Correlation between math scores between teachers, learning styles, gender, race and socioeconomic factors. I.S. Badone ASU October 22, 201x Abstract Method Participant Instrumentation Prodedure Data Analysis Results Discussion References

Introduction How should this school teach math? To answer that question many areas will be

examined. A brief history of educational legislation will be discussed. Literature will be

reviewed from well-known educational leaders. Math test scores from three math

teachers will be analyzed by gender, race, and socioeconomic factors with a statistical

analysis presented. Finally, a discussion will ensue followed by citings.

The original supposition for this paper was to determine if all math classes

should be segregated and taught be the same method. As this author searched for

research validating the teaching methods under scrutiny [direct instruction and

standards based], research suggested that neither method is best for students. In this

21st Century, more than 50 years and more than 50 nationally recognized educational

experts have determined that no teaching method is best for all teachers. No one

teaching method is best for all students. Education is not one size fits all.

Literature Review

For more than a century, teaching methods and curriculum have been debated.

One of the earliest federal legislative regulations involving education is the “1787

Northwest Ordinance authorized land grants for the establishment of educational

institutions” according to a governmental document (Federal Education Legislation,

2003). Through the years, legislation evolved and has been integral in shaping

education. In 1943, the Vocational Rehabilitation Act started to recognize challenged

individuals, years later Education Amendments of 1972 was part of a succession of

legislative amendments which began focusing on better achievement. The 1990

Excellence in Mathematics, Science and Engineering was geared towards excellence in

American math, science and engineers. In 1994 Goals 2000: Educate America Act was

passed. Part of this act formalizes the national educational goals. With national fear that

American children were falling behind in academics, the search for a magic method to

produce higher test scores continued into No Child Left Behind .

John Dewey (Dewey, 1915) discussed school reform based on the needs of the

community to develop the larger society in the early 20th Century.

(Dewey, 1915)The introduction of active occupations, of nature-study, of elementary science, of art, of history; the relegation of the merely symbolic and formal to a secondary position; the change in the moral school atmosphere, in the relation of pupils and teachers - of discipline; the introduction of more active, expressive, and self-directing factors - all these are not mere accidents, they are necessities of the larger social evolution.

Dewey had a tremendous vision of education and the needs of society AND he

did not talk about race. A century later, his words are true today. Building society

one child at a time is still the overall goal of education. Dewey went on to say:

When the school introduces and trains each child of society into membership within such a little community, saturating him with the spirit of service, and providing him with the instruments of effective self-direction, we shall have the deepest and best guaranty of a larger society which is worthy, lovely, and harmonious.

John Dewey articulated the goals of education in an eloquent, realistic manner. A

century later, curriculum is coming towards the full circle. In an educational journal

article, Coughlin (Coughlin, 2010) reissues the needs of education in this 21st Century.

She states that curriculum will be making dramatic changes. (p. 51) Traditional core

subjects will not be paramount to education. Instead metacognitive skills will be a

major part of education in the future. Coughlin goes on to say that the skills needed in

this 21st Century are problem solving, curious inquiry, critical thinking, hypothetical

thinking, and occupational skills.

Math teachers have many tools to help stimulate students understand of

math. The six steps to learning became known as Bloom’s Taxonomy (Bloom, 1981).

Bloom’s taxonomy helps teachers write goals and objectives for lesson planning to

develop all areas of the brain from simply learning something to being able to

comprehend, apply the knowledge, analyze it, make it their

own by synthesizing it and then evaluating it. Critically

thinking and problem solving are the eventual goal for

learners. In the 1990’s, Lorin Anderson, a student of Bloom,

updated the Taxonomy for the 21st Century learner.

1. Remembering 2. Understanding 3. Applying

4. Analysing 5. Evaluating 6. Creating

The Taxonomy metamorphisis transformed the nouns to action words: verbs.

In the early 1970’s, Madeline Hunter (Hunter, 1982) began researching and

teaching incorporating Bloom’s taxonomy. Hunter created a well known lesson plan

for direct teaching. Using Hunter’s direct teaching lesson plan model, teachers had a

basis to use Bloom’s Taxonomy. This enabled teachers to address the six learning

domains.

In the early 1990’s, Robert Marzano (Pickering, 2004)was researching Piaget,

Bloom, and Hunter among others. The New Taxonomy of Educational Objectives

(Marzano, 2008) consolidated research into useable tools for teachers.

