EVERETT — Here’s some interesting math: Enrollment in eighth-grade algebra has more than doubled in the Everett School District over the past year.
Other middle schools in Snohomish County are also seeing more students taking algebra and even geometry before they head to high school.
“It’s a good trend,” said Marysville School District Superintendent Larry Nyland, who serves on a statewide panel looking at math standards. “You will see it happening everywhere.”
In the same breath, Nyland warned: “It sounds simple, but it’s hard to do this and do it well.”
In Everett, there are 779 eighth-graders taking algebra this year, up from 384 from a year ago. There are also 83 seventh-graders in algebra, compared with 51 a year ago. Typically, first-year algebra is taken in ninth grade.
“We know that algebra is the great gatekeeper in mathematics, even today,” said Mary Ann Stine, the district’s director of math curriculum. “There has been an elitist mentality that only a certain few get to do this. I think kids can do a lot more than what we give them credit for.”
Early algebra is also part of a strategy to increase passing rates on the 10th-grade math WASL, which requires some algebra and geometry. Several districts have found that the further along students are in math, the better they do. In the Arlington School District, for instance, 95 percent of sophomores who were a year ahead in math passed the 2006 WASL, compared with 59 percent who were at grade level and 14 percent who were a year behind.
Nationally, there has been debate about when students should begin to learn algebra. Some math experts warn that putting students in algebra too soon can lead to failure and a fear of math later on.
“There’s ample evidence from international comparisons that 13- and 14-year-olds are capable of learning algebra,” said Ilana Horn, an assistant professor who specializes in math education at the University of Washington’s college of education. “If we look internationally, most kids that age are doing some kind of algebra.”
Stine, who taught middle school math for 23 years, said she would have been reluctant to increase enrollment so sharply if the Everett district hadn’t added new tools to teach algebra and offer more ways for students to get help.
That safety net is evident at North Middle School, where algebra enrollment among eighth-grade students nearly tripled, from one class of 26 students last year to three classes with 73 students this year.
Ten algebra students at the school attend two math classes each day to make sure they truly understand it and have a chance to practice.
Others can get an excused absence from P.E. and come in for extra help if they aren’t understanding a concept in math class on a given day.
Algebra teacher Julie Jindra admits she was skeptical when she was told of plans last spring to substantially increase enrollment.
Those reservations disappeared in the fall.
All but one of her 73 students passed their course during the first trimester. The lone student who failed had frequent absences.
“They have stepped up to the expectations and risen to the challenge,” Jindra said. “I guess I really didn’t realize how ready some of them really were.”
Jindra teaches a traditional algebra course out of a textbook and two classes that combine the textbook and laptops.
Jindra can track students’ work on the computer to find out how much time it takes them to solve a problem and how many errors they make before getting it right. It helps her quickly pinpoint where individual students need help.
The school district’s push to get more students into algebra caught some students by surprise.
“I looked at my schedule on the first day of school and I saw algebra,” said Jeremy Besaw, an eighth-grader at North. “I wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t know how well I would do.”
There are 28 algebra classes in the district’s five middle schools this year. Evergreen Middle School in Everett has 172 eighth-graders in algebra, nearly twice as many as a year ago. There are also 28 seventh-graders in algebra, meaning Evergreen will most likely offer geometry for the first time next year, said Joyce Stewart, the school’s principal.
Although there was a dramatic jump in algebra enrollment this year, the work to get to that point began five years ago, with efforts to train staff, get teaching materials and set up the extra help students need, Stewart said. In addition, each of the district’s middle schools have math coaches who work with teachers on anything from helping design lesson plans to analyzing data to make sure students are placed in the appropriate math class.
“There were a lot of other things that had to happen before we made that leap in math this year,” she said.
At Port Susan Middle School in Stanwood, there are about 40 more students in high school-level math than there were just a few years ago. Today, the school of 547 students has 90 in first-year algebra, 25 in geometry and six in second-year algebra.
The school is careful in screening its students for algebra, principal Cinco Delgado said. It analyzes several sources of data, including an algebra placement test, WASL results and teacher recommendations.
“We don’t want to set them up for failure,” Delgado said.
At Alderwood Middle School in the Edmonds School District, enrollment in advanced math classes has increased from 116 students to 180 students over the past four years.
The Everett School District plans to monitor how this year’s eighth-grade algebra students fare when they get to high school math courses, said Terry Edwards, director of curriculum alignment.
Math experts like the trend, but worry many students will just finish their required high school math credits earlier and not take math near the end of high school. Roughly half of students entering community college must take a pre-college math course before they can enroll in college-level math.
“It will be interesting to look at the statistics and see how well they perform and how long they continue to take math and whether or not they continue to take it through their senior year,” said JoAnne Robinson, president of the Washington State Mathematics Council and a retired Everett math teacher.
Edwards believes more students will stick with math because it opens up more opportunities in high-paying careers.
“The world doesn’t end if the student doesn’t take algebra in the eighth grade,” he said. “The world can open up a little more.”
Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or e-mail stevick@heraldnet.com.
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