Linda Jensen Sheffield, Project Director

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Articulating Algebra for All

• Linda Jensen Sheffield, Project Director
• Gina Foletta, Project Co-Director
• Gary Palmer, Mentor and Coach
• Patsy Fisk, Teaching Assistant
• Connie Field, Project Assistant
• http//www.nku.edu/mathed

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What is mathematics?

• What is algebra?
• Who needs it?

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Why do we need algebra?

• Algebra is the language of generalization.
• Algebra lets you answer all the questions of a
  particular type at one time.
• Algebra is the language of relationships and
  structures.
• Algebra is a prerequisite for virtually all other
  mathematics.
• Adapted from Zalman Usiskin, 2005, Should All
  Students Learn a Significant Amount of Algebra?,
  in Developing Students Algebra Reasoning
  Abilities,NCSM

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Algebra is the major civil rights issue for the
21st century.Robert Moses
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DID YOU KNOW?

• The six fastest growing jobs locally are computer
  related and require education beyond high school.
• It is predicted that by 2018 85 of new jobs will
  require some postsecondary education.

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1970s 1990s 2010
High Skill Low Skill
Source International Center for Leadership in
Education, 2004
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DID YOU KNOW
A person with a college degree on average makes
twice as much money as a person with only a high
school diploma.
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Kentucky full time wage and salary workers, 25
years older, 2004 averages
51,272
34.372
29,848
20,852
U.S. Department of Labor, 2004
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Education / Work Relationship
Percentage of Kentucky 18-64 year olds not in
the labor force
65
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Less than 9th Grade
High School Graduate
College Graduate
Census 2000
ThinkLink
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• Jobs are expected to grow by 17 in Kentucky
  between 2002-2012.
• However, the higher the educational level
  required, the greater the expected percentage
  increase.
• High school diploma 14
• Some postsec/Assoc 21
• Bachelors 24
• Masters 27
• Doctoral 31

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TIMSS shows U. S. students learning elementary
topics in middle school (arithmetic, descriptive
biology and earth science) while they are
learning algebra, geometry, chemistry and physics
internationally.http//ustimss.msu.edu/
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We cannot afford the current international gap.

• On the 1995 TIMSS, 39 of the fourth graders in
  Singapore scored above the 90th percentile on the
  mathematics assessment. Only 9 of the fourth
  graders in the United States did so.
• By eighth grade, 45 of the students in Singapore
  scored above the 90th percentile while the
  percent of U. S. students at this level dropped
  to 5.
• Third International Mathematics and Science Study
  (TIMSS Report Elementary - HS)
  http//ustimss.msu.edu/

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DID YOU KNOW?
Students who take advanced classes in high school
are more prepared for college-no matter what
their grade is.
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DID YOU KNOW?
Students who take Algebra and Geometry by the end
of the 9th grade are more likely to go to college.
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• The 2004 Science and Engineering Indicators note
  an emerging and critical problem in the Science
  and Engineering Labor Force.An Emerging and
  Critical Problem of the Science and Engineering
  Labor Force, National Science Board, 2004

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The number of US citizens training to become
scientists and engineers are declining while the
need for them is increasing

• These trends threaten the economic welfare and
  security of our country.
• Even if action is taken today, the reversal of
  this trend is 10 to 20 years away. Middle
  schoolers today wont complete advanced training
  for science and engineering occupations until
  2018 or later.

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China now graduates about 200,000 engineers a
year India and Japan, 100,000 each the United
States about 50,000.

