...And Learning For All; No. 4; You Knew That! Cultivating Excellence in Math and Science

And learning for all is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement. The topic is algebra, which side of the equation are you on? I was where it was. It was one of my better subjects and I really had a hard time with algebra. It helped me out a lot. I love algebra. There may be two kinds of people, those who got it, and those who didn't. And we're not talking about how you did on tests. We're talking about getting them. I was a good student, but I had a problem with algebra and I didn't see where it fit into the scheme of things.

Although we may not understand how, we all know that algebra and the advanced studies and sciences that derive from it have everything to do with finance, economics, engineering, high tech research, even art and music. The three yards that work for us in the industrial age are not enough to tackle the problems and challenges we face in the information age. So we must add a fourth R, reasoning, then factor in working together and thinking critically. I get really good math teachers and did really well all the way through. How well we were taught had a lot to do with whether we were turned on or off to math and science. I had Ms. Vanderbilt, I never forget her name. She made it very easy for me and I enjoyed it. We would say, what do we need the learners for when she said it's for you to think logically how to solve problems. And we've got problems and challenges, infrastructure, unemployment, transportation, the environment, trade deficits.

The solutions will require creativity, effort, sound reasoning, and the contributions of all. Tomorrow won't tolerate wasted potential. Math will be the language of solutions. The untapped resources of women and minorities will need to be brought to the fore. And math teachers will need to generate and sustain the natural curiosity that kids have for how things work. This is a story about a journey. Toward excellence in math, science, and technology. We will show you the end of the journey. Rather the beginning. It's a beginning of excitement, of enthusiasm, and of opening the way to more. The beginning is algebra.

We're the main character. We're the main character. We're the main character. And this year's a world where understanding secret red goes to Mary Smith. Prior to everything you shared is something that will go after. Using this formula, the Mayans predict that it lives with extreme accuracy. What I've learned is the ability to win at life. This is the sixth grade class from Foster Park Elementary, one of nineteen Chicago schools to adopt the algebra project.

Over the last ten years, fourteen school districts around the country have taken on this approach for teaching and learning math. The train ride there about to take makes this a very important day in their future exploration into algebra. And the basis of the trip is the personal experience that they can use. So we're going to build upon this experience for approximately six months in the curriculum. Now, that question is, what does this have to do with math and algebra? They don't even understand that at this point themselves. But that's okay.

The teachers know what this trip and the station stops have to do with algebra. The assignment for the students is to have fun and pay attention to where they go on this train ride. Make sketches of the elstops each trip we stop. Show me what you get. What we're doing is bridging the gap from arithmetic to algebra. And the train line is going to eventually represent the number line on a coordinate system. And the stops are going to translate to integers.

Integers. Coordinates. All that's happening here is that these students are being introduced to the concept that math is more than just counting or multiplying. Algebra is how many and which way and eventually from the real life experience this trip provides. These students will make their own individual conceptual connections. I have an intermediate algebra but I open to page one for them. And their page one is the integer line and they all know what it is. And they are going to wonderful. They're thrilled. Oh yeah, this is algebra. We're doing algebra. This trip is more than a clever way of suggesting the number line to budding mathematicians. It's a demonstration of a philosophy that all children can grasp the fundamentals of higher math and the scientific method when such ideas are presented in a relevant way. You're going to be able to learn. They are going to have to have an instructional approach that respects what they know

and how they live their lives. And that respects the community that they are part of. What you have to do with the mathematics is figure out what is the child bringing to the mathematical table. So you've got to get into the child's experience. And here we're just talking about everyday common ordinary experiences that children have growing up in the city or in the rural areas. We've assumed too much in education that we've got to come into this, we've got to bring a kid into school, put a brain in him, give him an experience and then teach him. The algebra project says the kid comes in with a brain, he comes in with some very valuable experiences. Now let's use them and let the student use that as a means for building an instructional program.

So how does a train ride or a trip to an art museum or any simple round your neighborhood experience get sixth graders to the higher principles of math? Well, first off, it makes it fun. Because middle school students are still young and they still feel that part of what is due them is fun. And these experiences have to be tapped into as the entry level for the discussion of mathematical concepts. That is, you've got to reach down to the idea that mathematics is a human subject. It's people who do it. It comes out of human culture. After the train ride, students work on art projects. They make pictures of what they saw, where they went, where they stopped. Everyone has different versions, but the class eventually

agrees to what happened that day. The teacher's job is to help the students come to that agreement. As in many classrooms across the country, the role of a teacher in this algebra class is undergoing fundamental change. The traditional way of teaching mathematics at particularly middle school is to deliver information to the students. So the teacher is the center of the classroom, and they think, well, the person knows the correct answer is the teacher. So this puts them in a frame of mind, which is very different from where they should be, which is not what is the teacher thinking, but what am I thinking? That is, their main job is first to find out what am I thinking? And then how do I share what I'm thinking with my other students and with the teacher? And that's what we want to see. The similarities amongst what we saw and thought was important, and that was only one of us. Who will volunteer to read what they wrote?

