Teachers face math challenge

QUINCY

Strategize to aid middle schoolers

December 08, 2011|By Meg Murphy, Globe Correspondent

At Atlantic Middle School in Quincy, the math teachers do not panic when confronted with their students’ below-average MCAS scores. They know how to read between the numbers.

“It’s not only about the MCAS test; it’s about preparing for next year and trying to instill a love of math in them,’’ said Mary Lydon, a teacher of seventh- and eighth-graders with a zeal for mathematical concepts. “Because we all know math is the best.’’

In Quincy, 25 percent of eighth-graders failed the math portion of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam in spring 2011, according to results released this fall. Twenty-three percent of seventh-graders failed the math section. Those scores are slightly below the state average but reflect a trend: Across Massachusetts, MCAS scores in the math portion of the test are lowest during middle-school years.

Educators in Quincy say the district’s middle-school MCAS math scores have remained steady for several years, as have the much better scores earned by 10th-graders, with a 95 percent success rate, in the math section last spring.

“Learning might not show up as mastery in seventh and eighth grade, but we are providing students with a foundation and they build off it and show mastery in 10th grade,’’ said Lydon.

“The MCAS is a snapshot,’’ said Atlantic’s principal, Maureen MacNeil. “We have strong performing students.’’

Recently, MacNeil and the Quincy school district’s assessments specialist, Mary Fredrickson, joined several math teachers around a conference table at the Atlantic school to discuss what they believe is going on, mathwise, in the middle-school mind.

“We’re assessing on a daily basis,’’ said Fredrickson, describing how middle-school math teachers are constantly asking themselves, “What is coming next? Does our curriculum align?’’

One Atlantic math teacher, Tim Ryan, described the long-range goals held by teachers. “It’s not just about the scores,’’ he said. “We look at each individual student. Even if the scores do not match, we know when they make progress - socially, emotionally, academically - that will help them achieve future academic success.’’

The educators emphasized the need for a teacher-student dialogue, the capacity to see when “the light bulb goes on’’ and when a young person requires a different teaching approach. They said imparting mathematics to young people in this age bracket is about building strong relationships, helping them to grasp difficult, often abstract, concepts.