Math

Glendale and Burbank schools continue to make modest test score gains in core subjects, according to data released Monday by the California Department of Education . In Glendale, 69% of students tested at or above proficiency on the English-language arts portion of the California Standards Test, administered each spring to assess the progress of students grades two through eight. In math, 65% of students met or exceeded grade-level expectations. The rates topped those from 2010, which were 66% and 63% in English language arts and math, respectively.

Gary Moskowitz A districtwide push the past few years to make Glendale students more successful in mathematics appears to have born fruit, especially in the middle schools, Glendale Unified's 2002 standardized test results suggest. Based on the most recent results of the Stanford 9 Achievement Test, nearly all of Glendale's elementary, middle and comprehensive high schools scored above the 50th percentile on the math portion of the test. SAT 9 scores in reading, spelling and language were less impressive.

You take a mathematician, cross him with a magician and what do you get? A mathemagician of course. Students at Fremont Elementary School learned that math can really be magic when mathemagician Arthur Benjamin visited them on Nov. 9. “I love math. I love magic,” Benjamin told the crowd of students. He started wowing the audience first with a magic trick. “I will do a card trick that has never been seen before,” he proclaimed. “Because the cards are invisible.

A display in front of a Rosemont Middle School classroom reads, "Graphing a linear inequality. Graph the inequality as if it were an equation. y=mx+b." Students listen intently as teacher Kimberly Goffredo reviews last Friday's homework. At first glance this may look like an average math class, but a closer look reveals a surprising difference — none of these students are bored or daydreaming. In fact, many of them are actually smiling. This is Rosemont's Introduction to Algebra summer class for new seventh graders.

Glendale Community College Math Professor Pete Witt is the 2002 recipient of the college's Dr. William L. Parker Exceptional Service Award. Witt was honored as the 10th recipient of the award at a faculty meeting and reception Tuesday. Witt was chosen by the college Academic Senate based on long-term service to GCC. Criteria include multiple service areas such as academic, professional and community, recognition by faculty, staff, students and administration.

Sixth-grader Vanessa Garcia and her classmates at Lincoln Elementary School were excited about the opportunity to teach their peers about fractions. All it took was some planning for an appearance on the Internet. Vanessa’s team — “The Fractionaters” — worked on a podcast that would help students learn how to multiply fractions with the click of a mouse. “We hope it will help them learn how to do it in a fun way,” the 11-year-old said.

On July 9, the state Board of Education voted to implement a proposal to require all eighth grade students in California public schools to be assessed in algebra 1. The proposal was initially made by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. In a letter to Theodore Mitchell, the president of the state Board of Education, the governor promoted the requirement by stating, “the state board must choose whether we align the eighth grade mathematics test with our high expectations or perpetuate a two-track system: one for high achievers and one for those of whom we expect less.

GLENDALE — Standardized state test scores for the Glendale school district improved this year over last year, showing sharp gains in history and science, according to the most recent Standardized Testing and Reporting figures released today by the state Department of Education. But Glendale school officials remain concerned that students scoring at proficient levels for math and test results for Latino students improved only slightly from 2007 to 2008. Still, the Board of Education members praised the 2008 STAR results — a statewide student assessment program comprising five exams that test elementary, middle and high school students on core subjects — as a consequence of teachers collectively working to improve scores on a holistic basis.

The Glendale Unified School District is going after a grant of almost $3 million to boost its science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs. The federal grant became available this spring as most states prepare to adopt new federal standards that further emphasize the programs, commonly known as STEM. Worth $2.99 million, the five-year grant would benefit Clark Magnet High School as well as Roosevelt, Rosemont, Toll and Wilson middle schools. As Glendale school officials wait for federal approval to turn in the grant's full application, they have submitted a seven-page pre-application and started considering how millions of dollars could benefit Glendale schools.

Glendale Unified posted strong results among sophomores who took the state high school exit exam this past school year, according to the latest figures released Wednesday. For 2011-12, 93% of sophomores who took high school exit exams passed the mathematics portion, while 90% passed the English exam. The scores - released Wednesday by the California Department of Education - represented a 1% improvement in the math category over the year prior. “It's up a little bit, which is always good,” said Assistant Glendale Unified Supt.

Foothill Boulevard in La Crescenta is dotted with signs advertising SAT prep classes and other tutoring services, much of it geared toward the community's sizable Korean population. Still, academic extras that provide a number of students a leg up in school aren't financially possible for some families and culturally foreign to others. Now, a group of high-performing, high school volunteers are working to even the playing field, providing a free math tutoring program that is attracting dozens of students to New Song Church on La Crescenta Avenue each Friday afternoon.

Last year, 9-year-old Shant Armenian wrote a letter to Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) asking the congressman to invite an astronaut to his school. Schiff often receives letters from students, but this one was different, he said. “Shant wrote me a wonderful, moving letter,” he said. “I get a lot of letters from kids on a variety of things. It was clear that he had deep, abiding interest in space and in science, which I can relate to, because I share it.” On Friday, Schiff granted the Altadena student his wish.

A tug of war between Glendale Unified officials and union leaders reached a new pitch this week when teachers showed up at district headquarters en masse to demand the cancellation of at least three unpaid furlough days scheduled during the next two academic years. “If I remember correctly, the district promised parents and teachers that if Measure S passed, $20 million would be freed up to get rid of these furlough days,” Glendale Teachers Assn. President Tami Carlson said to the applause of the more than 100 teachers at Tuesday's school board meeting.

Glendale and Burbank schools continue to make modest test score gains in core subjects, according to data released Monday by the California Department of Education . In Glendale, 69% of students tested at or above proficiency on the English-language arts portion of the California Standards Test, administered each spring to assess the progress of students grades two through eight. In math, 65% of students met or exceeded grade-level expectations. The rates topped those from 2010, which were 66% and 63% in English language arts and math, respectively.

UNIVERSAL CITY — Teachers from Glendale and Burbank celebrated their teacher of the year awards Monday at the Universal Hilton. Melissa Ann Pamperin, a fifth-grade teacher at Miller Elementary School in Burbank, and Roxanne O'Rourke, a kindergarten teacher at Mann Elementary School in Glendale, were named teachers of the year for the respective districts. Teachers are nominated by school, and go through district vetting before a county, state and national competition.

GLENDALE — Many eyes within Glendale Unified are on Roosevelt Middle School, which has made considerable growth on key accountability exams while still lagging behind the district's other campuses. According to standardized test data released Monday, Roosevelt students outpaced Glendale Unified growth in math and English scores by 6.5% and 6%, respectively. But even with those gains, the students at Roosevelt remain behind in proficiency rates. The school district averages 66.7% student proficiency in English and 63.4% in math.

LA CRESCENTA — The glut of after-school tutors lining Foothill Boulevard did little to deter Tariq and Saddia Rana from launching a learning center of their own. "Each center offers a very different service," Tariq Rana said Saturday at the grand opening of his Kumon Math and Reading Center. "For us, everything is one-on-one, independent and individualized." The center, which on Tuesdays and Fridays serves roughly 120 students between the ages of 2 and 16, opened last month with support from the Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce.

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — Glendale High boys’ volleyball coach Ta’ase Mose figured it was a good time to give his second string some game action. Leading two games to none against Hawthorne Math and Science Academy in a nonleague match Thursday, Mose played his bench the entire third game. The Nitros wound up losing that game, but the starters had no trouble against the Cougars in the fourth, winning 25-17, 26-24, 23-25, 25-14. “I wanted the second string to get some experience, so they can step up in case of an injury down the road,” Mose said.