I recently read that only 18% of the adults in our country can calculate how much a carpet will cost if they know the size of the room and the per-yard price of the carpet. This was written in response to another mediocre performance by American students on the math portion of an international test. For our students, math is their tested area of lowest performance with about 1 in 5 students failing to score proficient on the state’s annual exam. When looking for an answer for why our students do not do better in math, there are lots of places to point. I feel however, that a new study by researchers at the University of Missouri (http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0054651) is our best place to start. The study found that students who have a good understanding of numbers before entering kindergarten will have more math success later in school than do their peers who do not.
We use federal Title I funds to offer preschool to about a third of our four year olds. These students receive regular instruction in math to help them learn that a number represents a quantity and that there are relationships among numbers. This is a critical first skill for young students gaining math literacy. It is unfortunate that we can only afford to offer this preschool opportunity to less than half of our four year olds. I feel it is time for Alaska to join the vast majority of other states in our country and supply funds for preschool. As a way to make this palatable to our legislators, the state could require a partial local match of federal funds so that all 4-year olds have the opportunity for preschool. I don’t feel it is appropriate to make preschool attendance mandatory, we do however, need to ensure that more of our 4 year olds have this opportunity. This change would go a long way toward helping the 20% of our students who are not proficient have success in math.
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Preschool and Math
I recently read that only 18% of the adults in our country can calculate how much a carpet will cost if they know the size of the room and the per-yard price of the carpet. This was written in response to another mediocre performance by American students on the math portion of an international test. For our students, math is their tested area of lowest performance with about 1 in 5 students failing to score proficient on the state’s annual exam. When looking for an answer for why our students do not do better in math, there are lots of places to point. I feel however, that a new study by researchers at the University of Missouri (http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0054651) is our best place to start. The study found that students who have a good understanding of numbers before entering kindergarten will have more math success later in school than do their peers who do not.
We use federal Title I funds to offer preschool to about a third of our four year olds. These students receive regular instruction in math to help them learn that a number represents a quantity and that there are relationships among numbers. This is a critical first skill for young students gaining math literacy. It is unfortunate that we can only afford to offer this preschool opportunity to less than half of our four year olds. I feel it is time for Alaska to join the vast majority of other states in our country and supply funds for preschool. As a way to make this palatable to our legislators, the state could require a partial local match of federal funds so that all 4-year olds have the opportunity for preschool. I don’t feel it is appropriate to make preschool attendance mandatory, we do however, need to ensure that more of our 4 year olds have this opportunity. This change would go a long way toward helping the 20% of our students who are not proficient have success in math.