• In the field of mathematics, based on current
  trends, one must begin with 3500 ninth-graders in
  2005 to produce 300 freshmen qualified to pursue
  a degree in mathematics. Of these, about 10 will
  actually receive a bachelors degree in the
  field. Finally, one Ph. D. in mathematics will
  emerge in about 2019.
• Norm Augustine, CEO of Lockheed Martin

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WICHE, ACT Graduation Rate Survey, CPE, 7/04
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• Of all students obtaining doctorates in
  engineering in American universities, just 39
  percent are Americans. Margaret
  DeLacyEducation Week, June 23, 2004 (Vol. 23,
  No. 41, p. 40)

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• Of all pre-college curricula, the highest level
  of mathematics one studies in secondary school
  has the strongest continuing influence on
  bachelor's degree completion. Finishing a course
  beyond the level of Algebra 2 (for example,
  trigonometry or pre-calculus) more than doubles
  the odds that a student who enters postsecondary
  education will complete a bachelor's degree.
• This is much more important than SES!Answers in
  the Tool Box Academic Intensity, Attendance
  Patterns, and Bachelor's Degree Attainment,
  Adelman, Clifford. 1999

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• Of all the components of curriculum intensity and
  quality, none has such an obvious and powerful
  relationship to ultimate completion of degrees as
  the highest level of mathematics one studies in
  high school.

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• Success in the traditional academic curriculum,
  especially the math curriculum, is the most
  powerful predictor of wage advantages from
  increased postsecondary attainment, and
  improvements in mathematics skills account for
  most of the growth in wage premium from increased
  postsecondary educational attainment since the
  early 1980s. (Murnane et al., 1995 Grogger and
  Eide, 1995)

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DID YOU KNOW?

• That in 2004 the average ACT composite was 20.9
• Students who took 5 math courses in High School
  averaged 23.2
• Students who took 4 math courses in High School
  averaged 20.7
• Students who took 3 math courses in High school
  averaged 18.5

www.actstudent.org
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What can we learn from brain functioning research?

• Construct your own knowledge and make
  connections between new knowledge and old.
• Plan ahead and organize your learning.
• Use all the senses through active,
• hands-on learning.
• Look for patterns.
• Use novel situations and have fun
• when you are learning.
• Challenge yourself take harder classes,
• and really try to do well.

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Remedial Course Placement and H.S. Math
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Answers in the Tool Box Academic Intensity,
Attendance Patterns, and Bachelor's Degree
Attainment June 1999
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Did you know that?

• College students who have not taken an AP class
  have a 33 chance of completing a Bachelors
  Degree
• College students who have completed one AP
  course have a 59 chance of completing a
  Bachelors Degree and
• College students who have completed two or more
  AP courses increase to 76 their chances of
  attaining a Bachelors Degree?
• Answers in the Toolbox http//www.ed.gov/pubs/T
  oolbox

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For more information

• Look at Extending the Challenge in Mathematics
  Developing Mathematical Promise in K - 8 Students
  by Linda Jensen Sheffield, Published by Corwin
  Press, 2003, http//www.corwinpress.com and
• Awesome Math Problems for Creative Thinking by
  Findell, Gavin, Greenes and Sheffield, published
  by Creative Publications, 2000,
  http//www.wrightgroup.com
• Games and On-line Contests
• Figure This Math Challenges for Families
  http//www.figurethis.org/index40.htm
• National Library of Virtual Manipulatives for
  Interactive Mathematics http//matti.usu.edu/nlvm
  /nav/ Activities for pentominoes, tangrams, and
  other virtual manipulatives.
• 24 Game http//www.24game.com/ Build your
  computational fluency from addition to algebra
  with this challenging game for all ages.
• Set http//www.setgame.com/ Challenge yourself
  on the daily puzzle or play Set with your
  friends.

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For Additional WebsitesSee http//www.nku.edu/mat
hed

• Competitions
• The American Mathematics Competition (AMC)
  http//www.unl.edu/amc/
• Mathematical Olympiads for Elementary and Middle
  Schools (MOEMS) http//www.moems.org/
• MATHCOUNTS http//mathcounts.org/
• Mathematics Pentathlon http//www.mathpentath.org
  /
• Web Sites on Brain Functioning
• Neuroscience for Kids http//weber.u.washington.ed
  u/chudler/neurok.html
• The Brain Lab, a compendium of full-text articles
  and resources sponsored by New Horizons
  http//www.newhorizons.org/blab.html
• Cognitive-Neuroscience Resources Homepages from
  The Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition
  http//www.cnbc.cmu.edu/other/homepages.html