Washington State has high math remediation rates
In 2003, 49% of Washington State high school graduates attending two year colleges needed remediation in mathematics. Those who take remedial math in college only have a 63% rate of graduating.The remedial math rate in 2005 for college freshmen in WA State was 50 – 60%.
– Dr. William Schmidt, February 27, 2006, Seattle School District Meeting
Washington State students are below average in college readiness
In September 2003 the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research reported that the national average for graduates with college readiness is 32%, Washington State is 24%, a full 8% less than the national average. Education Working Paper, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, Jay P. Greene PhD and Greg Forster PhD, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Website.
Tutoring revenue in Washington increases 340% in the last ten years
This information was issued in a memorandum from Barbara McLain, Research Analyst for the Washington State legislative House Education Committee to State Representative Glenn Anderson.
Memorandum
Washington State math standards graded “F”
The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, based in Washington D.C., published “The State of State Math Standards” in 2005. The average ranking is “C”. Washington State received an “F”. Our state standards are “poorly written, needlessly voluminous, difficult to understand, and at times have little to do with mathematics. Standards devoted to problem solving are of especially low quality.” The State of State Math Standards, David Klein, Fordham Foundation Website (pdf. 130 pgs).
Pearson, the author of the WASL, has a conflict of interest
Pearson Education is both the distributor of the curriculums used in many of our schools, including TERC and CMP, and under contract with WA State to develop and implement the WASL. This is a major conflict of interest. Pearson is selling us our curriculums and are in charge of testing our students to see if their own curriculums are working. Meanwhile, state funding of the ITBS test was cut so we can no longer compare WA students’ progress nationally or internationally.
We need standards that compete with the top performing nations
Washington State needs math standards that are rigorous, academically focused, and coherent, identifying what all Washington State students should know and be able to do at each grade level. As our students progress from grade to grade there should be requirements in place for increasingly advanced knowledge and understanding of mathematics and for increasingly complex applications and problem solving. Any curriculum adopted by schools/districts must be required to support these standards.
“Expanding view of trade called a must for state, Kirsti Heim, Seattle Times, 3/25/06
Almost 29,000 Washington High School Students Can’t Pass Math WaSL
A little more than one-quarter of the 11,673 high-school students who retook the math portion of the WASL in August earned a passing score. That leaves about 29,000 students — 42 percent — in the Class of 2008 without a key portion of their graduation requirements.
“Nearly half of Class of ‘08 still lacking on the WASL,” By Lynn Thompson, Seattle Times, 11/09/06