For teachers to do this, then, first they have to have the attitude that what they are looking for in the children is actually there. Present in children. That children are capable of thinking. They are capable of expressing their own thoughts. It was a fun trip. I'm glad I went. Angel, would you like to read yours? When we went on the other project trip, we made 13 stops to get there. This is the sixth grade algebra project class at Kazuyasco Elementary. They've completed their artwork and are now working in groups to compose written reports about the trip. Let's start with the corner person and going around. And then you tell the highlight to your group, for instance, give me a highlight from your trip. And then it's easier to take chances when six of you are in the group than taking a chance for yourself. So in that respect, they will go one step further in their group than they might do.

The way that feeds into the algebra project is that that's what we want them to get out of math. They're given a math problem. There's a variety of ways to solve that problem, each one being equally valid. Are there many things that are only one list of you? I'll notice the same things. The teacher has to be secure enough to be able to give up some of the traditional control and empower their students. Is it anybody mentioned this is tower? So what's different with the teacher? Noise level. The noise level is high. They are talking all the time. And we have to get used to the fact that the fact that it's noisy doesn't necessarily mean they're not learning. It's very untraditional. To appreciate what a teacher like this is going through, understand that this isn't the only subject she teaches. And math may not be one of her favorites for math performance to improve in the United States. Math instruction has to improve, which is something the new approaches for math and science are addressing hand-on. It removes the barriers, not only for students, but for teachers.

It removes some of the fear the teachers have had in the past in the field of mathematics. I was easy to have ownership once you get past the intimidation. I was saying we're going to teach you six great children, algebra. And you're going to have to be a teacher and you're going to teach other teachers, but you're going to learn how to do it yourself. And here we go. The role of the teacher is so critical because we found classes where the teachers have been teaching in a traditional mode. Where the students have been sitting in their desks and facing and doing drill and so forth. Who have made a decision, often with the help of an administrator, who wants to school to change because the teachers really do need support and help to do this. And you found overnight turnaround, because if the teacher can let go a little, then they begin to get a different response from the kids,

then it can feed on itself and you get a very wonderful kind of building. The students are again carefully assembling all the details of their excursion, and something else is happening. In their own words, they are describing movements, positions, relationships. Over the course of the coming weeks, these informal descriptions will develop into the further words and symbols of the language of algebra. So this process of engaging some physical event and then working with it, two pictures and two levels of language and finally with symbolic representations, because we have the students construct their own symbols, so that they understand that you've got to demystify these symbols, right? There's just people who made them. Now let's look at the form concept which is called the mode. List each number as many times.

Math is doable. I don't know if I've ever met anybody who can't do math if taught properly. And so I'm excited about this approach because it makes mathematics accessible. It makes it usable by everyday persons. Math is not the domain or reserve for people who only have special mental abilities. It's just not the case. It's a myth. One of the things about the math science career pipeline is that the education testing service has told us that there is a direct relationship between success in college and completing geometry. Well, you can't get to geometry without algebra. Clearly, you cannot have scientific progress without a mathematical foundation. In the school curriculum for youngsters and youngsters who don't make it through algebra, geometry never wind up going into scientific or mathematical careers. The thing we're going to do today is make do measurement. And in make do measurement, what we're going to do is measure something

where we don't have an instrument to measure with. So right now we need to measure the length of this table that you sit in at. Alons of average works with the Chicago algebra project. And this is one of the meetings he has with parents of six graders who are in the pilot program. That's Alons's daughter. In sessions like this, parents go through an afternoon with their children work through in a semester. Right now, they're working on acquiring their own understanding of the difference between the algebraic ideas of equality and equivalence. I said yes, because I said they won't sort of sign purpose to measure the table. Okay. That doesn't make it equal. So they're not equal. So when you come talk about use for the same place, but they're not equal to each other. And in the algebra project, and this is one of the first units we looked at, where we talk about equality and equivalence. And as we go through the unit, we will be coming back again and again to this whole notion of what is equivalence and what is equality.

And in the classroom, students are oftentimes puzzled about what is the difference between equivalence and equality. So they're going to wrestle with this idea over and over again until they come to terms with what it means for them. Parental involvement is important to the algebra project for a couple of reasons. They want to demystify algebra for anyone who didn't get it back in school. They want to equip the parents with the principals at work so they can help out at home. And they want to change expectations of parents who may be quick to concede that their child isn't cut out from that. I think our parents, no matter what their educational base or level is, I think they want. And this is as broad as I can make it for their child to be successful. So that means I want my child to have everything that it takes to be successful. And what do algebra project graduates think? Math is kind of one of my middle subjects, but I really love academic speech and stuff. But math, since I've been in the algebra project, has really brightened up my grades and stuff.

