With scores down, Florida schools are paying more attention to math
Florida has a math problem.
Fourth graders’ performance in the subject on the Nation’s Report Card has stagnated over the past decade. Eighth graders recently hit a 20-year low on the biannual test, ranking 41st among the states.
About half of Florida’s high schoolers taking the Algebra I end-of-course exam, a graduation requirement, scored at the lowest level last year. The state’s average SAT score in math dipped 8 points, with just 26% of SAT takers considered “college ready” in math.
Despite its importance, Florida lacks the infrastructure to bolster math in the classrooms, said Zandra de Araujo, mathematics director for the University of Florida’s Lastinger Center for Learning.
While lawmakers have adopted laws requiring schools to use the “science of reading,” the state has no math counterpart.
Instead, the Lastinger Center’s yearlong review of math instruction revealed several challenges that educators must overcome to get children where they need to be. Attitude was chief among them.
The overwhelming response to a survey of thousands of students and teachers was that “math is not valued, math is not understood and math is not enjoyed,” de Araujo said.
Other hurdles included a dearth of teacher training opportunities and the lack of a state math office.
The time has arrived, she said, to change that.
Will lawmakers make changes?
Nodding to the declining test results, Rep. Susan Valdés, R-Tampa, this year proposed increasing and standardizing the amount of math preparation that teachers-in-training must receive.
The idea of improved teacher education was one of Lastinger’s key recommendations. National reviews suggest that many teacher preparation programs don’t include enough math.
“Math is for everybody,” Valdés told her colleagues in March at the first subcommittee stop for HB 1113, where it won unanimous support. “We have to instill that in our children.
The measure has a slim chance of becoming law, with its Senate companion unheard by a single committee in the upper chamber. But Florida State University physics professor Paul Cottle, who considered the bill a modest first step, was heartened that discussion happened at all.
“It is at least a gesture that math is important for Florida’s kids,” said Cottle, who has long been a leading voice for greater emphasis on math and science in Florida K-12 education. “In this economy, math is as important as reading. You have to be able to do both.”
Recent studies bear this out. A 2024 Urban Institute report, for instance, indicated that strong math skills lead to better-paying jobs for students than improved reading.
School districts take new tacks
Pinellas County schools, which saw lagging results in seventh-grade testing, this year revamped its middle school math tracks, aiming to get more children into accelerated levels along with support to help them succeed. The plan is to ensure students are on track for high school algebra and geometry.
The district’s algebra project, supported by a three-year, $1 million grant from Raymond James, includes more training for teachers and greater engagement opportunities for students, including academic competitions, district chief academic officer Donnika Jones said.
Jones said the district wants to dispel the notion that it’s OK to say “I don’t do math.”
Disappointed by its poor outcomes, the Pasco County school district decided to replace its elementary math curriculum for the fall, two years ahead of schedule.
It wasn’t a decision the district arrived at lightly, said Monica Ilse, deputy superintendent for academics. Dozens of principals agreed the Eureka Math materials published by the New York-based nonprofit group Great Minds didn’t match state expectations, and many less-experienced teachers had trouble working with it.
Caitlyn Ward, a science and math coach at Veterans Elementary School, said during a textbook selection review committee meeting that the materials don’t focus on analysis or skills beyond calculation. That requires teachers to supplement and redesign lessons, she said.
“It doesn’t lend itself to critical thinking,” Ward said. “When the state assessment asks our kids to think more dynamically, our kids struggle.”
The school board plans to adopt new books in May and hold teacher training sessions over the summer.
Making math accessible
Some Pasco schools got an early start shifting their math program.
New River Elementary School in Wesley Chapel began moving away from Eureka this year, principal Colleen Wilkinson said, by adding the iReady computerized system to its offerings. Teachers also rely less on full-class instruction, favoring small-group and individual stations where teachers can better focus on specific standards with children who need added attention.
Wilkinson adjusted the school schedule, too, so classes spend more time each day on math.
Kindergarten teacher Denise Wagner said she viewed her effort as laying the foundation for all that follows in school.
“Math is important,” Wagner said, as she worked with three students at a small table. “We use it all day in real-life things.”
She showed the students flash cards with rows of dots, asking them if they knew how many dots appeared.
When they correctly answered “eight” for one of the cards, Wagner asked 5-year-old Ezekiel Findley how he knew.
“It was five there,” Ezekiel said, pointing to the top row, “and three there.”
Wagner jumped on his response, asking what is 5+3. Then she asked what would happen if she had 10 dots and took one away.
“Nine!” Ezekiel answered. “Ooh ah, ooh ah, ooh ah, that was easy.”
Getting students confident and comfortable with both reading and math is critical for students as they advance, said third-grade math teacher Laura Carlson.
Carlson said she regularly uses word problems that students must read to complete their math. She also uses hands-on materials and small groups to help them with multiplication, division and fractions.
Being able to visualize the concepts and connect them to real-world situations is key to making math more understandable, Carlson said.
“I just try different things all the time,” said Carlson, adding that the school’s decision to let teachers specialize in different subjects helps with planning. “Kids change all the time.”
Liana Melton, 8, got the message. She said math comes in handy for cooking, shopping and measuring, among other real-life activities.
“I like math. You can answer questions and do a bunch of different stuff,” Liana said. “You can learn new things.”
Gail Stewart, a high school math supervisor for Hillsborough County schools, said districts and the state need to take whatever steps are needed to make math more accessible.
Educators in Hillsborough, as elsewhere, are constantly looking at student data to see what’s working, she said, and shifting their approaches as necessary.
“Math is the course where kids learn to problem solve,” Stewart said. “We can’t be OK with only half our kids demonstrating proficiency on these tests.”
Jeffrey S. Solochek is an education reporter covering K-12 education policy and schools. Reach him at jsolochek@tampabay.com.