Experts identify teacher quality and preparation as areas for improvement.
African-American and Hispanic students are making no progress in reducing the math achievement gap with Whites, says a new Nation’s Report Card study that has spurred calls for action to improve teaching for at-risk youth.
In the new report, the federal government found that African- American students have a 26-point gap in math achievement with Whites at fourth grade and a 32-point gap with Whites at eighth grade. The gap between Hispanics and Whites is 21 points at fourth grade and 24 points at eighth grade. All four categories showed no change from the last analysis in 2007.
“This report should serve as a wake-up call to how much work lies ahead,” said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. “Many math classes in Schools with high concentrations of poor and minority students are taught by teachers who did not major in math or a math related field.” Noting that math achievement often best predicts future college success, experts also said the nation must step up action to provide more quality teachers for low-income students.
“To me, a major reason [for the stagnation] continues to be a lack of content knowledge and academic preparation for our teachers,” said David Driscoll, former education superintendent in Massachusetts and a member of the National Assessment Governing Board, a 26-member panel of educators, lawmakers and business leaders that oversees the Nation’s Report Card.
At one time in Massachusetts, he said, math teachers could receive a teaching license even if they failed to answer a single math question correctly on the state teachers’ exam. At that time, it was only the candidate’s cumulative exam score that counted, rather than performance in his or her desired subject area.
Other leaders noted that low-income and minority students are more likely than others to be enrolled in lower-level math courses and taught by out-of-field teachers. But the challenge also is to Promote schoolwide reforms that, in turn, attract quality teachers.
