Return sees class drops

Jianlan Busteed, Asst. Opinion Editor|October 6, 2021

While many students have struggled to adapt to in-person learning, one subject in particular has seen an obvious decrease in student performance: math.

Because math builds off of previously learned concepts, success in these classes requires a strong understanding of foundational skills. Failure to meet these basic prerequisites has caused more students to drop to a lower level of math or stop taking a math class altogether compared to previous years.

“When it got to Trig, we were already six chapters behind so we did not get through it at all.” an anonymous student said. “Then we had to jump into MACH 5.”

Since many students did not completely comprehend all that was taught in distance learning, they have not been doing as well on tests. The anonymous student said that they understood less than half of what was taught during the digital school year; concepts they said they would have mastered in a traditional learning environment. Due to this, the student decided to retake this class as they did not have enough time to work on understanding math concepts, making them incapable of getting a good grade.

“I decided to drop down from MACH 5 to Math Analysis because there was absolutely no way I was going to get an A,” the anonymous student said.

Without the incentive of a weighted GPA, the anonymous student chose to drop down to Trig, rather than continuing with MACH 5 and further damaging their GPA. Although the anonymous student feels they made the right decision to drop down a level, they said that their new class has not been challenging enough for them, since they already partially learned Trig last year.

Math instructors like Dena Lordi and Shari De Cambra have also observed a much lower skill level in this year’s students compared to the last in-person year, with many students struggling to remember what they learned last year.

“I think they [students] were used to having their notes in front of them, and they didn’t really study,” De Cambra said. “A lot of them couldn’t remember basic skills from Algebra 1.”

To accommodate students who have chosen not to retake or have dropped out of their math classes, teachers have tried to slow down the curriculum’s pace– resulting in students being further behind in their material compared to a typical school year. However, teachers can only alter a course’s pacing so much without impeding students’ success in future math courses.

“I need to be able to get them ready to take MACH5 next year, so there’s not a whole lot we can do,” Lordi said.

While teachers have taken to various other methods to help build back students’ understanding of the basics, a common trend is the integration of review concepts with current assignments. Deemed spiral review by math teacher Lisa Arionus, this technique can be applied to not just homework, but tests as well, assisting students with retaining material.

In addition to this, some teachers have also tried to be more available for students to ask questions about the lessons.

“Being able to ask her in-person has helped me understand what she’s trying to explain,” Kaylene Trinh said via text.

Although the decrease in average scores has presented issues for teachers, the shift from distance learning has allowed for more interaction, so teachers now have a better grasp of what topics students struggle with the most– allowing them to confront these problem concepts head on.

Even though the skill levels in math are still below expected, De Cambra and Arionus both said they have seen some improvement in students’ understanding as they adjust to the traditional school routine.