AprilNewsletter


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


NEWSLETTER

 

APRIL 2002
 

 

Many California teachers have requested a diagnostic test for use in the course preceding Algebra I.

The work has begun.


 

A New MDTP Test

 

Over the last twenty-five years MDTP has developed a series of multiple-choice diagnostic tests starting with a Calculus Readiness test.  The most elementary test currently available is the Algebra Readiness test.  MDTP tests at more elementary levels are more widely used, partly because there are simply more elementary math courses.  Each new test has presented a challenge partially because the knowledge and skills considered essential for success at that level are less clearly defined. And, each new test has inevitably brought requests for a diagnostic tool to measure readiness for the preceding course.

 

Continuing this pattern, the MDTP workgroup is in the process of creating an entirely new test from the ground up.  It is planned to be useful for teachers working with students in a course immediately preceding Algebra, with its greatest demand expected to be in seventh and eighth grades.  As most districts mandate Algebra 1 for all students, frequently in eighth grade, seventh grade becomes the last chance to complete a student’s preparation for an algebra course.  Our goal in developing this new diagnostic tool is to help affected teachers by giving them specific information about the strengths and weaknesses of their entering students in areas that are precursors of later success in algebra.

 

A Three or Four-year Process

 

For MDTP, test creation is at least a three-year process.  The initial steps in creating the new test were taken last summer, with the writing of more than fifty new items (questions).  Each item is based on an important standard that should have been mastered by students at the end of the sixth grade.  Recall that the MDTP diagnostic tests do not cover all the material expected to be learned in a course.  Rather, the tests are limited to those topics considered essential to further progress in mathematics.

 

The first test of any new item is that it should have “face validity.”  That is, it should look like it is an appropriate question.  Since the workgroup has consisted of university and high school faculty, it was supplemented with three outstanding middle school teachers, Firoza Kanji of Los Angeles, Pat King of Davis, and Ellen Windus of Santa Monica.  They helped with item creation and provided expert advice on questions of face validity.

 

The fifty new items chosen have been combined with “equators” from MDTP’s Algebra Readiness test and have been split into two forms for field testing.  Equators are highly effective items with a statistical history that allows test makers to compare test forms.  They are useful in several ways.  For example, if students we expect to be good because of their success with equators consistently have difficulty with a particular new item, then that item needs careful review and may need to be replaced.  The two thirty-five-item tests have been administered to several thousand students who are enrolled in, what for them, is the course preceding algebra.  They will be asked to take the Algebra Readiness test as a post-test this spring.  The assembled data will then be ready for the workgroup this summer.

 

The Next Steps

 

While the first round of field-testing focused on individual items, this summer’s goal is to produce a complete test that is balanced by topic area and difficulty.  Experienced teachers know that not every question elicits the information expected from students, and our new multiple choice questions are no exception.  Some will be discarded outright for being too easy, too difficult, or clearly confusing to students.  Others will require some modification in the wording or in the distracters (incorrect answer choices) and survive to be used in the revised test.  Some entirely new items may be needed.

 

The new test will be administered as a field test to students in courses immediately preceding Algebra during the 2002-03 school year.  Again we hope to have several thousand students from diverse locations and circumstances as field testers.  This second field-test will be more extensive and complex than the field-test of items.  We will want the students to take a post-test at the end of next year, indicating their readiness for algebra at that time.  We will also want the student’s teachers in algebra the following year to let us know how the students are doing in algebra and to give them a further post-test for our use near the end of their algebra course.  We would very much appreciate any volunteers for participation in this process from mathematics departments in schools that teach a significant portion of their students both a course immediately preceding algebra and algebra the next year.  The data collected from the second field test next year will be analyzed and ready for use at the workgroup meeting in the summer of 2003.  The goal at that workgroup meeting will be to make a preliminary review of the test to see if any changes are still needed to produce a test that will meet our standards for reliability and validity.  If all goes well, a test will be ready for release in the fall of 2004.

