Tuesday, June 13, 2000
Ohio test aims at critical thinking
By James Pilcher
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Central Adademy Nongrade elementary school student Matt Brandabur (left) and Dusty Baker reassemble a kite by specifications then determined in math class.
(Ernest Coleman photo)
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MIDDLETOWN — Math is a contact sport in Ruth Muenchenbach's fifth- and sixth-grade class.
Using measuring spoons more than multiplication tables, she's teaching to the test — or at least the math portion of the Ohio Proficiency Tests. And this year, almost twice as many of her sixth-graders at Central Nongraded Academy passed the test compared with last year's state average.
Yet state education experts say many Ohio districts instead stress the “how” and not the “why” of math. They say that is a major reason more students fail the math section than any others on the proficiency test.
“They tend to focus on rote memorization of calculations — skill and drill, as we call it — at the expense of other things,” said Peggy Kasten, the Ohio Department of Education's math consultant, who would not name any specific districts. “They aren't doing themselves or the students any favors. It's a major issue in the test scores statewide.”
The math tests are given in fourth, sixth, ninth and 12th grades. In addition to math, tests are given for reading, writing, citizenship and science.
Math is the stickler, however. The percentage of students who pass the math portion is the lowest of the five subjects at all the grades except sixth, and there math is a close second behind science.
The math drop-off crosses demographic lines. Only 49 percent of Cincinnati Public School ninth-graders passed math this March, compared with 91 percent for writing and 68 percent for citizenship.
In the suburban Finneytown district, for example, 80 percent passed math, compared with 98 percent for writing and 91 percent for reading. Other suburban districts show similar drops.
Lower math scores statewide date back to 1995, when the ninth-grade tests began. Tests for fourth, sixth and 12th graders began the following year.
Dr. Kasten said up to 75 percent of the math test is designed to measure the student's ability to think critically and solve problems — when to multiply and how multiplication works, for example.
And she said as little as 25 percent of the test measures the actual skills — how accurately students complete calculations.
The same people who consulted the math test's creators also helped craft standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Those standards, created in 1989 and updated last month, also stress problem solving and critical thinking.
“I've had graduates come back and tell me that they want to teach the new standards and to the test, but that principals and superintendents won't let them,” said Linda Taylor, a former math teacher who is now head of the division of teacher education at the University of Cincinnati's College of Education.
“They are made to teach skill things rather than understanding, and there is more problem-solving and critical thinking on that test than they realize,” said Dr. Taylor, also the president of the Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
That's not the case for Mrs. Muenchenbach, who said she would take the same approach even if there weren't a proficiency test to prepare for.
“We've measured every inch of this room, and we do tons and tons of cooking to learn the measurements,” said Mrs. Muenchenbach on the second-to-last day of class at Central Nongraded Academy in this Butler County city about 35 miles north of Cincinnati. “The old way made me so frustrated when I was a student, and I can't teach it that way. When you use what you learn, you remember it.”
Students and administrators alike have embraced her methods, which include using foam blocks to demonstrate how math works and constructing workable kites out of tetrahedrons made out of tissue paper and drinking straws.
Of the 12 students in Mrs. Muenchenbach's class who took the sixth-grade test, 10 passed math and the other four subjects (the 1999 statewide average for sixth-grade math was 51 percent).
In addition to getting good test scores, the approach piqued student interest. Curt Lansaw, 11, says math is his favorite subject, especially since he can now use his recently acquired problem-solving skills to figure out the batting averages for his favorite baseball players.
“You'd better learn math in this world, or you'll be stuck at McDonald's flipping burgers your whole life,” he said. “And this class made it fun. I'm glad I'm good at math.”
That acceptance isn't everywhere, however.
Theresa Frazier-Norris, math and science director for Cincinnati Public Schools, said she has felt opposition not only from parents afraid of “new math,” but also from fellow administrators, principals and even teachers.
“Teachers doing nothing but drilling kids, whether it's on their own or whether they're being told to do it, is an ongoing issue,” said Ms. Frazier-Norris. “But overall, I would say that more than 50 percent of math class time is spent on something other than just knowledge and skill.”
Cincinnati math teacher Kimya Moyo said even students resist new approaches.
“I don't teach to the test, but I don't use a textbook and kids have a hard time with that,” said Ms. Moyo. “There's a lot of comfort in a book and in drills. ... I feel like I'm fighting the old regime and that can be difficult.”
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