A report from the C.D. Howe Institute has found that more Canadian students are struggling in math, with B.C. students showing a steep decline.
“B.C. in particular, there’s been a 42-point decline in math since 2003, and the EQAO (Education Equality and Accountability Office) would equate that to around two years of schooling,” Anna Stokke, the report’s author and a mathematics and statistics professor at the University of Winnipeg, told Global News Morning.
“So it is significant. And in addition to that, more students are struggling. So the share of students performing at the lowest levels in math has doubled. While the share of students performing at the highest levels in math has halved.”
Stokke said that the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international test that is written by 15-year-old students, who need to have a good foundation in math and problem solving in order to excel and that is what the report has found to be lacking in many cases.
“Generally speaking, if you look at the research on problem solving, students have to have a really strong foundation in math to be good problem solvers,” she added.
“So one of the things that I’m recommending is that we focus on that, that we give students a better, strong foundation and that they gain knowledge.
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“The way that you become a good problem solver in math is if you have a wide range of knowledge and you have a lot of techniques in your head for solving problems.”
Stokke said that some of the factors leading to a decline in math literacy in B.C. include the B.C. math curriculum, “which has very vague outcomes for mathematics.”
She said that kids really need to learn fractions, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division by Grade 5 or 6, because it’s important for algebra later on.
“You know, for example, even at Grade 5, it says that it’s not intended that children should memorize math facts, which is terrible,” Stokke added.
“Like it’s really, really critical that students know those basic facts, because it makes later problem solving easier. And the other thing we see is that there’s been a change on the focus in the way math is taught. We see a lot more exploratory math, which may sound really good, but what happens is students don’t get enough practice on math concepts and then they don’t get good at the things that they need to do in math to be able to be ready for math later on.”
B.C.’s education minister defended the B.C. curriculum, saying it has great flexibility.
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“We have here in B.C., our Pathways to Learning for math that allows teachers the ability to be flexible, to not only plan to teach and assess students when it comes to the math curriculum, to ensure we’re getting the best results for students and meeting them where they’re at,” Lisa Beare said.
Stokke also recommended keeping technology out of the classroom during math lessons because math requires a lot of concentration and focus.
“A lot of people have been drawing attention to the detrimental aspects of technology in the classroom,” she added.
“So I do think that’s part of it. But I also think we really need to focus on teaching math well, and making sure students get a lot of practice.”
Taach = teach, edit function when?
Too busy entertaining them to taach them, especially ‘hard’ subjects like maths. It’s MUCH easier to teach them fun things like Photoshop, video editing and photography, music & art — all the subjects that guarantee them a job at McDonald’s…😁
Personally I never made it past elementary school. My teachers told my parents that I was “Special” so they decided to take me out of public school and put me in a special needs program. Now I’m 50 years old and I live by myself. My only interaction with the outside world is the Global BC news comment section. I’m basically a 50 year old man with the mind of a 12 year old. Also watch out for my temper tantrums that I experience daily. The world outside confuses me and it makes me very frustrated. Someone help me please
This article is missing a key component to the decline of math scores which is the fact that school districts are underfunded and thus cannot afford to purchase quality instructional and learning resources. Why isn’t anyone investigating the impact of not being able to afford to buy quality textbooks or other instructional materials?
Take away standardised evaluation of both the teachers and students and this is what you get. You’ve now a decade plus of highschool graduates whose math skills are the lowest in the country. Bravo!
Stop with new aged PC soft parenting and teaching approaches here in BC. It doesn’t prepare them to meet the rest of the world who isn’t teaching like this.
“allows teachers the ability to be flexible, to not only plan to teach and assess students when it comes to the math curriculum, to ensure we’re getting the best results for students and meeting them where they’re at”
Meaning teach to the lowest common denominators and preformers in the class. Or more than likely teach in way that is the least amount of work for the teacher themselves. The combination of both is why in BC we are falling behind.
The NDP destroyed test scores in MB too
No surprise with the standard of teachers we have in our education system time to evaluate them on their teaching performance then our education system might improve.