 

 

Why MDTP Exists

 

It bears repeating that one of MDTP’s goals is to produce low-stakes diagnostic materials for the math teachers of California.  The test development process is largely funded by the University of California and The California State University.  MDTP’s distribution of materials and direct services to California teachers and students are funded by the State of California through the California Academic Partnership Program.

 

MDTP diagnostic materials are not suitable as course final exams.  They can provide some information that may be helpful for placement in courses, but only if other measures are also used and the course placement that results helps a student continue to progress toward or through a college preparatory mathematics curriculum.

 

The importance of the words “low stakes” cannot be overemphasized.  A comparison to high stakes exams reveals that these tests:

·        require minimal vs. maximal security.

·        have a “true score” vs. a high score as a goal.

·        discourage “teaching to the test” vs. almost requiring it.

All MDTP tests are designed to be used by classroom teachers in helping focus some of their instruction on topics that are critical for continued success in learning mathematics.  They provide useful information to teachers and students and help create opportunities for all students to learn more mathematics.

 

 

State Superintendent/Board Statement On Algebra Readiness

 

On 4 September 2001, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and the President of the State Board of Education issued a letter on "Readiness for Algebra I" to county and district superintendents and principals of middle and high schools, among others. Since many mathematics teachers may be interested in its contents, here is a brief summary.

The purpose of the letter was to "clarify and review the intent of the Mathematics Framework ... as it relates to the expectation that students will be taught algebra in grade eight." The letter refers to a discussion of assessing student readiness for algebra on pages 198 and 199 of the Mathematics Framework. The letter further states that "For students not yet ready to tackle algebra by grade eight, local education agencies need to offer interventions and instructional programs that transition these students to algebra quickly." The thrust of the statement includes the importance of quickly moving instructional programs to the point where most students will be ready for algebra in 8th grade while acknowledging that students who are not ready for algebra should be given assistance through instructional programs but not forced into algebra courses.

 

 

Written Response Uses in Chula Vista

 

For the last two years Chula Vista High School, in the San Diego area, has used written response questions to assess mastery of the key standards in each of its core math classes.  The prompts for each class are selected by the department chair and course leaders; some are chosen from released MDTP and Golden State items and some prompts and rubrics are created by the teachers.

 

After the questions have been administered, teachers meet in a full-day session on a selected Saturday to grade the student work.  Scores of zero through four are assigned using the traditional MDTP scoring model.  After discussion and review of the locally written rubrics, “anchor” or model responses are selected, and the papers are scored in groups.  Each paper is scored, hopefully twice, and then is returned to the teachers along with the scoring guide and example, or anchor papers.

 

The scoring day itself is funded as a contractual “buy-back day.” Since teachers have found the time they spent discussing student work to be a stimulating collegial experience, each of these scoring days has been well attended. Back in the classroom, students are interested in seeing how their own work measures up to the anchor papers, and several teachers have commented that students now seem to be presenting more work when they are asked to respond to questions of this nature.

 

 

In Transition: New Faces at MDTP

Barbara Wells Joins the MPDI Team

Longtime UCLA Site Director and workgroup member Dr. Barbara Wells has “moved down the hall” in the UCLA math department to take a job as the statewide evaluation director for the Mathematics Professional Development Institutes.  Administered by the UC Office of the President, the MPDIs are at the forefront of professional development for in-service math teachers around the state. We are pleased that Barbara will continue as a member of the workgroup.  

 

New Site Directors

Barbara’s jobs as the UCLA Site Director and statewide Relations with Schools Coordinator have been taken by Tom Walters, also a workgroup member and long-time math teacher in Los Angeles.  Tom will also have responsibility for outreach to other math organizations throughout the state. 

 

Emiliano Gomez is the new site director at UC Berkeley.  A Ph.D. in mathematics, Emiliano has responsibility for several tasks on campus.  In addition to his duties as the Berkeley site director he teaches a math course for pre-service teachers and has responsibility for campus math outreach to the school community. Emiliano is already making plans to increase the MDTP presence at the CMC North meeting at Asilomar next December.

