When I compared Bubb's 1998 fourth grade SAT 9 math test scores, averaging 75th percentile, to all the other schools in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, I found that Sunnyvale's San Miguel elementary school's fourth graders also averaged in the 75th percentile for the math portion of the SAT 9.

San Miguel is a low income. Title One qualifying school. Eleven percent of its families are on welfare. Family income averages $25-30,000. More than half the student body qualifies for partial or free lunch. About thirty percent of its student body are limited English speakers.

Mountain View's schools with similar demographic populations as San Miguel's are producing test scores of more than 25 percentage points lower than San Miguel. This means that when Mountain View children were given math questions to answer, they could answer dramatically fewer questions than San Miguel children.

SAT 9 math scores are significant. Algebra is the gatekeeper to a university education. The ability to do well on math tests like the SAT 9 correlate to algebra preparedness and college entrance. San Miguel children are preparing. In comparison. Mountain View children are not.

I have attached the results of my investigation into San Miguel's success. Their success has been duplicated by other low income schools in California. San Miguel and other equally successful California schools use Saxon math. Saxon is also the math program of choice used by the private schools in our area. These children are succeeding.

A recent New York Times Sunday Magazine article described the freshman class at the University of California, Riverside as filled with low income, former limited English speaking students of many nationalities, including many from the Hispanic community. U.C. Riverside has achieved this because its Chancellor, Raymond Orbach, and his team meet regularly with limited English speaking, low income parents and students “to harp on his favorite subject: students must take algebra in eighth grade if they expected to be U.C.-eligible.” In southern California, very many low income, limited English speaking, Hispanic parents are admonished by him: “Your child...should be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions by the sixth grade.”

Preparation for a University education begins in elementary school. Children who do poorly on the math portion of the SAT-9 cannot successfully add, subtract, multiply and divide whole numbers and fractions. Unless something intervenes, these same children will not be ready for algebra, and they will be excluded from a University of California education. Mountain View children do poorly, and by our educational policies we are excluding them from the University of California system. We must change.

When my daughter was in the fourth grade in Mountain View’s Bubb School, the school’s 1998 math SAT 9 test scores were low, averaging 75th percentile. This is very low considering that my Silicon Valley neighborhood is filled with Ph Ds in every technical field. I wanted to know what the distribution was. Were there very high test scores and very low test scores averaging 75th percentile? Or were the majority of children at 75th percentile? How did we compare to suburban and independent schools? I could not get more information from the district.

The SAT 9 fourth grade math test scores in the other schools in the Mountain View district were extremely low; they were at the 26th percentile, 56th percentile and 43rd percentile. These schools have a higher limited English speaking population, the very population that U.C. Riverside Chancellor Orbach addresses.

Math skills are not easily achieved without practice, and in the spring of 1998 I knew that my fourth grade child was not challenged by math at Bubb, a Mountain View public school. Fourth grade teachers were required to use the “Mathland” program that did not have a student textbook, called for very little challenging homework, and had scant regular, daily skill building. In contrast, every week I carpooled with Sunnyvale children who attended West Valley elementary school in the Cupertino School District. On a regular basis these children did complex, difficult math homework on graph paper. They were challenged, and they had the proper tools. West Valley’s socioeconomic picture is similar to Bubb’s and West Valley’s SAT 9 fourth grade math test scores are significantly higher.

Palo Alto had used Mathland for a brief period, but stopped using it two years ago. There was extraordinary parent outcry and dissension in the district until they ceased using it. For more information, look at the HOLD webpage.

I compared Bubb School’s 75th percentile average, with SAT-9 fourth grade math test scores in schools in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. With one exception, there were no surprises, and the schools at 75th percentile and above were in the highest socioeconomic communities, with mostly English speaking population.

The giant anomaly was San Miguel elementary school in Sunnyvale with math test scores at the 75th percentile. I called the principal and learned that the school was a Title 1 qualifying school. About 11% of the families were AFDC, another word for welfare. About 65% of the students qualified for partial or full free lunch. About 30% of the students were limited English speakers. Average family income was between $25-30,000. The school is located off Highway 101.

