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Improving Mathematics Education
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Improving Mathematics Education
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Prairie State College (PSC) and Cottage Grove Middle School (CGMS) are working together to improve the mathematics education at CGMS.
Cottage Grove Middle School, in Ford Heights, IL, serves approximately 220 students in grades 6 through 8. All of the students are African-American, and 99% of them qualify for federally subsidized free or reduced-price lunches. In 2001, 96% of the students scored below state standards in mathematics. The statistics for other subjects are not much better, and unfortunately, CGMS is on Illinois' most recent Academic Early Warning List.
If socioeconomic factors are any indication, then perhaps what's happening at CGMS is to be expected. Ford Heights per capita income is the lowest in Illinois. Ninety-six percent of Ford Heights' children live in poverty. The number of single mothers, per capita, exceeds that of any other U.S. community. Less than 40% of the residents have high school diplomas and less than 1% have bachelor's dgrees. A 1992 study by urbanologist Pierre de Vise labeled Ford Heights as "America's poorest suburb".
Despite all of the bad news, the dedication of CGMS faculty and students warrants optimism. It seems that things can only get better.
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This site was last updated December 17, 2002.
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Steve Kifowit Prairie State College Chicago Heights, IL 60411 |
The information on this page is paraphrased from the grant proposal. For more information about the grant proposal contact Prairie State College.
