Math academies + support = change in East Bay student performance
- August 2, 2010
Connie Cobb this summer has seen her 14-year-old son, Ryan, rediscover his confidence when it comes to solving math problems, thanks to a combined effort from Cal State East Bay, the Alameda County Office of Education and area school district educators.
Ryan, who will attend Livermore High School as a freshman in the fall, is one of 350 students throughout the Bay Area who participated in math academies that concluded Friday. Educators in the next three years will review testing data and track student progress to make sure the youths continue to sharpen their math skills.
"(Ryan's) biggest improvement is his attitude," Cobb said. "There was a point where he was very discouraged. He now has an attitude that he can get it right and understand it."
The Mathematics Achievement Academies, launched in June, are intended to strengthen the math skills of underserved students planning to attend college.
The program is funded for three years by Chevron, which invested $1.5 million to help create academies for middle and high school students in Richmond, Oakland, Dublin, Fremont, Hayward, Livermore and the Rodeo and Concord areas.
Each academy, with classes held three hours a day, lasted five weeks. Educators focused on preparing students for advanced mathematics, including algebra and geometry.
"We found by offering a rigorous program, kids knew they were learning something and wanted to come back everyday," said Philip Gonsalves, who is heavily involved in the project as a mathematics lecturer at Cal State East Bay, a mathematics coordinator at the Alameda County Office of Education and executive director of the Alameda County Collaborative for Learning and Instruction in Mathematics, or ACCLAIM.
"A lot of summer programs historically were seat time, get your units and move on," Gonsalves said. "This was not that. The attitude is that you are coming to get educated."
Teachers for the program were provided by ACCLAIM. In addition, each academy included college mentors who helped students on an individual basis.
Dolores Martinez was so surprised to see the positive improvements in her son, Andre Nakano, that she e-mailed Gonsalves shortly after the academies launched.
"I don't know what you're doing in class, but my son is coming home very enthusiastic about school," Martinez said in the e-mail. "I haven't seen him this way in so long."
Andre, 14, will attend College Park High School in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District in the fall.
"He was coming home and actually showing me and sharing what he learned, which is exciting in itself," Martinez said. "I'm grateful because I was concerned that Andre would not finish school because he just was not interested. I am now excited for his future."
A change in attitude for students is not the only positive feedback educators are seeing in the academies.
Preliminary results show most students were averaging 90 percent or better in math tests, Gonsalves said.
"This is going to be a model we can show to other state universities and county offices of education on how to pull together and support kids directly," Gonsalves said.
Officials are looking to expand the academies throughout Contra Costa County.
For more information, call Philip Gonsalves at 510-670-4214 or contact a participating local school district.
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