Math

FOR A SIXTH straight year under state control, Philadelphia School District students posted impressive gains on the state's reading and math exams, city school officials announced yesterday. The gains cut across all racial lines and include students with disabilities, those learning English and those identified as economically disadvantaged. Still, the latest results of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) revealed the continuation of another pattern - a significant achievement gap that has Asian and white students outperforming their African-American and Hispanic peers.

The United States recently donated $200 million to a United Nations consortium dedicated to arresting and reversing the course of the AIDS epidemic. Pathetic. Here we are, the richest, most powerful nation on earth, and we hand over a measly $200, when it's estimated that $7 to $10 billion will be needed annually. Let's do the math: 36 million people worldwide infected with AIDS, $200 million . . . that comes to about $5.56 per person. We should be ashamed of ourselves as a nation for offering so little help.

American middle school students don't much care that they're worse at math than their counterparts in Hong Kong and Finland. "I don't need it," my students say. "I'm gonna be a basketball star. " Or a beautician, or a car mechanic, or a singer. It's also hard to get much of a rise out of adults over the fact, released last year, that the United States ranked 28th out of 41 countries whose middle school students' math skills were tested by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The percentage of third, fifth and eighth graders in the Abington School District who needed remedial education in mathematics was higher last year than in the previous year, according to results of the state's basic-skills test. Reading in all three grades improved, as the percentage of Abington students who needed remedial help in that area was down. Although the percentage of third graders who needed remedial help in math increased only slightly, the amount of fifth graders who needed remedial education almost doubled from 8.6 percent in 1986-87 to 15.6 percent last year, according to the results of the Test of Essential Learning Skills (TELS)

Lester, 9, is active and in good health. He rides a bike, swims at an indoor pool, and likes practicing his strokes in the ocean. He plays soccer at a local park, climbs the gym bars and goes on swings and slides. He also likes playing catch, going to church, and challenging others in a game of Scrabble or checkers. He is learning to play the flute. Though there is neglect and abuse in his background, Lester is a happy and well-adjusted boy. When a child in his foster home is feeling low, Lester will say, "Let's go draw" or offer to play catch.

Alonte, 12, is waiting to be adopted. His wish is to have an older brother who will show him how to do things. And he'd like a mother and father who would come to watch his team play basketball. Alonte receives therapy for the abuse and neglect in his background. He will continue to need counseling after adoption, and his entire family will be asked to be supportive and involved. He's in fifth grade and gets help with reading. He likes math, science, gym and recess best. One of his hobbies is drawing.

So it turns out that American high school students do much worse in math than their peers in Hong Kong and South Korea. But the American kids think they're doing very well, thank you, while the Hong Kong and Korean students say they still have a long way to go. What's up with that? The discrepancy has many causes, to be sure, but at least part of the blame lies with our schools. We tell our kids that they're wonderful, over and over again, until they actually believe it. In other words, we lie. According to a 40-nation study of high-school math skills released last week by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Hong Kong and Korea rank first and third in the world, respectively, while the United States is 28th.

The seventh-graders at Clara Barton Elementary School suffered through 13 different math teachers this school year because the School District did not want to spend the money to hire a full-timer, a teachers union leader charged yesterday. In a story in yesterday's Daily News, district officials said the procession of substitutes forced on the pupils could not be stemmed because of the provision in the teachers' labor contract that prohibits schools from hiring permanent replacements for teachers on sick leave.

You make arrangements with Philadelphia Gas Works and they let you know what amount you must pay to get your bill down. You make payments every month, but instead of your bill going down, it goes up. Now you are paying much more. What type of arithmetic are they using? Someone needs to get on the ball before winter or we'll see some frozen people. Lula Jones, Philadelphia Nothing funny about Ira I applaud the efforts of the Maddux family and others in bringing Ira Einhorn to justice.

L. Stanley Crane, chairman and chief executive officer of Conrail, has given a persuasive update on reasons why Congress should keep the railroad independent and not sell it to Norfolk Southern Corp. Testifying in Washington Wednesday before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on transportation, he presented the basic arithmetic to dramatize that the proposed sale actually would be a giveaway. Conrail has $939 million in cash and $360 million in overfunded pension assets for a total of about $1.3 billion.

Aliyah is a beautiful 14-year-old with sparkling eyes and a brilliant smile. Very articulate and outgoing, she has many friends and is usually the center of attention. Aliyah has an eye for fashion and loves to get dressed up and wear costume jewelry. Her favorite pastimes are shopping at the mall with her friends and creating art projects. She also enjoys writing poetry, which she feels is good for her. "I don't like to talk about my feelings," she says, "but when I get them down on paper, it helps me a lot. " Aliyah likes going to school and works very hard to please her teachers.

