High School Students Not Prepared for College Math

None by Jeff Robinson

(KCPW News) Less than half of American high school students are prepared for college level math when they graduate. That was one troubling statistic recently considered by the National Mathematics Advisory Panel, which delivered its recommendations for remedying this problem to the Department of Education last month. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics president Skip Fennell sat on that panel.

"More and more students are taking higher-level mathematics than at any other time before in our history," he said. "Recent data shows that there's more introductory calculus being delivered at the high school level than there is at two and four-year colleges across this country. So, here we are taking a lot more courses, but in terms of the evidence, maybe not learning the mathematics at the level that we might like students to know it."

Fennell is in town along with 10,000 other teachers for the NCTM's annual conference, held at the Salt Palace this year.

Fennell says the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study reveals troubling news about American students' performance compared to other countries, as they move on to high school level math.

"Our fourth-grade students compete. They're above average at that particular level," said Fennell. "Our eighth-grade students are right at the average level; maybe a little bit below average. Our twelfth-grade students are quite low."

The National Mathematics Advisory Panel recommended that elementary math education focus more on core concepts and that schools do a better job of recruiting and retaining effective math teachers. To listen to a conversation with Skip Fennell, visit the Midday Metro page.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2009 KCPW