San Miguel has achieved with low-income, limited English speaking children what Mountain View achieves with high income, English speaking children. Mountain View’s schools with similar populations have test scores of more than 25 percentage points lower than San Miguel. This means that when Mountain View’s children were given basic math questions to answer, they could answer far fewer questions than San Miguel children.

The San Miguel community had gotten a waiver from the state to use Saxon math, a math program originating in the mid-west. It’s not a stretch to imagine that low socioeconomic, limited English speaking San Miguel children will be far more algebra-ready than low socioeconomic, limited English speaking Mountain View children. This low income community had raised money so that their children could succeed where others are failing. They purchased the Saxon program.

The textbooks are written in clear and concise prose. The pages are black and white and easy to follow. There are no distracting color changes, font changes or confusing graphics, as there are in other math textbooks. Children really like the program.

In the K-8 program, a child practices a variety of math skills every day. For example, the fourth through seventh grade Saxon program includes daily timed tests, daily mental math calculations, a short lesson explaining a small aspect of a math concept with six to eight problems just on that aspect, and twenty-five to thirty daily practice problems. The practice problems include a variety of math concepts: geometry, addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, graphs, statistics, word problems, etc. The problems relate back to previous chapters. If a child misses problems or forgets concepts, the child, parent or teacher can return to previous chapters for explanation and review because each question contains a reference number to the chapter where the concept was first introduced. On a daily basis, children practice and review the concepts previously learned.

Lake county is the poorest county in California. At Lake county’s Riviera Elementary school fifty per cent of the student body is on welfare. The school also has the highest mobility rate of any school in the county. Despite this, the children have done extremely well with the Saxon program, and SAT 9 test scores for Riviera first and second graders both average 71st percentile, and third graders are at the 70th percentile. They are at least 30 percentage points higher than other schools in their district. Teachers are unanimous in their strong support of the program. Parents, children and administrators are thrilled with the program. I spoke with the principal about the program. He was exceptionally enthusiastic, and he invited me to tour his school.

Diamond Elementary school in Santa Ana is an extremely low income school that has achieved by using Saxon. Diamond is 95% Hispanic and has a very, very low income, Title One, student body. About 86% of the children are eligible for partial or free lunch. They, too, have had extreme success with the program. After one year with Saxon, they ranked well above similar schools in Santa Ana. What impressed the principal about the program was that teachers who might otherwise not excel as math teachers become extremely competent when they are teaching Saxon. The principal thought there are many misconceptions in the educational community about Saxon. It is not rote nor dull. Administrators, teachers, children and parents truly want the program. He states that the children at Diamond are visibly proud of their math accomplishments. Perhaps the most telling success is that the middle school has started Saxon, and teachers in other schools in Santa Ana who have witnessed Diamond’s success are fighting for it for their children.

The head of school at Lutheran Christian School credits Saxon with eighth grade math SAT-9 math scores averaging 91st percentile. The complete battery average for his eighth graders is around the 80th percentile. This means to him that his children are learning math exceptionally well, and he credits the Saxon program. He has the same results at other grade levels.

A Huff parent who is also a teacher, used Saxon when she taught fourth grade at Pinewood School in Los Altos. She expressed the same positive view as other teachers and administrators with whom I have spoken.

From my investigation, I learned that in more affluent communities than Mountain View, children get the equivalent of Saxon because large numbers of children (hundreds) enroll in Kumon, Score and private tutoring.

For a minimum of $75 per month per child, Kumon provides a child with daily math practice very similar to that provided by Saxon. A Kumon provider told me that there are about 1,000 children in our greater area doing Kumon. A child averages about a year and a half at a Kumon center. For about $100 per month, Score provides a self paced program on CD-ROM that allows a child to proceed at the child’s own pace through a traditional math curriculum. The math curriculum includes math speed games where the children practice their math facts. Private tutoring is also very, very popular.

Many children enroll in Stanford University’s EPGY, a Kindergarten through university level math program for gifted students on CD-ROM. This program offers students an advanced elementary school program but permits them to go at their own pace. They have had seventh graders successfully pass the Calculus AP exam.