Chester's Rondae Jefferson still went out a winner. Despite closing his high school basketball career with a loss in the PIAA finals, Jefferson on Wednesday was named the Associated Press' Class AAAA player of the year in a vote of Pennsylvania sportswriters. Chester's passionate, 6-foot-7 catalyst won top player honors for the second straight season after averaging a double-double (15.5 points, 11.0 rebounds) for the Clippers. Jefferson, a University of Arizona recruit, also averaged 4.4 assists, 2.8 steals, and 2.4 blocked shots for Larry Yarbray's high-powered Clippers, who fell one victory shy of winning their third straight PIAA title.

Chester's Rondae Jefferson still went out a winner. Despite closing his high school basketball career with a loss in the PIAA finals, Jefferson on Wednesday was named the Associated Press's Class AAAA player of the year in a vote of Pennsylvania sports writers. Chester's passionate 6-foot-7 catalyst won top player honors for the second straight season after averaging a double-double (15.5 points, 11.0 rebounds) for the Clippers. Jefferson, a University of Arizona recruit, also averaged 4.4 assists, 2.8 steals, and 2.4 blocked shots for Larry Yarbray's high-powered Clippers, who fell one victory shy of winning their third straight PIAA title.

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has heard arguments in two same-sex marriage cases, the question is how quickly the court will move to advance the just cause of equality. In reconsidering the very definition of marriage, the justices confronted one of the most divisive social issues of the day last week. Gay-rights advocates hope they will extend the right to marry to all same-sex couples. On that score, they may be disappointed by the eventual ruling, as the country seems to be moving faster than the courts.

The Inquirer TOP 10     BOYS' BASKETBALL         Team                Rec. Final, 2012-13. 1. Lower Merion         30-3 2. Imhotep Charter    28-5 3. Chester                 28-4 4. Neumann-Goretti   23-6 5. Vaux                     24-8 6. St. Joseph's Prep    24-6 7. Math, Civics & Sci.  26-3 8. Germantown Acad   23-6...

Children who eat breakfast in school do better in math and miss fewer class days, according to a new national study released Wednesday. "The simple act of feeding kids a healthy school breakfast can have a dramatic impact on their academic, health, and economic futures," the study concluded. The report was created for Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit working to end childhood hunger in America through its No Kid Hungry campaign. The study, called "Ending Childhood Hunger: A Social Impact Analysis," was done pro bono by Deloitte, an accounting consulting firm that also performs community-service work.

Math, Civics & Sciences boys' basketball player Malik Starkes has been suspended for the rest of the season by District 12 for arguing with an official after Saturday's loss to Vaux in the Public League Class A final at Southern, his coach said. Coach Dan Jackson said that Starkes also was suspended from Public League play for next season by District 12 chairman Robert Coleman. Jackson said school officials met with representatives from District 12 earlier this week. The junior guard started for MC&S and averaged 8.4 points.

MATH, CIVICS & Sciences Charter lost more than a basketball game Saturday in the Public League quarterfinals. Due to misbehavior, one of its top players has been removed from the squad. Robert Coleman, the Pub sports czar, said he and MC&S' administration reached an agreement on guard Malik Starkes - he'll no longer play for the Mighty Elephants, nor for any school in the PL. The problem began with one-tenth of a second remaining in MC&S' 62-61 loss to Roberts Vaux. Noticing that Starkes was complaining to an official about a call that sent star guard Rysheed Jordan to the foul line, MC&S coaches removed him after the first free throw.

No representatives from Temple, UCLA, or St. John's were spotted at Southern during Saturday night's Public League Class A championship game. But the three finalists for Rysheed Jordan's services will no doubt hear about his last-minute heroics. With 0.1 second remaining, after missing his first attempt from the free-throw line, the prized recruit calmly buried the second to give Roberts Vaux a 62-61, come-from-behind victory over stunned Math, Civics, and Sciences. With 10.7 seconds to go, the 6-foot-3 phenom hit two foul shots to forge a 61-61 tie. That was followed by his steal in front of the MC&S bench.

Dan Jackson has "youngest coach" in one of his e-mail addresses. It refers to when he took over the Math, Civics & Sciences boys' basketball program seven seasons ago, at age 19. It doesn't begin to explain what he went through to get there. Except for the year when he started college, Jackson has been at Math, Civics & Sciences in one role or another since the eighth grade. Before that, starting with the fifth grade, he attended three private schools. He got kicked out of all three.