Why do Bad Algebra Grades Happen to Good Students?
Sponsored by Mathnasium of Southlake
By Meredith Jones, Center Director Mathnasium of Southlake
Differentiatingbrcurriculum in a classroom has always been a challenge for teachers, especiallybrthose teaching math. Every student is unique and comprehends math in his or herbrown way. Although it is imperative to develop a strong foundation in thebrelementary and intermediate grades, not all students are able to do so. Thisbrleads to a concept that we at Mathnasium call “Algebra Too Soon.”
In first throughbrfourth grades, students are expected to develop strong arithmetic andbrproblem-solving skills. Their journey includes counting, addition, place value,brsubtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals and one-, two-, andbrmulti-step problem solving. Some of thebrmain foundation gaps that occur are in the areas of addition and subtraction bybrway of “finger counting,” “touch counting” or “tally counting.” Students rely on these methods and neverbrtruly memorize their math facts. Unfortunately, this problem is not limited tobrhindering solely their math facts; rather, it leaks over to their problem solving,brmultiplication, division and other skill areas.
In fifth throughbreighth grades, students are expected to further develop their problem-solvingbrskills, proportional thinking and algebraic number sense. Their journeybrincludes percents, fractions, decimals, proportions, solving equations and integers.brAs in the elementary grades, foundation gaps occur for many reasons — one ofbrthe main reasons being that material is being presented to the students toobrquickly, especially for students still struggling to fill in gaps frombrelementary school.
In today's society,brthe spirit of competition is alive and well. Students not only compete on thebrfield but also off the field — in the classroom. They are being presented withbra large undertaking by attempting to get ahead and work at an accelerated level,brsometimes combining two years' material into only one year. Although somebrstudents are fully capable of doing this, many are not. There are many argumentsbrfor and against this method of acceleration. One argument against this conceptbris that of a student's maturity level in the intermediate and middle schoolbrgrades and whether they can accept the responsibility of a compressedbrcurriculum and extra work in their classes. Although the method might work forbrcertain capable students, it is also expanding the already large number ofbrstudents who are rushed into Algebra too soon, leaving them with majorbrfoundation gaps that inhibit them from succeeding in their Algebra Ibrclass.
If foundation gaps arebrnot addressed, they deteriorate confidence and future success like a cavity inbra tooth, becoming deeper and more painful if concepts not mastered are leftbrunaddressed. Unfortunately, I see many students come to Mathnasium who made A'sbrin their previous math classes but have no idea how to solve the problemsbrbecause they never mastered the underlying concept. A student may be able tobrmemorize how to do certain types of questions, but they do not necessarilybrunderstand why their steps lead them to their answer in the first place. We wantbrto make sure every student understands what he or she is doing and why they arebrdoing it; we call this number sense. Whether a student is in second or 12thgrade, they need to feel comfortable in their math class at school, developingbrnumber sense and mastering the concepts, not just the questions.
So, where doesbrMathnasium fit in for a child's overall pattern of math education? Schools arebrthe primary education provider; Mathnasium is a supplemental educationbrprovider. As a supplemental education provider, Mathnasium is structured as abrlearning center rather than a tutorial service. A tutor's job is to help abrstudent get through tonight's homework and Friday's test. Mathnasium doesbrprovide a degree of support in terms of homework and upcoming tests. However,brour primary role as a learning center is to delve into the reasons why tonight’sbrhomework is such a huge issue. Usually, this requires overcoming a series ofbrknowledge gaps, as discussed above, that students have incurred over the years.
Nearly every studentbrwe assess has some gaps. They are anywhere from six months to several yearsbrbehind. As a learning center, our role at Mathnasium is strategic: a long-termbrproposition. Our job is to ferret out those gaps and then supplement students'breducation by filling in those gaps over time and providing a deeper foundation.brThis is why our assessment process is so important; it helps us pinpoint thesebrgaps and provides us with a foundation on which we build the student's programbrat Mathnasium. It's important to keep this long-term objective in mind. If webrjust worked on tonight's homework, we might get through it and help them comebrup with the answers, but we wouldn't be teaching these kids anything in thebrlong run. We could give the students a fish for dinner, or we could teach thembrhow to fish so that they may have dinner for a lifetime.
Quite simply, we don'tbroffer a quick fix. In extreme cases, the student may be so far behind that itbris not possible to salvage this year's math grade. We must focus on getting thebrchild caught up. Ultimately, taking the long-term approach with our studentsbrwill offer them the most benefit. At its very core, Mathnasium's mission is tobroffer a lasting solution to kids' math problems. This is the place where kidsbrcome to solve their problems in math. It’s when webrfunction as a learning center — not as a tutorial service — that we get abrremarkable increase in student performance. The best part about Mathnasium isbrthat your student does not have to be behind to enroll into our program. Everybrstudent, whether catching up, keeping up or staying ahead, can benefit frombroutside math help, especially to develop number sense and fluency skills thatbrwill help them be successful in the real world. Join us at Mathnasium and letbrus make a difference in your and your student’s life!
For more information on Mathnasium and our curriculum, please visit our website at Mathnasium of Southlake, call (817) 421-1900 or drop by the center at 1251 E. Southlake Blvd., Suite 305 and see how we make learning fun.