These early psychologist, educational researchers, and educators, led the way.

Since Piaget’s era, many books were written on classroom management; goals and

objectives; learning domains to list a few. Most theorists discovered the fact that not all

children learn the same. Education is not one size fits all.

Methods

Participants

This school welcomes children into this world of education with open arms. Many

children (students) find school to be a scary place. Some teachers do not understand

what the children are saying and the children do not know what the teachers are

saying. The school’s Hispanic population makeup is 31% of the student body; many of

whom speak Spanish. In addition, there are 4% Asian students who each may speak a

different language. To round out the population demography, there are 24% African-

American students, and 41% Caucasian students. Each student brings their language

and cultural heritage with them. Teachers begin to mold the children into “American”

children. However, finding a happy medium in communication may be an issue. By the

time the students arrive at this middle school, students have taken many passageways.

The students have either embraced communication in English or not. Students from

different backgrounds or speak different languages develop in similar ways and learn

the same ways as their peers. And their peers all learn in unique ways. Again, education

is not one size fits all.

Data

Harmony Creek Middle School math students’ standardized test scores are being

analyzed to determine if standards based math instruction or direct instruction for math

methods should be used exclusively by math teachers. The gender make up of the

students is 44% females and 56% males.

44%

56%

Gender

Male

Female

The racial makeup of this school’s math students are 40% Caucasian American,

25% African American, 4% Asian American, and 31% Hispanic American.

Procedures

In this study of students’ math scores, I recognize a divide between the haves

and have nots. All children can learn, however, do educators assume that American

students of color differ in their achievement rates than students without color.

Does racial diversity have an effect on student learning? This author would think

not. The data are misleading.

40%

25%

4%

31%

Race

Caucasian American

African American

Asian American

Hispanic Americans

Diversity

Americans without color

Americans of color

Americans

When a school district is ready for change, one of the most important concepts

to keep in mind in planning change is to treat all students as if they are preeminent,

high achieving students. (Bottoms, 2007)

A recurrent theme through this course is not accepting student failure. Presume and plan demanding, challenging curriculum which students

WILL be be successful. As well as using the data to prescribe teaching methods.

This discussion deals with teaching methods. Would the standardized scores

differ if the math teachers were to use the same teaching method? This study is far too

vague to make a definitive decision.

The use of language to influence reform is discussed (Nodding, 2007). The

language of school reform is written in conundrums. George Orwell would call it

doublespeak. The words chosen in the reform documents can be used to alarm people

or quibble about school reform. Political correctness has brought another layer of

language that can restrict critical, logical thinking of commonly held beliefs. The words

in NCLB encourage all students t6o follow a prescribed curriculum based on all students

transitioning to college. Why would we not design curriculum for the needs of the

community and make an honest effort to educate students with skills used to be

successful in a free democratic society.? That question was answered in 1915 by John

Dewy. John Dewey said,

When the school introduces and trains each child of society into membership within such a little community, saturating him with the spirit of service, and providing him with the instruments of effective self-direction, we shall have the deepest and best guaranty of a larger society which is worthy, lovely, and harmonious.

Analysis

Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog

dies of it. (White, 2011) This researcher infers that research reports are just that:

research reports. Is this reaseracher able to clarify the metnods all math teachers at

Harmony Creek Middle School should use to present lessons? No. The educational

experts and research presented in this research paper show that teachers, as learners

learn differently in the same way as students learn differently despite language and

gender barriers.

Nel Noddings (Nodding, 2007) defines education as, “. . . a constellation of

encounters, both planned and unplanned, that promote growth through the acquisition

of knowledge, skills, understanding and appreciation' (Nodding, 2007). With that said, I

emplore tha principal to allow the math teachers further training in 21st Century

teaching methods.

Average

1

2

3

How to fix our math education? Garfunkel and Mumford say: (Garfunkel & Mumford, 2011)

“ Traditionalists will object that the standard curriculum teaches valuable abstract

reasoning, even if the specific skills acquired are not immediately useful in later life. A

generation ago, traditionalists were also arguing that studying Latin, though it had no

practical application, helped students develop unique linguistic skills. We believe that

studying applied math, like learning living languages, provides both useable knowledge

and abstract skills.

