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Randy Houchins7921 Castle Peak Trail, Austin, TX 78726

[email protected]: (512) 415-0019

22 Jul 2016 State Board of Education Testimony

Many parents were encouraged after the discussions on Math TEKS during the April 2016 meeting. Some were upset that the review could not take place over the summer as the 2015 sample questions have been released. This frustration was the impetus for the petition that is circulating. I was not the originator of the petition, but I did sign it.

I want to thank this Board for setting up a math work session in September. Since this will not be a public meeting and you are going to bring in members of the team that wrote and reviewed these standards, I encourage you to get input from Dr. Milgram.

Listening to Wednesday’s meeting, Mr. Morath threw it back to you saying, “As in all matters of the standards it is the purview of the SBOE… and we support you in any way y’all decide to go.” It is clear to the public that if anything is to be done it will be done by this Board.

From the Wednesday meeting it seems that Mr. Morath believes that it is only the Process Standards and a classroom implementation problem in math, but this is incorrect. Yes, the “Process Standards” are outside of the particular core Content/ core Knowledge area (I wish he hadn’t used the word “Core…”) The Process Standards muddy the issue and are not necessary to be in the standards to teach any of the Content knowledge. As Dr. Milgram stated, “There is no process that works for problem solving unless you understand the actual subject matter you are talking about.” Processes work in conjunction with knowledge of subject matter, not in place of it.

It is not just the Process Standards as I identified in the report I gave to you in April. The Content Standards also call out multiple methods and use the word “including.” This means these methods must be taught and as I demonstrated these methodologies are showing up on the STAAR Assessments.

As a reminder I have include one example from my April report where a 3rd grade content TEK calls for seven methods to be taught for solving one-step and two-step problems involving multiplication and division within 100.

Note the seven methods are called out in the Content standard. One could say that if each process standard must be taught for each of these methods there are 49 things that must be taught for this one TEK…

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From my April Report:

Question 11 is a good question testing straight forward math, but look at how the TEK is worded. There are actually 7 ways this TEK could have been tested; pictorial models, arrays, area models, and equal groups, properties of operations, or recall of facts. This particular test question is good, but the other five of seven methods that could have been tested are not good… Properties of operations or recall of facts are the only two methods here that will benefit the student in upper grade levels.

TEK 3.4 K states: (Readiness Content Standard)(4) Number and operations. The student applies mathematical process standards to

develop and use strategies and methods for whole number computations in order to solve problems with efficiency and accuracy. The student is expected to:(K) solve one-step and two-step problems involving multiplication and division

within 100 using strategies based on objects; pictorial models, including arrays, area models, and equal groups; properties of operations; or recall of facts.

TEK 3.1 A, B & F states: (Process Standard)(1) Mathematical process standards. The student uses mathematical processes to

acquire and demonstrate mathematical understanding. The student is expected to:(A) apply mathematics to problems arising in everyday life, society, and the

workplace;(B) use a problem-solving model that incorporates analyzing given information,

formulating a plan or strategy, determining a solution, justifying the solution and evaluating the problem-solving process and the reasonableness of the solution;

(F) analyze mathematical relationships to connect and communicate mathematical ideas; and

It will take more than a streamline to correct what is wrong in the Math TEKS.

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When you bring in your panel for the September work session don’t take the “experts” word that this reform math is better… Make them produce research where it has been proven to work. They should produce independent research that has nothing to do with the people developing, writing or selling the material. This is where their argument falls apart.

There is no research that this reform mathematics pedagogy works; at least not to teach mathematics… This reform education pedagogy is an ideology with its roots in social justice and equal outcomes whether those that are implementing it in the classroom understand that or not.

This is why the math academies for teachers this summer will not solve the problem. Training in how to teach bad math will not help the fact that it is still BAD MATH! This is not an implementation problem. The problem of falling test scores should not be blamed on the teachers.

I know I am out of time, but please take a look at the data I have found on tests scores and minimum passing scores for STAAR mathematics.

Thank you.

Competency Based Education, Collaborative Learning, Project Based Learning:

Collaborative learning forces those students that already know a concept to teach the other children in the group instead of moving on to the next skill. They are held back and not allowed to excel. This is what “Equal Outcomes” looks like in the classroom.

Just as Carole Haynes said in Tuesday’s testimony, Collaboration is a methodology…

How do you measure collaboration? Isn’t it a subjective measurement? None of the testifiers on Monday provided the rubric of how students would be assessed. I recommend that the rubrics be evaluated.

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NAEP Trends in Math Scores

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8th grade NAEP scores from 1990 to 2015 Texas versus Nation.

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8th grade NAEP scores from 1990 to 2015 by percentile.

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4th grade NAEP scores from 1990 to 2015 Texas versus Nation.

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4th grade NAEP scores from 1990 to 2015 by percentile.

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The Following Charts were created from data from the TEA Website:http://tea.texas.gov/student.assessment/staar/convtables/

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http://tea.texas.gov/student.assessment/staar/convtables/



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Here is a table that shows the percentage of questions testing a “process” and not content knowledge of the released questions in 2015.

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The TEA issued a report with a title “Passing rates rose on 13 of 17 STAAR exams for grades 3-8 when compared to 2015 standards”

This sounds really good unless you understand the deception of the added “when compared to 2015 standards.”

For grade 8 on the 2015 (spring) assessments to pass you had to get 24/56 correct. In 2016 (spring) assessments to pass you had to get 25/56 correct. This is when using their Level II phase in 1 values for 2015. If you used Level II phase in 2 values or phase in 3 values you would find the math passing rates went down. Why are we not using phase in 2 or phase in 3 values in this report? So if you use the cut score of 2015 on 2016 assessments it shows it went up even though the 2016 rates are actually down for all grades but 4 and flat for 5th in math.

What is more important to take away from this report is, “At the higher passing standard, passing rates were up on six assessments and down or flat on 11.”

And, if you look at the previous chart, for some reason the 4th grade assessment released questions in 2015 had fewer “process” questions than the other grades. Does the same pattern hold true in 2016? Is this why 2016 4th grade is the only group that shows improvement?

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The Process Standards in the 2012 TEKS

(1) Mathematical process standards. The student uses mathematical processes to acquire and demonstrate mathematical understanding. The student is expected to:(A) apply mathematics to problems arising in everyday life, society, and the

workplace;(B) use a problem-solving model that incorporates analyzing given information,

formulating a plan or strategy, determining a solution, justifying the solution, and evaluating the problem-solving process and the reasonableness of the solution;

(C) select tools, including real objects, manipulatives, paper and pencil, and technology as appropriate, and techniques, including mental math, estimation, and number sense as appropriate, to solve problems;

(D) communicate mathematical ideas, reasoning, and their implications using multiple representations, including symbols, diagrams, graphs, and language as appropriate;

(E) create and use representations to organize, record, and communicate mathematical ideas;

(F) analyze mathematical relationships to connect and communicate mathematical ideas; and

(G) display, explain, and justify mathematical ideas and arguments using precise mathematical language in written or oral communication.

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