ReformK12.com: 18 Students Ace Math SAT in one school

18 Students Ace Math SAT in one school

January 29, 2004

This just in from the Arizona Republic (via Education News):

Four years ago, math teacher Larry Strom told then-freshman Cristina White that she would ace the math portion of her SATs.

White never forgot her teacher's words and, sure enough, the Desert Vista High School senior recently nailed a perfect math score on the test.

"I wasn't surprised at all," White said of her flawless test score.

Turns out eighteen students at this one school got a perfect 800 on the math SAT. This got our attention. Is this school just mechanically turning out standardized-test-taking drones, or is there more to this story? The Desert Vista High School Math Department webpage gives us a little glimpse as to what's going on at that school.

Welcome to the Desert Vista High School Math Department. I’m Larry Strom, the math department chair and I feel we provide the best math education in the world for all students.

Our school is 8 years old. We have great math students.

A simple message, but there's elegance in simplicity, and they've got the data to prove it. The past four years they've either placed first, second or third in the state on the Math portion of the Stanford-9. But the school's success isn't just measured in standardized test scores, they also field very strong teams in assorted state-wide math competitions.

So how do they do it?

One goal we have at ReformK12 is to find schools that are meeting success, and to learn from what they do. Desert Vista gives us a few clues.

A homework policy with teeth. Refuse to do homework, and get removed from class. Doing homework doesn't cost anything, but is essential to success in any scientifically-based course such as higher math. If a school insists that students do homework, students can and will rise to the challenge.

Strict promotion guidelines. No social promotion in Desert Vista math, no sir. Not only must students have a C to advance to the next course, but must score a 50% or higher on the math final. And we're pretty sure they stick to their guns on this one, for to do otherwise would set up the child to fail.

Proper role of calculators. Any calculus teacher will tell you, modern graphing calculators are absolutely amazing. There are activities you can do with students in the teaching of higher math that can really expand student's math horizons, and are impossible without them.

Having said that, at Desert Vista, calculators are not permitted in any math course geometry or below. They seem to know that students must have a solid foundation in paper-and-pencil computations, before going higher. Once a student has that foundation, then bring on the technology!

Extra assistance. Before school and after school "ask any teacher" math help is available for a total of two and a half hours each day. Successful programs know that not everyone will get the skills in the classroom, and many students need extra help. If a school is relentless about student success, they will help those students--nine thousand per year at Desert Vista--at any time.

Other factors. Being strict with students who don't come to class, maintaining constant communication between school and home and students, and using high-quality textbooks also contribute to their success. And all the recent drama over honor rolls? These folks publish the list of the top math students, with their scores. How refreshing.

High Standards. Sure, it's a lot of work. Having and maintaining high standards always is. But the results speak for themselves. But more than hard work, there seems to be a relentless pursuit of success in math at Desert Vista. Mr. Strom's telling a freshman that four years later she'd ace the SAT test is just an anecdote, but a telling one.

It is difficult to put one's finger on what quality that infects this school's math program with such energy, but we dare say it's optimism. They say they hired only those expert math teachers "who know the math, who can teach anyone math."

Lots of people know math. Lots of people can teach math. But it is a special quality to teach anyone math, to have the intangible feeling, deep in one's bones, that no matter what happens, the students can and will succeed in mathematics.

Let's hope other schools can learn from Desert Vista's self-fulfilling prophesy.

Posted by ceb into Education Reform , Math Education , Success Stories
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Comments

Just out of curiosity, which high-quality textbooks are they using? If you know, that is.

Wacky Hermit January 29, 2004 08:44 AM

Note what is also on the math department web page: the claim that they have eliminated gender and racial gaps in math achievement.

The webpages don't indicate what textbooks they use, but let me tell you as one with math degrees and experience teaching math: it doesn't matter. Few people can teach themselves math from textbooks, no matter how good the texts are. And the best teachers don't need textbooks to tell them how to teach. The textbooks tend to be a source for homework for some teachers.