“In math, what we need is “quantitative literacy,” the ability to make quantitative

connections whenever life requires (as when we are confronted with conflicting medical

test results but need to decide whether to undergo a further procedure) and “mathematical

modeling,” the ability to move practically between everyday problems and mathematical

formulations (as when we decide whether it is better to buy or lease a new car).

“Parents, state education boards and colleges have a real choice. The traditional high school

math sequence is not the only road to mathematical competence. It is true that our students’

proficiency, measured by traditional standards, has fallen behind that of other countries’

students, but we believe that the best way for the United States to compete globally is to

strive for universal quantitative literacy: teaching topics that make sense to all students and

can be used by them throughout their lives.

“It is through real-life applications that mathematics emerged in the past, has flourished for

centuries and connects to our culture now. “

“The purpose of education is to enable us to develop to the fullest that which is inside us"

Norman Cousins, prominent political journalist, author and professor

Grooming students for their future life means so much. “If you don't know where

you're going, you'll probably get someplace else”. (Seymour, 2004) Emily’s vision quest

leads her to seek the mission of schooling. Not a religious mission: a mission, a purpose

for education. Norman Cousins said it well “develop to the fullest that which is inside

us.” Character, honesty, compassion, integrity, commitment are ideals to impress upon

students in school settings along with academic and life skills. Education is an essential

force in cultivating the next generation for humanity. As students’ brains develop

throughout their school years, teachers can expose students to problems involving

moral decision, problem solving, and metacognition. The frontal lobe might benefit,

grow and mature through challenging moral dilemmas presented in a classroom setting.

(Strauch, 2003)

The educational vision that this researcher imagines is strongly based in social

awareness. Presenting information to students at a time their minds can fully grasp it

and developing self sufficient, logical, problem solving skills.

The use of language to influence reform is discussed in this chapter. The

language of school reform is written in conundrums. George Orwell would call it

doublespeak. The words chosen in the reform documents can be used to alarm people

or quibble about school reform. Political correctness has brought another layer of

language that can restrict critical, logical thinking of commonly held beliefs. The words

in NCLB encourage all students t6o follow a prescribed curriculum based on all students

transitioning to college. Why would we not design curriculum for the needs of the

community and make an honest effort to educate students with skills used to be

successful in a free democratic society.

The phrase Noddings wrote, “living in a new age of self-righteous anti-

intellectualism”, give me food for thought. When my son was in high school in the early

1990s, I would listen to the discussions he and his friends had about current events,

solving the world’s issues and dreaming of their futures. I do not hear intellectual

musings from students in my class or students passing in the halls. Self-righteous anti-

intellectualism, what a great phrase. (p. 25)

Analysis

we might note that educating from the care perspective reduces the need for

formal testing. Hardly anyone would deny a need for some testing; if for nothing else,

we need to test for diagnostic purposes. However, just as the need for formal

evaluation in moral education becomes largely unnecessary, so the current demand for

standardized testing should be minimized. (Nodding, 2007)

While the data shows vast difference in educational presentation methods, the

teachers are encouraged to seek further curriculum methods. Both groups—standards

based and direct teaching—are based in the past. New methods should be learned to

teach the students in this 21st Century.

Reflection

This paper presented many obstacles to this researchers. The first being the

concept of student learning differently based on their gender and race. This researcher

looks beyond socioeconomics for answers about learning styles. Socioeconomic factors

were purposely neglected.

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Bottoms, G. (2007). Treat All Students Like the 'Best' Students. , Vol. issue 7, p. 30-37.

Educational Leadership , 64 (7), 30-37.

Coughlin, E. (2010). High School at a Crossroads. Educational Leadership , 67 (7), 48-53.

Dewey, J. (1915). The school and society: &, The child and the curriculum. Chicago, Illinois: The

University of Chicago Press.

Federal Education Legislation. (2003). Retrieved October 2011, from National Center for

Educational Statistics: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/2003060d.pdf

Garfunkel, S., & Mumford, D. (2011, Auigust 24). How to Fix Our Math Education. Retrieved

October 2011, from New York Times: The Opinion Pages:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/opinion/how-to-fix-our-math-education.html

Hunter, M. (1982). Mastery eaching. El Segundo: TIP Publications.

Marzano, R. J. (2008). The New Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Corwin Press.

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encyclopedia of informal education: http://www.infed.org/thinkers/noddings.htm

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