The New Westminster school district defended its math program at New Westminster Secondary School this week, in response to mounting criticism from parents.
The district went through data from the 2003/04 school year to last year to convey overall student performance in math at the high school and found that the average score was 69.2 per cent. The district found that in 1,008 math classes, there was a 91 per cent pass rate - 60 per cent received a C+ plus or higher - and just a nine per cent failure rate for the eight-year period.
"Which is what one would expect," superintendent John Woudzia said, summing up the figures during a meeting to discuss the ongoing math issue with the media on Wednesday morning. "One of the perceptions is that problems are ignored at the high school, and that's not accurate."
Student performance is generally in line with the rest of the province, Woudzia said.
The school district has come under fire lately for math marks. Ann Whiteaker, president of the B.C. Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils, recently wrote a letter to the district outlining her concerns about math marks at the high school.
The math issue surfaced when NWSS parents Lisa Chao and Kal Randhawa started talking to the media about their issues with a math teacher at the high school, whose class they believe had an unusually high failure rate. The parents felt their concerns were being ignored by the district.
Eventually, Chao filed a freedom of information request to gain access to math marks at the high school, and she was alarmed by the failure rates she found.
But district administrators said that when they analyzed the data, there were no major red flags.
"There's no question there are going to be anomalies, that is to be expected," Woudzia said. "We are not here to say there are no failures. - We are trying to put this in context of the courses over time."
There are outside factors that can create those anomalies, including the number of students in a class, the timing of a class and the composition of a class, the district said.
"You have the numbers, but it's the stories behind the numbers that inform the numbers," said assistant superintendent Al Balanuik.
Another significant factor in student performance is whether it's the first year a course is being taught. Chao's daughter's class was Foundations of Math 11, and it was the first year the revamped course was offered.
Students in the class eventually had their grades bumped up after parents complained about the marks.
The district won't comment on personnel issues, including whether it has taken action to deal with the math teacher that Chao and other parents complained about. Chao has said that there have been complaints about the teacher for years.
NWSS principal Mary Bushman said that when a new course is introduced "growing pains" are expected and student performance is impacted.
"In math, in my experience, in the last three or two years that I've gone through this, on more than one occasion, whenever they've updated the course, that's an issue. It's never exactly the same. There's a transition period," she said.
The effects of a course change generally have a more significant impact in math and science, said Sandra Pace, the district's director of instruction.
Grades and school performance are reviewed on a regular basis, and there are several mechanisms in place teachers can pull from when a student is struggling, including utilizing the school's resource teacher, Bushman said. There is also a school-based team that talks about particular students' issues, and school administrators meet regularly to discuss student performance, she added.
"Any teaching staff member can bring a student's name forward, so we don't have to wait for a parent to express concern, although sometimes we do get calls from parents saying, 'My son or daughter is struggling,'" she said.
"I want you to know that every parent call is addressed," Bushman added.
If there seems to be an issue with a teacher, rather than a student's performance, Bushman said she meets with those teachers to discuss the issues.
The district is currently re-developing its teacher evaluation system, according to Woudzia.
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