The best math classes I had didn't even have textbooks - and that goes for high school (a class on Fractals -- we used a variety of books as sources; a class on math modeling which had no books whatsoever) as well as college (one prof told us to sell the required text back to the bookstore, it was horrible -- we would just go by class notes).

meep January 29, 2004 09:51 AM

I take that back. The department head has textbook references on his pages:

Brief Calculus
Finite Math
Geometry
Statistics

meep January 29, 2004 09:53 AM

Where do they find so many teachers who understand math well enough to teach it to this level? Is this a private school or otherwise exempt from teacher certification requirements, plus able to pay enough to hire top-of-the-class math majors?

markm January 29, 2004 05:53 PM

I wonder how well the kids do in other courses at the school - I mean they can be math whizzes but do they read or write well? Do they know any American or world history? I question how well rounded these kids can be if there is such a strong emphasis on one subject...
Jaime Escalante also had fabulous result teaching students math...inner city kids too...
but anyway kudos to this school they are doing something right..

Judy Aron January 30, 2004 01:41 PM

I beg to differ on the textbook issue. While it is true that any decent textbook can be used to successfully teach math, there are plenty of indecent textbooks out there that cannot be used to teach math because they contain very little math of any sort. The latest constructivist NCTM-compliant textbooks look like they were written by people with a certificate in graphic arts design (no offense to those hardworking people, but a certificate in graphic arts design hardly qualifies one to write a math textbook). The designers must have been given the directive to make the pictures as eye-poppingly bright as possible to distract people from the fact that there aren't more than half a dozen actual math problems in any given section. You can't teach math out of such a textbook. You'd be better off without one.

Ultimately there has to be a source for the exercises that the students do for practice. If you don't have the time to make up your own (i.e. write your own textbook), you'll have to copy them from somewhere. If it isn't the official class textbook, it'll be another textbook. If you don't have a textbook that contains these, whether you or someone else writes it, then you will not be able to successfully teach most basic math concepts. So choice of textbook does make a difference.

Wacky Hermit January 30, 2004 03:08 PM

At the risk of generalizing on the basis of last names of their high achievement list, I'd say that the math accomplishments may be heavily racially non-representative.

The school may be academically advantaged by having a large number of new immigrants in its population who are willing to put in the effort to succeed.

Tom West February 1, 2004 10:10 AM

Keep in mind that when it was built 8 years ago, no expense was spared. I recall $50 million plus to build. Also, DV is located in the mythical town of Awatuhkee (development in Phoenix, AZ) which has extremely high property values. There is significant competition to get kids into DV, as I'm sure the best teachers want to teach there. I've seen this pattern in other towns I've lived in. Miami, FL, Columbus OH. The district uses the laws of supply and demand to create a fantastic school. Unfortunately - the story is very different at the districts' other schools.

One last shot in my rant!

An 800 on math SAT is not that big of a deal, especially if these kids aren't being taught to think critically and have some level of discernment regarding what is important in life. My homeschooled daughter achieved a perfect score on PSAT math at the age of 13. But that accomplishment pales in significance to the education she is getting that no standardized test can truly measure.

Dave February 7, 2004 04:15 PM

A few comments. And no, I'm not kidding about my username. (Read the article....)

1) My verbal score is 750. I am a National Merit Scholar. I play pick-up basketball. I have a part-time job. Any more questions about being well rounded?

2) Gender gap is definitely closed. Not so sure about race gap....

3) It was never the textbook. It was my teachers and my talent.

4) Desert Vista is not exceptional. It's just the few dozens of students leading the pack that create its reputation.

5) It's spelled Ahwatukee. And yes, most people are not short on cash out here. Not me, unfortunately....

6) Home-schooling scars children for life.

Out. (Or adios, if you prefer....)

First Hispanic April 28, 2004 04:39 AM