San Jose Mercury News

Who’ll teach the kids Algebra?

Posted by John Fensterwald on July 15th, 2008 at 12:50 pm |

The Santa-Cruz based Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning has offered a sober warning, now that the State Board of Education has voted to require every eighth grader to be tested — and therefore take a course in — Algebra I within the next three years.

The study, released after last week’s momentous state board vote, documents the shortage of algebra teachers. It reports that about a third of middle school teachers assigned to teach Algebra I lack the credentials and probably the expertise to teach the subject. And yet the number of students taking Algebra I — currently 50 percent — will rise sharply under the state board’s new policy. Previous studies by the center have shown that largest proportion of uncredentialed math teachers are in poor and minority communities, where the percentage of students testing as proficient is also the lowest.

The state faces a daunting challenge: hire enough middle school teachers certified in Algebra I within three years while launching a Herculean effort to improve math instruction to correct deficits in math, starting in grades three or four. Having made the commitment, Gov. Schwarzenegger must now deliver the money for the state’s educational Manhattan Project.

One place to start, the center recommends, is summer Algebra institutes for eighth grade teachers. The state already has a model: In 2000, the California Professional Development Institutes provided 80 hours of professional development for 70,000 teachers statewide. True to form, the state cut the money in subsequent years.

The center estimates it would cost $3.6 million to reinstitute them. “Given the high stakes for students’ success in high school and beyond, and the complex subject matter content that teachers are expected to deliver, that’s a small price to pay for such a large return on investment.”

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