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Saturday, June 11, 2005

Course Aims to Bridge Math Divide

By Russell Contreras
Journal Staff Writer
    In Mexico, people write out numbers like "1 million" using decimal points: 1.000.000.
    In the United States, we use commas: 1,000,000.
    It's an interesting cultural difference, but not if you're a Mexican immigrant elementary student trying to get a grasp of basic math.
    Experts believe such differences are frustrating and confusing and might derail a student's math education.
    A University of New Mexico program is trying to change that.
    UNM is hosting an annual two-week summer course for teachers on connecting math to working-class Latino students, many of whom are immigrants. There, teachers are shown how to recognize cultural differences in math education and how to integrate Spanish and English in the curriculum.
    "Math is not a universal language," said Sylvia Celedón-Pattichis, a UNM assistant education professor. "Symbols are different. Even the way numbers are written are different."
    The school is working with universities in other states through the Center for the Mathematics Education of Latinos/as, or CEMELA.
    More than 35 teachers from Albuquerque, Socorro and Bernalillo are taking the two-week course at the Albuquerque Public Schools Montgomery Complex. It ends next week.
    During one lesson, teachers learned that Mexican schools teach students to write numbers from the bottom up. The result is that some numbers, like 9, resemble a lower-case "g" or a 4 could look like a 9 that's not closed at the top.
    Many nationalities put a crosshatch on a 7, which looks like an F to some in the United States. Some immigrants can have trouble distinguishing a 1 from a 7.
    Teachers who are unaware of the differences might simply mark the answer wrong instead of working with the student.
    "I had no idea," said Renee Rubalcaba, a first-grade, dual-language teacher in Bernalillo. "I think more teachers need to know about this."
    Teachers also learned how to better interact with Latino parents to help engage students in math. For example, Celedón-Pattichis said parents need to recognize the differences in basic math symbols so they can help students with homework.
    "I think that's important," said Janice Jaramillo, a kindergarten teacher in Socorro. "The parent component can really make a difference."
    The courses couldn't come at a more needed time for New Mexico. Only 41 percent of New Mexico Latino students tested "proficient" in math in 2003-2004, compared with 70 percent of Anglo students, according to the state Public Education Department.
    Education Secretary Veronica C. Garcia is touring the state this summer and holding "community conversations" on closing the achievement gap for minority students.
    Celedón-Pattichis said the seminars for the same elementary teachers will continue next summer. In 2007, CEMELA will invite middle school teachers.
    The courses are funded mainly through a four-year grant from the National Science Foundation.