Math Article Short on Facts I really enjoyed reading your blog in the Seattle PI. Your article on Reform Math) in March’s Seattle’s Child is short on accurate facts. I believe that readers of the article, rather than being informed, will be confused.
That 60 percent passing score applies only when some members of the class have had several WASL math retakes.
The passing rate on the initial Spring WASL for 10th graders in 2005, 2006 and 2007 are as follows: 2005 = 47.5 percent 2006 = 51.0 percent 2007 = 50.4 percent (These scores include 10th graders that passed the WASL in grade 9).
The above research required two minutes on the OSPI (Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction) Web site (www.k12.wa.us). I believe your article needs immediate modification.
It is incredible that in addition to using the 60 percent figure, you called into question Ms. Wright’s 50 percent figure.
In regard to Dr. Warfield, there is very little in the way of objective research that will support the efficacy of her positions. The last decade of decline in math skills should be sufficient evidence of the folly in her position.
The USA’s PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) math scores are still in free fall. Only 22 percent of recent high school graduates can place into a college level math class at Seattle Central Community College (average of four recent years which was fairly stable from year to year) and a full 50 percent of the recently graduated entering students could not place above the equivalent of High School Math One.
A full one third of entering ninth graders in Seattle’s high schools were unable to score above math level 1 on their 8th grade Math WASL. They are Math “Clueless.” Grade level promotion in the Seattle Schools appears in most cases to require only the ability to breathe.
I urge you to start looking at relevant data – rather than promoting the unsupportable positions of Dr. Warfield, et al. I call these positions unsupportable because there is not data to support them. If there was any data, surely the two expensive glossy documents called “Research That Matters 4: Closing the Gap” and “Research That Matters 5: Taking Measure, Does Modern Math Education Add Up?” produced by the UW College of Education over the last two years would contain some data. They do not.
A good place to begin researching this math education topic from a data driven perspective would be my blog at The Math Underground, http://mathunderground.blogspot.com/.
Danaher M. Dempsey Jr. NCLB highly qualified in Math, Chemistry, Science SBE Math Panelist Teacher at Alternative for Individuals High School Clover Park School District
Editor's Note: The original Educating Mom column on Reform Math in the March 2008 issue of Seattle's Child listed only the 37 percent failure rate (63 percent passing rate) on the math portion of the WASL for seniors graduating in 2007. This passing rate includes those who passed the first time, in the 10th grade, and those who passed on re-takes. This letter writer thinks a more telling statistic would be the 49.6 percent failure rate (50.4 percent passing rate) for 10th graders taking the test for the first time in 2007. Both statistics are correct, but they are comparing different groups of students. Taking Mr. Dempsey's advice, we have now included both statistics from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction in the Web version of the article.
