Improving Mathematics Achievement For All California Students

This document is the result of the California Mathematics Task Force assigned to address the need to improve the mathematics achievement of California's students. Five recommendations are made and discussed: (1) The State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SSPI) must establish clear and specific content and performance standards for mathematics and work with districts and schools to make these standards achievable by all students; (2) SSPI, the California Legislature, and the Governor must move quickly to establish a stable, coherent, and informative system of assessment for all California students; (3) SSPI must take immediate steps to guarantee high-quality classroom mathematics instruction for all students by providing adequate time, adequate instructional materials, mathematically powerful teachers, and additional time during the school day and year for teachers to collaborate to help students succeed; (4) SSPI must act immediately to establish a management, research, and information system to answer basic questions about the operation and effectiveness of mathematics policies and programs, including the implementation and effectiveness of the state's "Mathematics Framework", and (5) School administrators and staffs must move quickly to work with parents to identify the responsibilities of the school and home that support the parents' role in their children's education. (MKR)

This compelling book tells the history of the past two decades of efforts to reform mathematics education in California. That history is a contentious one, full of such fervor and heat that participants and observers often refer to the “math wars.” Suzanne M. Wilson considers the many perspectives of those involved in math reform, weaving a tapestry of facts, philosophies, conversations, events, and personalities into a vivid narrative. While her focus is on California, the implications of her book extend to struggles over education policy and practice throughout the United States. Wilson’s three-dimensional account of math education reform efforts reveals how the debates tend to be deeply ideological and how people come to feel misunderstood and misrepresented. She examines the myths used to explain the failure of reforms, the actual reasons for failure, and the importance of taking multiple perspectives into account when planning and implementing reform.

"Adopted by the California State Board of Education, March 2005"--Cover.

The substance and impact of state-level reforms related to student standards are presented by: (1) providing information on the currrent state of educational reforms aimed at raising student standards; (2) summarizing research designed to identify linkages between higher standards and student outcomes; (3) exploring the strength of relationships between higher standards and student outcomes; (4) examining trends among indicators associated with higher student standards; and (5) discussing data and methods available to those concerned with the relationship of higher educational standards to student outcomes. The first of four chapters briefly describes the range of state initiatives designed to achieve higher student standards and the problems associated with assessing their impacts, as well as the data available for examining student outcomes. Chapter 2 discusses the great variety of reform activities that have occurred at the state level between 1983 and 1990 and places them in a historical context. Chapter 3 looks at research on trends in student outcomes and linkages to school reform such as student course-taking patterns, the proportion of school time devoted to academic subjects, student achievement, and high school completion rates. The last chapter discusses issues associated with studying the impact of state reforms and suggests some analytical strategies that might be used to describe linkages between reforms and student outcomes. Three appendixes provide the following information: (1) minimum high school graduation requirements for standard diplomas: 1980 and 1990; (2) an overview of researching reform and student outcomes using selected databases; and (3) standard error tables. (53 references) (MLF)