Tuesday, Sep. 02, 2008

Algebra I mandate requires teachers

Now that the state has mandated Algebra 1 for all eighth-graders within three years, a deeply entrenched problem has become even more urgent: California does not have enough qualified teachers of mathematics.

Districts recognize the problem and are doing what they can to cultivate more teachers. So are universities. And the number of math teachers emerging from colleges has been going up.

The University of California at Merced last year added an education minor to help funnel more math and science students to the teacher education program at California State University, Stanislaus.

Students earn credits that can be used toward the CSU Stanislaus education program.

About 10 percent of secondary education graduates at CSU, Stanislaus, go on to teach math at the middle and high school level, and 5 percent will teach science. Officials hope to double those percentages through the new program.

At California State University, Sacramento, a small but growing number of students have signed up to join the profession. Among them is Isabel Montoya, a 20-year-old from Monterey County with enough idealism to inspire the most math-averse adolescent, and Roy Baty, a 60-old retired school maintenance worker from Citrus Heights, northeast of Sacramento, with an affinity for numbers and teaching.

Overall, however, the looming shortage of math teachers stands as one of the biggest difficulties facing schools in coming years.

33,000 more may be needed

In all, nearly 100,000 teachers of all types are expected to retire in the next decade, said Margaret Gaston, president and executive director of the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning, a nonprofit organization in Santa Cruz.

According to the center, the state may need more than 33,000 new math and science teachers, two of the toughest categories to fill, at the middle and high school levels in the next decade. At least 3,000 new teachers will be needed within three years to teach eighth-grade algebra. In addition, 1,000 current teachers of eighth-grade algebra are either underprepared or teaching "out-of-field" and will need further training.

In California, becoming a teacher of Algebra 1 or higher requires that students major in math or take on a substantial body of college-level math course work as well as complete credentialing requirements.

"In math, it really matters that the teacher knows the subject matter well," Gaston said. "The need is such that recruiting new teachers alone will not be enough. We also really need to retrain the teachers we have."

The call for all eighth-graders to be tested in Algebra 1 has increased the urgency, she said.

The state Board of Education approved the new requirement in July. Currently, about half of all eighth-graders in California take the course, far more than other states. But among those enrolled, just two out of five perform at a proficient level on tests. In addition, the other half of eighth-graders still struggle with basic sixth- and seventh-grade math skills.

As a result, district leaders and principals are scrambling to train elementary teachers to make sure younger children are ready for Algebra 1 by eighth grade. And they are training and recruiting in upper grades in anticipation of more high schoolers taking more math courses.

At the same time, colleges and universities are ramping up teacher preparation programs.

The California State University system, which produces many of the state's teachers, launched a "Mathematics and Science Teacher Initiative" three years ago. The goal is to double the annual production of math and science teachers from 750 in 2002-03 to 1,500 by 2009-10.

The initiative has seen steady progress, said Joan Bissell, who directs the effort in the CSU Office of the Chancellor.

"We've had a very large increase in the number of math teachers coming out of CSU," she said. "The campuses have worked very hard on this initiative."

In 2002-03, the state college system produced 349 credentialed math teachers. Four years later, the number stood at 788, she said.

A perfect fit for some

Scott Farrand, a Cal State Sacramento professor of mathematics, is involved in the efforts to develop new math teachers, as well as train those already in classrooms. Math, he said, is one of the more challenging majors.

Among his students is Montoya, a junior math major who grew up south of Salinas in the small town of Greenfield. Her parents are farmworkers. She got hooked on math the summer before high school when an inspiring teacher prepared her to take Algebra 1.

This summer, Montoya took a job at Sacramento State working with incoming college freshmen interested in engineering. She is helping strengthen their critical thinking skills.

The job gave Montoya a taste of what it would be like to be a teacher.

"The first week, I was like, 'Wow, I have my own students,' " she said, beaming.

The fit, she said, was perfect: "I want to do this for the rest of my life."