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Depth stressed to boost math, science performance
Wednesday, December 06, 2000 By Eleanor Chute, Post-Gazette Education Writer
Correction/Clarification: (Published Dec. 7, 2000) Carnegie Learning's Algebra 1 Cognitive Tutor is a computer-based algebra program being used in some area schools. The program's name was incorrect in a story in yesterday's editions on international math and science test results.
Fifth-grader Jessica Boff never realized how much fat was in a potato chip until she saw the oil stain on the paper bags of chips the class tasted while they learned about fat in food.
At Carnegie Elementary School in the Carlynton School District, teacher Arlene Esterburg then gave the class a chance to experiment, trying to see if an oily stain would be left on a piece of a brown paper bag by flour, rice, apples, coconut, peanuts, egg whites, onion and granola.
Fifth-grader Lauren Chapman said she was surprised to find that peanuts left oil on the paper.
"I thought they were really dry," she said.
The Carnegie Elementary class uses the ASSET science program, which was started in cooperation with Bayer Corp. in 1992 and is used in 69 school districts in a nine-county region.
More and more hands-on experiments that turn pupils into scientific investigators are being done in local classrooms as educators try to improve science programs.
Some of the efforts in both science and math are using results from international studies as road maps or as confirmation that schools are on the right track.
Yesterday, the results of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study-Repeat -- known as TIMSS-R -- were released, showing that America's eighth-graders still are largely outperformed by children in industrialized Asian and European nations.
The test's predecessor -- TIMSS -- reported on fourth-graders in 1995, so the newer test offered the opportunity to compare the performance of those pupils four years later, as eighth-graders.
In addition to measuring student performance in math and science, the 1999 study also looked at students' study habits, activities in the classroom and teachers' instructional practices, preparation and belief about their teaching abilities.
Local educators said they are most interested in what the study says about the differences in curricula in countries that perform strongly on the test.
"It's not all about the horse race of who is first, but it's what we can learn from it," said Richard Mathews, assistant director of science for the Pittsburgh Public Schools.
Nancy Bunt, executive director of the Collaborative for Learning, which includes the Math and Science Collaborative, said, "We want to know what do we do to get there. TIMSS really has acted as a road map for us, and I think TIMSS-R will do the same."
The 1995 TIMSS, for example, pinpointed physical science as a weakness for middle school students. The Math and Science Collaborative -- in partnership with the Carnegie Science Center, PPG Industries and Carnegie Mellon University -- has launched a project dubbed Focus to address that.
It singled out three major concepts in physical science, identified exemplary materials and encouraged teachers to work together to strengthen instruction.
One of the criticisms raised in the previous study was that the American math and science curricula are a mile wide and an inch deep. Some high-achieving countries emphasize fewer topics in more depth.
While ASSET already was on this road before the 1995 TIMSS study, its lessons try to increase the depth of curriculum.
The Carnegie Elementary class is working on food chemistry, which includes testing for starch, glucose and protein. It's one of four modules they'll do this year.
At Avonworth Elementary, where pupils did pendulum experiments this week, fifth-grade teacher Amy Besterman said pupils remembered what they learn rather than forgetting it after a test.
"It's not Chapter 2 is over in a week, and we move on to a different topic. It is nine weeks of studying," she said.
In a recent study, 1,500 fifth-graders in 29 districts in the ASSET program took 20 questions selected from the earlier TIMSS. They were compared with students in a group of high-achieving countries and the United States.
The results showed that students fared better than the international group's average on most questions. It also showed that those who had ASSET programs longer often fared better than those who had used the program for fewer years.
The study was done by Reeny Davison, executive director of ASSET, and Kalyani Raghavan, research associate at the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh.
The ASSET program also includes extensive teacher training. Teachers who had at least 100 hours of ASSET training were rated significantly better on classroom observations, said Davison.
While the ASSET comparison with TIMSS only involves selected questions from the previous test, there will be a regional comparison on the full TIMSS-R available in April.
Students in a sample of schools in the 11-county region took the TIMSS-R. Their scores will be compared with the international measures.
Diane Briars, assistant director for mathematics in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, said the city school district already had begun moving in a new direction in math before the 1995 TIMSS was done, but the district's approach of emphasizing problem solving and concepts over rote memorization can be found in high-achieving nations.
Mathews said the TIMSS report -- which the district uses along with national and state standards and other reports -- has helped the district to focus its curriculum.
While some city schools for years have used hands-on science modules similar to those in ASSET, this year all elementary pupils are using such kits.
The district this year also was named to receive a $5 million National Science Foundation grant for professional development for teachers in science and math.
In math, the earlier TIMSS study showed that students in some high-achieving countries were introduced to algebraic concepts earlier than in the United States.
The Math and Science Collaborative yesterday announced it has received $2 million in grants from the Heinz Endowments aimed at expanding algebra offerings. The money will help to provide districts, on a sliding-scale fee, with a computer-based program known as Carnegie Learning's Algebra 1 Cognitive Tutor.
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