Number 2 Pencil

Rolling the die and hoping for better math skills

Hot on the heels of our discussion about the importance of boring old "rote" math skills comes this depressing report about US math performance compared to other countries:

For a nation committed to preparing students for 21st century jobs, the results of the first-of-its-kind study of how well teenagers can apply math skills to real-life problems is sobering. American 15-year-olds rank well below those in most other industrialized countries in mathematics literacy and problem solving, according to a survey released Monday.

Although the notion that America faces a math gap is not new, Monday's results show with new clarity that the problem extends beyond the classrooms into the kind of life-skills that employers care about...

Given what we've heard here about the frightening attitudes in education about math, anyone want to bet that a lot of the problem is that the "life-skills" employers care about don't add up at all with the skills that educrats try to push?

The international survey was done by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2003, testing 15-year-olds.

But PISA, unlike previous international assessments, is measuring not just whether students have learned a set math curriculum, but whether they can apply math concepts outside the classroom. In the US, 262 schools and 5,456 students participated in the two-hour, paper and pencil assessment. Most answers were constructed responses, not just the multiple choice format.

In one question, students are asked to calculate the number of dots on the bottom face of six dice, given the rule that the total number of dots on two opposite faces is always seven. Only 63 percent of US students got it right, compared with 68 percent of their peers in OECD countries. (This question was ranked Level 2, out of three proficiency levels.)

You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me.

If at least two sides of the die are showing (probably three sides are, as exemplified in the diagram below), then the only skill this task requires is for the student to be able to add one-digit numbers. Excuse me - the student also needs to recognize that all they need to do is add one-digit numbers, and understand the spatial relationship among the six sides of a die.

(Note: The graphic is from a random die question I pulled off the web; this is not the graphic from the actual item. Just an example.)

And 37% of the participating American 15-year-olds couldn't figure that out? Jeez, I guess grandparents aren't playing enough Yahtzee or blackgammon with their grandkids these days.

These results track findings that most US high school students don't know enough mathematics to do well in college courses or the work force. "Only 40 percent of high school graduates are prepared to earn a C or higher in a college level course, and these are also the same skills needed for the workplace," says Ken Gullette, a spokesman for ACT Inc. in Iowa City, a college entrance exam.

Ken might want to talk about that with educators who believe children shouldn't be forced to learn math until they are absolutely "developmentally ready."

Update: Chris Correa notes that the director of the survey suggests that, in the US, there's too much focus on rote learning in mathematics, and that's why the US performance overall is suffering. Not only is that weird - it's very hard to imagine that our students are spending too much time on math drills - but Chris also presents an elegant graph to suggest that the conclusion is wrong, too.

And don't miss Jenny D's (formerly Dr. Cookie) discussion of the most important factor in math education. I don't think you'll be surprised at her conclusion.

Posted by kswygert at December 7, 2004 03:21 PM