Michigan Teachers Improve Math Scores Through Career and Technical Education

by Carol Clark, Education Coordinator, Office of Career & Technical Preparation, Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth

As today’s education reformers call for more collaboration among teachers in order to meet the new Michigan Merit Curriculum requirements, one such beneficial relationship is the partnership of teachers outside their individual fields of study. For example, partnering mathematics teachers with Career and Technical Education courses would allow students the chance to earn full or partial math credit. This is a prime example of how collaboration across fields can help students and foster closer working relationships between teachers.

In a recent study conducted by the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education (NRCCTE), student math scores significantly increased when taught through the unique delivery of math-enhanced Career and Technical Education (CTE).

The Math-in-CTE study at NRCCTE tested the impact of a specific professional development model on the mathematical achievement of high school CTE students in numerous occupational areas (including agricultural power and technology, automobile technology, business and marketing, health occupations, horticulture, and information technology). As stated in the report Building Academic Skills in Context: Testing the Value of Enhanced Math Learning in CTE, “the model involved professional development in which CTE teachers partner with math teachers to build curriculum maps that intersect math concepts with CTE curricula, create scope and sequence charts to identify when math enhancement opportunities would occur, and develop sets of math-enhanced CTE lessons for implementation in the CTE classrooms.”

More than 3,000 students from nine states participated in the study, including more than 1,000 students from Michigan. The study included more than 50 health science and math teacher teams from Michigan schools including Van Buren Technology Center in Lawrence, Crockett Career and Technical Education Center in Detroit, Health Careers Academy in Port Huron, Wexford Missaukee Career Tech in Cadillac, Delta Schoolcraft Intermediate School District (ISD) in Escanaba, and the Allegan Career Center in Allegan. Teams studied the concept that high school students who participate in a math-enhanced CTE curriculum might develop a deeper and more sustained understanding of mathematical concepts than their counterparts who participate in the traditional CTE curriculum.

Each CTE-math teacher team examined their regular CTE curriculum in order to identify where mathematical concepts (curriculum mapping) were already included within the curriculum. The team then developed new CTE lessons following the Math-in-CTE model to enhance the teaching of mathematics within a given occupational context. Lessons also included traditional math problems to help students make the transference from their occupational curriculum to questions they may see on the ACT® test.

After pre-testing, and one year of exposure to the math-enhanced lessons, students in the experimental classrooms performed significantly better on TerraNova and Accuplacer, two of the three math post-tests administered. With this successful outcome, the Michigan Office of Career and Technical Preparation decided to move toward incorporating concepts from the Math-in-CTE study into the development of curriculum resource guides for the 16 National Career Cluster foundation standards used by all CTE programs in the state. These standards also provide the framework for both academic and CTE rigor and relevance. Michigan task force groups—comprised of CTE teachers, academic teachers, administrators, counselors, postsecondary educators, state academic and CTE consultants, and business partners—are also engaged in team-focused lesson plan development that closely follows the Math-in-CTE model. The guides are scheduled to be available online by the fall of 2008.

Academic and CTE teachers participating in this study are encouraged by the results. CTE teachers like the number of academic skills they are able to emphasize within their programs, and academic teachers, recognize the value of lesson plans that will provide relevance through real-world context to their students in the classroom.

When asked about participation in this study, a Michigan health science teacher replied, “I guess I never really knew how much math I was teaching, until this study.” A student reported that working with relevant math related lessons helped him to finally “get it.”

To maximize the value of the knowledge gained from the NRCCTE study, Michigan teachers need professional development opportunities. A conclusion drawn from the national research clearly finds the jump in test results due to teacher involvement and the teamwork between the academic and CTE teachers. Teamwork gives both sets of teachers the math and CTE vocabulary to confidently teach the content. It also offers an opportunity for partners to share strategies or call each other when questions arise.

This year-long study is one of Michigan’s cutting-edge educational initiatives. The participating teachers and their administrators should be applauded for their efforts.

For more information, contact: Carol Clark, Education Coordinator, Office of Career and Technical Preparation, Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth, (517) 241-4355, clarkcarol@michigan.gov or Dr. James R. Stone, National Research Center, stone003@umn.edu. For more information about NRCCTE and the Math-in-CTE study, contact: mathincte@umn.edu or visit www.nccte.org.

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