Math: Competence and Confidence

Our substitute math teacher, Heather Cannavale, met our Harbor students only a few weeks ago.  She has some observations.

"I have never heard them say, 'Do we have to?'  It's the opposite. They are always asking questions. They want to achieve. They are highly motivated.

"The other day I had the Seventh Grade outside, and we used trig to solve for the height of the bee tree.  All the kids got into it, and they all used the tangent function to arrive at the solution."

Trig, even simple trig, is not the norm in most seventh grades. Did you know:

• That every student in Harbor's Eighth Grade is at least one year, and often two years, ahead of his or her peers in public schools?
• That every Harbor eighth grader takes and passes the Regents exam in either Algebra I or Geometry?
• That, as a result, Harbor students are in either second or third year math (typically Geometry or Algebra II) during their first year in secondary school?

Two years ago, roughly half of Harbor's Eighth Grade took Geometry and half Algebra I; last year it was one Geometry and three Algebra I; this year it is all Algebra I; and next year we expect to see eight in Geometry, seven in Algebra I, and one in Algebra II with trigonometry.

A few of these students are genuinely gifted in math.  Most, though, can trace their achievement to a strong math program and great teaching. In the Fourth Grade, Harbor students generally work into 5th Grade math.  In the Sixth Grade, students move into pre-algebra, and in the seventh, the higher-achieving students begin Algebra.

Harbor's program clearly does give our graduates a leg up in secondary school. Most secondary schools require three years of math.  Beginning a year or two ahead of others in the Ninth Grade means our graduates have time in junior or senior year to get calculus or statistics under their belts before college.

Harbor graduates are both confident and competent in mathematics. Even as we seek to evolve the lower school math program, it is clear that overall the Harbor program produces excellent math learners.