County math results mixed

By CHERYL K. CHUMLEY

For the third year running, 90 percent of Prince William third-graders passed their Standards of Learning math tests.

But for the first time in five years, students of this exam "fell below the state average for advanced ranking," said parent Greg Barlow.

And that, he says, is proof Math Investigations—an elementary curriculum Barlow would like to see removed, or at least supplemented and offered as an option—isn't working.

"What happened [with the passing rate] is that we are basically just holding our own," he said. "We're at the same place as last year, and this is the program they said was so great. But the overall pass rate was flatlined."

To county elementary math coordinator Linda Zborofsky, however, the flatline is really indicative of success.

"The third-grade math scores were good," she said. "For the first year of implementation of a new program, they stayed the same, and that's good."

Zborofsky also found fault with Barlow's interpretation of figures pointing to the dwindling number of students who pass the math test with advanced, rather than just proficient, scores.

For this most recent 2007-08 test of third-graders, 49 percent passed the math SOL with an advanced score, com-pared to the state average of 51 percent. However, in previous consecutive school years, between 2002-03 and 2006-07, third-graders in Prince William surpassed the state average for advanced scores in math.

At the same time, fourth- and fifth-graders who were not taught the Investigations curriculum did beat the state proficiency average in the most recent SOL math tests—by an 88 percent to 84 percent margin in fourth grade, and 91 percent to 88 percent margin in fifth grade, results indicate. These students also beat state averages for advanced math scores, according to test results.

"I look for trends," Barlow said. "Something's not quite right."

To point fingers at Investigations for any dip in advanced-rate scores, however, is erroneous, Zborofsky said. While it's true, the numbers of third-graders passing math with advanced scores have been declining for years, Math Investigations could not possibly be to blame because the program wasn't implemented in the third grade until this past school year, she said.

That means previous years' drops can only be reflective of traditional teaching methods in math, Zborofsky said.

One point to note: Barlow's viewpoint comes by way of comparing county scores with statewide averages. Zborofsky's is a look only at county third-grade SOL math scores for the past few years. Beginning with the 2002-03 school year, 49 percent of county third-graders passed the math SOL with an advanced score. That was followed by percentage rates of 53, then 61; then 56; and twice in a row, 49.

On a statewide level, 47 percent of third-graders passed the math SOLs in 2002-03 with advanced scores. For the next three years, that number stood at 52 percent, followed by 48 percent in 2006-07 and 51 percent in the latest year, 2007-08.

Three school board members contacted for additional comment did not return calls in time for deadline.

Investigations is an elementary curriculum that replaces memorization of basic facts, like multiplication tables, with a less rigid, more illustrative and explanatory approach. Children are sometimes required to draw pictures of their addition problems, for instance.

Last year, Barlow and several other concerned parents started a Web site and petition drive to compel the School Board to remove the program from the schools, or at the very least give teachers the freedom to supplement it with more traditional teaching methods.

School Board members, along with the superintendent and his staff, issued several statements of support for the program—though a few board members did begin to express concern with the number and content of complaints received by e-mail. As such, a voting majority on the board finally sought a work session to be scheduled after SOL scores were released.

On Sept. 17, that work session will go forth, and it's expected these SOL results will be part and parcel of discussions.

Staff writer Cheryl Chumley can be reached at 703-670-1907.