We learn about integers and a lot of other stuff that was fun. I like it, it's very fun, and I think that other people would like it too, because the algebra project has clearly had an impact on its students. Well, it really gets you to it, and when I did it, I got into it, and I really enjoyed it. I think I improved a year in my math in the address as we hit the algebra project. In our school, one out of every six children made two years progress in mathematics. So I think that's really significant. And the other more significant thing to me is not the test scores, but the children's attitude. And in our seventh grade this year, these are the children who had the algebra project last year. Their favorite subject in their reports is mathematics. And I think that's the key, because they see it as something that they can do, and they can be good at. For me, really, there's only one sort of measure which counts in this, that is. And it's unfortunate in that it's a long range measure.

And the question is, do the kids go through the college prep math sequence in high school? And after that, do they reach college ready to take college courses in mathematics, for which they can get college credit? I'm going to pass you a paper, which is the answer sheet. The larger point, says Moses, goes beyond college courses to a question of citizenship. That is, we are now faced with situations where really significant numbers of people are sort of marginalized around the citizenship question. They are really not functioning as citizens. And this, of course, really threatens the whole democratic base of the society. Now, the question is, how does the algebra project move forward? We are already in 19 schools, which means we are only reaching about 3,000 kids right now. 3,000 kids, mostly 6, 7 to 8 graders.

The algebra project is making its way into more Chicago schools and other systems across the country, because of meetings like this. The algebra project is more than about education. It is about communities at its heart. It is about really getting out and having parents and communities mobilize and work together. And think about what it is they want out of the children and want for the children in their community. What's at stake is, and what's been at stake, is what our children are going to have for the future. Are they going to all, we have mixed jobs working at McDonald's, just pressing the buttons. Or are they going to be able to be working on computers and being able to do the high tech things that are happening? These young people are getting exposed to algebra, math, logical thinking, at a very early age that other people take for granted. And once they're exposed to their saying, this isn't so hard.

I can do this. Why are people saying that I'm an underachiever? When the fact of the matter is, that just wasn't exposed to it. That's empowerment. I can take this mystery. And I open up a door that I understand. The algebra is a civil right in the sixth grade. If we're in the battle to make sure that our children in public schools are not marginalized out of society. Since 1988, Illinois law has given the communities local control over what and how subjects are taught in their schools. It starts all the way in the community. With the community saying to the schools, hey, we got a good idea. Let's see can we make it happen. And community and school are so interwoven that it's hard to tell the difference. The choice is made by the teachers, the principal, the local school council, the community group. They all have to say, we want it to happen. And if they don't say they want it to happen, then we say that's a school that is not yet ready for the algebra project.

To be ready to take an active role in shaping their schools, parents have to come to a consensus about what it is they believe their children have to know for them to prosper. The people here in Chicago that I think are interested in education in Chicago public schools are interested in more than just a group of people being elected to sit on a council. They're interested in those people participating in curriculum development. And I'm talking when I say those people, I mean the people within the school participating in curriculum development. Parents being a part of that, the hospital down the street being a part of that, the police department in the area being a part of that, so that we have something calm and calm. Yes, I would say that this country, if it's going to remain a world power has to rethink the way it educates all children.

And it has to give resources as well as lip service to programs. And nothing is more valuable than a competitively educated group of citizens. Unfortunately, in the United States right now, underrepresented minorities, primarily African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans are underrepresented in science, engineering and mathematics by a four to ten fold factor depending on the discipline that you're examining. So, looking at the workforce as it will be coming about or emerging in the next ten years, well over half of the new workforce will be minorities and women groups that have been traditionally underrepresented, so it's important and vital actually to increase the representation of these populations. Could it be that this young man will work on the team that revolutionizes transportation?

Well, this young woman collaborate on the answer to the nuclear waste dilemma. Even with more day-to-day problems, these children will be better prepared for life in the 21st century because of how they're learning today. And coast-to-coast, communities are making sure they equip their children with the necessary tools and skills they need to reshape their world. The algebra project is a movement. It is an agent of change because it, for the first time, involves communities and defining what it is that their children are going to learn and how they're going to fit into the world of tomorrow. That's something education in this country has not been doing for children of color, for disadvantaged children, for academically underachieving children. Additionally, we thought there's a group of kids who will make it. They will be the doctors and the lawyers of tomorrow, and the rest of us will be something else. The algebra project says there is no child who is not eligible to be a doctor in lawyer up tomorrow, and that's change. The algebra project is not the only vehicle pointed in the direction of excellence in math and science education. A lot of schools and communities have discovered the same ingredients to support and stimulate their children as they learn even the most complex of subjects.

And they all share this common denominator, the assumption that all children can learn and participate, and if they want to, they will. And learning for all is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Thank you.