Improving College Readiness A Profile of Mathematics and Science Education in the Bellevue School Di

1
Improving College Readiness A Profile of
Mathematics and Science Education in the
Bellevue School District

• Bellevue, Washington
• March 2004

Presentation by William H. Schmidt Michigan State
University
2
Comparing Bellevue with US and International 3rd
Grade Mathematics and Science Achievement
3
Comparing Bellevue with US and International 4th
Grade Mathematics and Science Achievement
4
Comparing Bellevue with US and International 7th
Grade Mathematics and Science Achievement
5
Comparing Bellevue with US and International 8th
Grade Mathematics and Science Achievement
6
Comparing Bellevue with US and International
High School Mathematics and Science Achievement
7
Number of Mathematics Topics Intended At Each
Grade
8
Number of Science Topics Intended At Each Grade
9
Mathematics Topics Intended at Each Grade by the
Top Achieving Countries
10
Mathematics Topics Intended at Each Grade in the
State of Washington
11
Mathematics Topics Intended at Each Grade by
Bellevue
12
Science Topics Intended at Each Grade by the Top
Achieving Countries
13
Science Topics Intended at Each Grade in the
State of Washington
14
Science Topics Intended at Each Grade by Bellevue
15
Bellevue Mathematics Performance Compared to
Eighth Grade Students in the Top Achieving
Countries
16
Mathematics Performance in Specific Content Areas
(Grade 4) Bellevue and TIMSS Countries Compared
to the U. S. Slide 1 of 2
17
Mathematics Performance in Specific Content Areas
(Grade 4) Bellevue and TIMSS Countries Compared
to the U. S. Slide 2 of 2
18
Mathematics Performance in Specific Content Areas
(Grade 8) Bellevue and TIMSS Countries Compared
to the U. S. Slide 1 of 2
19
Mathematics Performance in Specific Content Areas
(Grade 8) Bellevue and TIMSS Countries Compared
to the U. S. Slide 2 of 2
20
Bellevue Science Performance Compared to Eighth
Grade Students in the Top Achieving Countries
21
Science Performance in Specific Content Areas
(Grade 4) Bellevue and TIMSS Countries Compared
to the U. S. Slide 1 of 2
22
Science Performance in Specific Content Areas
(Grade 4) Bellevue and TIMSS Countries Compared
to the U. S. Slide 2 of 2
23
Science Performance in Specific Content Areas
(Grade 8) Bellevue and TIMSS Countries Compared
to the U. S. Slide 1 of 2
24
Science Performance in Specific Content Areas
(Grade 8) Bellevue and TIMSS Countries Compared
to the U. S. Slide 2 of 2
25
Bellevue Percent Teaching Time on Mathematics
Topics
26
Allocation of Instruction Time in Grade 8
MathematicsBellevue and Top Achieving Countries
27
Bellevue Percent Teaching Time on Whole Numbers
28
Bellevue Percent Teaching Time on Common Fractions
29
Bellevue Percent Teaching Time on Basic Arithmetic
30
Bellevue Percent Teaching Time on Basic Geometry
31
Bellevue Percent Teaching Time on Science Topics
32
Allocation of Instruction Time in Grade 8
ScienceBellevue and Top Achieving Countries
33
Bellevue Percent Teaching Time on Matter
34
Bellevue Percent Teaching Time on Energy
35
Bellevue Percent Teaching Time on Earth Science
36
Bellevue Percent Teaching Time on Biology
37
Growth Across Grades for a Measurement Item
38
Growth Across Grades for a Human Biology Item
39
Growth Across Grades for a Simple Machines Item
40
What Next for Mathematics?

• Standards are focused and reasonably coherent
• Curriculum is somewhat aligned with international
  standards
• Opportunity exists to establish additional
  coherence and rigor

41
Mathematics Recommendations

• Eliminate over coverage of elementary topics
  whole number operations and estimating
  computations
• Increase coverage of advanced topics geometric
  constructions, proportionality, and rational
  numbers and their properties

42
What Next for Science?

• The science curriculum is not aligned with
  international standards
• This is especially true for the middle school
  grades
• Bellevue intends to cover less than half the
  topics intended by the top achieving countries

43
Science Recommendations

• Develop a focused curriculum for the middle
  school grades
• Establish greater coherence and a unifying theme
  cover more topics
• Replace coverage of life science topics with
  topics related to chemistry and physics
• Include topics such as chemical changes of matter
  and explanations of physical changes

44
What Next in the Classroom?

• A wide diversity of experiences in opportunity to
  learn appears to exist
• Eliminate the variability in teacher coverage of
  mathematics and science topics

45
Realizing the Goal

• Goal of preparing all students equally is at
  risk unless
• These issues are resolved
• and
• Necessary changes are implemented across the
  Bellevue district