage
of qualified teachers: More than a quarter of high school math
classes are
taught by teachers who are not credentialed in the subject.
Students have a good chance of making up for lost time if they
put in the
time and colleges develop programs to help them get through,
Stathis said.
In the community colleges, instructors are well qualified to
teach math, and
unlike their counterparts at universities, can devote time to
teaching without
publishing pressures.
Glendale instructors meet weekly to discuss the issue, and have
seen
success rates improve by about 5% in recent years. The college
is also
trying to start a new program to discourage students from
putting off their
math requirements.
Sometimes, the biggest difference is simply connecting with the
right teacher.
Arriega, the East L.A. student who couldn't do arithmetic,
credits one
instructor, Rahim Faradineh, with helping her get through the
class on a
second try. Snyder-Crabb, the would-be English teacher, said
Glendale's
Kolpas helped her control her fears. But she is still worried
about passing
the two additional classes she needs to transfer to a
university.
Shabot has half a dozen math classes still ahead of him for the
bachelor's
degree in real estate and land-use planning that he hopes to
earn. But the
remaining classes loom before him like a daunting mountain of
math.
"I mean this stuff-it's ninth grade!" he said, gesturing toward
his open
math book during a study session. The page is covered with
problems to
solve for X. "If I had learned what I was supposed to, I
wouldn't have this
problem now."
Math Block
Success rates in math are the lowest among eight of the largest
disciplines
at community colleges. Only 52.3% of students in fall of 1997
completed
math courses with a grade of C or better.*
----------
*Successful Course Completion in Credit Classes
Source: California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office,
January 1999
************************************************
Jerry P. Becker
Dept. of Curriculum & Instruction
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, IL 62901-4610 USA
Fax: (618)453-4244
Phone: (618)453-4241 (office)
E-mail: jbecker@siu.edu < jbecker@siu.edu >
****************************************************************************
* To post to the list: email mathedcc@archives.math.utk.edu *
* To unsubscribe, send mail to: majordomo@archives.math.utk.edu *
* In the mail message, enter ONLY the words: unsubscribe mathedcc *
* Words in the Subject: line are NOT processed! *
* Archives at http://archives.math.utk.edu/hypermail/mathedcc/ *
****************************************************************************