Editor,
We are beyond the questions of whether public K-12 education has failed or whether we wish to fix it. We are at the point where the question is “Can we save it?” Some top-level state politicians are saying no.
If you delve into the publicly available reports for your high school — see Washington State Report Card and also the Data Downloads on that site — you will likely find almost 80% of your high school’s students are failing to pass the standardized math test. If you can gain access to the interim testing done in most high schools, you’ll likely discover over 60% of your high school students are performing at or below the sixth grade level, particularly in math.
If you can get into the high school to do some volunteer tutoring, you will likely discover a majority of the failing students don’t even know their times table let alone PEMDAS (the mathematical order of precedence) or how to work with negative numbers, fractions, decimals, do long division, factor a two-digit number … and the list of missing elementary and middle school requisite skills goes on.
This renders the average student incapable of following an algebra I lesson. They get lost in the fundamentals of the math. And that, and the application of those skills (scaffolding), is what the Smarter Balanced Assessment test demands to meet even a minimum level of proficiency.
So, what does this cost the students? About $24,000 per year, every year, for their working career! Well, that and the ability to apply critical thinking.
Myths and disinformation abound as to why we shouldn’t be concerned. From “the test is too hard or only for college bound” to “it’s the students or parents” to “it’s racist.” That about 34 to 37 of 78 nations are doing better, on average, than Washington … and spending far less to do it … tends to invalidate virtually every one of those arguments.
Research shows that mitigating the disaster will require high-dosage/low-ratio tutoring (three hours per week minimum/three students per tutor per session maximum during school). Given these requirements and scheduling issues, we can figure about 20 to 40 fulltime 10th grade math tutors alone.
If you can find, vet and afford the staffing, you’ll immediately run into the logistical issues of conducting 20 or so simultaneous tutoring sessions during the school day.
I’ve heard principals and superintendents in other school districts claim these results are not acceptable and then turn around and declare a program a success when it moved a small set of 10th grade students’ math proficiency up a couple of grades, but still well below eighth grade level. Given the hurdles, it is a success. But it is still a failure overall. The student is still two to six grades behind.
How do we fix it? We figure out why over 50% of students meet standards in the third grade and why it typically drops to 25% by the 10th. For comparison: Yelm — spring 2023, 22.8% met in math.
What policies and practices need to change? But, that is going to take another 500 words — to start.
Doug Martin
Yelm