MDTP Workgroup Adds Two New Members

The MDTP workgroup consists of about 20 experienced mathematics teachers from the University of California, the California State University, California Community Colleges, secondary schools and some science university faculty. The workgroup develops MDTP tests and written response materials. This intersegmental group serves as the steering committee for the project. Its membership changes relatively slowly, but this year two new members have been added.

 

The first is Dr. Myron Hood from the mathematics department at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  As part of the math faculty at Cal Poly, Dr. Hood has worked on the development of the new ELM test for entering CSU students and will be the ELM Development Committee liaison to the workgroup.

 

The second new workgroup member of Bix Beeman, the Director of the California Math Project site at CSU Stanislaus.  A high school math teacher for over a decade, Bix joined the math project six years ago.  Bix will serve as the CMP liaison to the workgroup.

 

MDTP Regional Sites  

Click on this link to go to a listing of the MDTP regional offices 
that serve California's teachers and schools.

 

MDTP Testing Materials Available to California Teachers

Click on this link to go to a listing of the tests that MDTP provides to teachers in 
California precollegiate schools.  Testing materials may be ordered by phone, fax, email, or by using MDTP's on-line order form.

 

New Written Response Items Ready for Release

The MDTP Written Response items are designed to provide teachers with an increased awareness of the depth of students’ mathematical understanding and to give students more practice in communicating that understanding.  Teachers around the state report that the items integrate smoothly into their curriculum and parallel writing activities students will be expected to perform on the California High School Exit Exam and the Golden State tests.

An MDTP goal continues to be to have at least one Written Response item released for the topics on each of the diagnostic tests.  We will be moving closer to that goal with the planned release of 12 new items this spring.  The new items will be at the Geometry Readiness (GR), Second-Year Algebra Readiness (SR), Math Analysis Readiness (MR), and Calculus Readiness (CR) levels.

Hundreds of teachers statewide have received binders containing the previously released items.  If you are one of those teachers and have returned the response form included in the front of the binder, you will automatically receive the new items.  Other teachers can request sets of new items to insert in their binders.  If you would like to use the Written Response material in your classroom and do not yet have a binder, please call your site director and ask for one.

We intend to continue to field-test new material and are always looking for teachers who would like to take part in these field-tests.  The items are scored on a four-point rubric provided by MDTP. Experienced teachers report that a class set of thirty student responses can be scored in less than thirty minutes.  If you would like to participate in the next round of field-testing, please contact UCLA Site Director Tom Walters at 310-206-8360 or at twalters@ucla.math.edu

Applications Invited for Teachers Institute This Summer

 

The first two MDTP teacher institutes, hosted by UCLA, proved successful in attracting participants from Stanislaus to San Diego.  Over 50 teachers spent time looking more closely at the structure and uses of the MDTP tests and Written Response items and sharpening presentation skills needed to help a wider state-wide audience of math teachers make good use of these materials.

 

Planning for the third MDTP Teacher Institute is now underway.  This summer’s institute will move north and be hosted by the UC Davis MDTP site at facilities on and near the UC Davis campus.  The institute will begin with dinner Sunday evening August 4th and continue through breakfast Thursday August 8th.

 

Two UC Davis area teachers, Michelle Brock and Barbara Fraivillig will join others in demonstrating ways in which MDTP material can be used to improve classroom instruction.  Michelle and Barbara were participants in the first institute held three years ago at UCLA and have become exceptional spokespersons for MDTP in northern California.

Participants will receive a $400 stipend and travel expenses for participation.  A speaker’s fee and travel expenses will be paid for any subsequent presentations given at MDTP’s request.

 

Interested teachers are encouraged to apply, especially if they are experienced MDTP users. If you think you would be interested in attending this summer’s institute, contact your site director for an application or e-mail Tom Walters at twalters@math.ucla.edu.

 

Produced by the

MDTP Relations with Schools Office
2341 Math Sciences Bldg. Box 951555

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1555

Relations with Schools Coordinator: Tom Walters

 

This newsletter has been provided with the support of 

The Regents of the University of California, 

The Trustees of the California State University, and 

The California Academic Partnership Program.