About one-third of Washington-area fourth- and eighth-grade students think their math schoolwork is too easy.
School officials’ response: not for long.
The District’s fourth- and eighth-grade students scored the lowest in the country on standardized math tests in 2011. Yet 39 percent of D.C. fourth-graders and 34 percent of eighth-graders said their math work is often or always too easy, according to national survey data studied by the Center for American Progress. This puts the District slightly worse off than the national averages of 37 percent for fourth-graders and 29 percent for eighth-graders.
| Percent of fourth-graders who say math work is too easy | ||||
| Never/Hardly ever | Sometimes | Often | Always/Almost always | |
| National | 14 | 49 | 21 | 16 |
| District | 13 | 48 | 19 | 20 |
| Maryland | 12 | 49 | 21 | 17 |
| Virginia | 13 | 49 | 21 | 17 |
| Percent of eighth-graders who say math work is too easy | ||||
| Never/Hardly ever | Sometimes | Often | Always/Almost always | |
| National | 17 | 54 | 21 | 8 |
| District | 14 | 53 | 24 | 10 |
| Maryland | 15 | 54 | 23 | 8 |
| Virginia | 16 | 53 | 22 | 10 |
| Note: Numbers may not equal 100 because of rounding. | ||||
The survey paints a similar picture in Virginia and Maryland, where more than 30 percent of the students said math work is too easy.
Center for American Progress researcher Ulrich Boser said the survey suggests students aren’t being engaged and reaping maximum benefits from class time.
But school officials said students shouldn’t get too comfortable. All three states are in the process of rolling out tougher curricula for the coming years.
“If there were students who didn’t feel they were being challenged in mathematics before, my guess is their feelings are going to change if they haven’t already,” Virginia Department of Education spokesman Charles Pyle said.
The District and Maryland have joined the national Common Core State Standards Initiative, adopting the same — and often more rigorous — academic standards as 45 other states.
Virginia chose not to join the group but created its own higher standards.
“We’re continuing to raise the bar for academic achievement,” said Brandon Frazier, spokesman for D.C.’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education. “It’s an ongoing process, but we’re definitely taking the lessons learned and growing from them. And this survey is part of those lessons learned.”
But even as school systems make changes, Boser said most people still think students are overworked.
“But the problem with that public perception is it ignores what is happening in the broad swath of schools across the D.C. region or the nation at large,” he said. “Most students are saying that they’re not being challenged enough. Most students are not getting the real rigorous learning opportunities that they need to succeed. … I think students want to be challenged. I think they realize that they need to have a rigorous education. And frankly, engaging material is more interesting material.”
