District Adding to Graduation Equation

You don’t have to understand a quadratic equation to recognize the middling performance of California students in mathematics.

But now, in an unusual step, one Orange County school district will be asking its students to solve one to graduate from high school.

Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, wading into a statewide debate over mathematics instruction, is planning a tough new policy for all students starting with the class of 2002: Pass algebra or you won’t get a diploma. It would be the second such district in the county to impose such a requirement.

The new policy highlights a shift in thinking about the importance of algebra in the working world. More educators are saying it should be a required skill for all students, not just the college-bound.

“We’re hoping we can open more doors for more of our students,” said Susan Shore, a veteran math teacher at the district’s Esperanza High School in Anaheim. “You don’t go too far unless you have an algebra base.”

Placentia-Yorba Linda’s board of trustees tentatively approved the policy last month on a unanimous vote. Final adoption is expected Aug. 26. The district serves nearly 25,000 students in Placentia, Yorba Linda and small parts of Anaheim, Brea and Fullerton.

A Times survey of Orange County’s 15 school districts with high schools found that only one, 6,000-student Brea-Olinda Unified, now requires students to pass the equivalent of Algebra I, a basic course commonly taught in eighth or ninth grade.

The state requires two years of mathematics for all high school graduates but does not specify what courses students must take. Some educators say that’s fine.

“All kids are really not the same,” said Dean Waldfogel, a deputy superintendent in Irvine Unified, where algebra is not required but is taken by more than nine out of 10 students. “It is appropriate for different kids to take different paths. The important thing is that all of them are prepared to transition--to universities, community colleges or careers.”

But algebra requirements are gaining acceptance in a small but growing number of school districts across California, said Ruth McKenna, chief deputy superintendent of the state Department of Education. Among them are Elk Grove Unified in Sacramento County and San Francisco Unified, which also is requiring geometry.

Los Angeles Unified School District aims for all students to take algebra or college-prep math in middle school by 2000, a spokesman said, but it has not made algebra a diploma requirement.

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There is no statewide count of districts that require algebra, nor is there a count of students who graduate without having it. One Orange County district, Saddleback Valley Unified, estimates that about 85% of its students take algebra.

“There are many people in California who really do believe that the standards in mathematics need to be raised,” McKenna said. “We’re getting back to the needs of the 21st century work force. Most jobs require a higher level for mathematics and science. We’re really trying to push that.”

In a February report, California’s top education officials proposed new mathematics standards for graduation, including topics such as “number sense,” “symbols and algebra,” “measurement and geometry” and “data analysis.” But the state is a long way from making those proposals diploma requirements.

The renewed emphasis on algebra comes amid widely publicized reports of the mediocre performance of state students on math exams. In March, California State University announced that more than half its first-year students needed remedial math. In February, California eighth-graders were found to have lower overall math scores than their counterparts in 32 states in the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

But the test that most educators cite as a catalyst for stiffer standards was the Third International Mathematics and Science Study. Last fall, the study’s leaders reported that U.S. students were lagging behind many of their global peers and recommended teaching certain skills in more depth. Algebra, the branch of mathematics that enables a person to solve for an unknown by using letters in place of numbers, was high on that list.

Placentia-Yorba Linda officials say most of their students are already taking and passing Algebra I or higher-level courses. But some students satisfy graduation requirements with general math courses that focus on computation or basic business or domestic applications. The number of those students was unavailable.

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Officials acknowledge that students who are in basic math courses often have difficulty with the abstract reasoning required for algebra. Not all are able to handle quadratic equations, which involve a squared variable. And so math teachers are considering a new two-year algebra course that would cover what most students do in one. The district’s plan would take effect for students who enter eighth grade next month, giving teachers a few years to put a new system in place.

“We need to have a safety net,” Supt. James O. Fleming said. “For some kids it may take longer than other kids.”

But Fleming predicts students will do better if more is expected of them. Using a track-and-field metaphor common these days among educators, he said: “We need to raise the bar for all kids.”

Though they do not specifically require algebra, several Orange County school districts ask students to take a third year of math to graduate.

Some also have beefed up their general math courses in high school and taken steps to introduce algebraic ideas in earlier grades. One of those is Capistrano Unified School District, with about 39,000 students in southern Orange County.

“We have created a much richer and more challenging math environment for students who have more difficulty mastering mathematics,” said Patrick Levens, Capistrano’s executive director of secondary instructional services. “But I don’t think we have gotten to the point yet where we’re saying that every student will graduate having taken and passed Algebra I.”

Levens said some students could find an algebra requirement impossible to meet. “You may potentially see dropouts rising,” he said.

Wayne Bishop, a math professor at Cal State Los Angeles and outspoken advocate of traditional math teaching, said algebra is an “absolutely appropriate” requirement for a standard high school degree.

“The biggest reason I want to push for algebra is that it’s so essential for upward educational mobility,” Bishop said. “Once you’re committed to never going anywhere, then it’s probably OK not to have algebra. But it’s slamming a big door.”