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September 25, 2008, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Doubletree Hotel, Rohnert Park

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Chamber, tech companies launch ‘Algebra Academy’

3-WEEK SUMMER SESSION TARGETS ENGLISH LEARNERS, WILL INVOLVE 30 STUDENTS

SONOMA COUNTY – The Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce is launching a new initiative to help English learners improve their algebra skills. The program, called the Algebra Academy, will be hosted by the local divisions of Agilent Technologies, JDS Uniphase and Medronic.

The chamber hired a teacher to lead the three-week academy and selected 30 graduating eighth grade students from the Santa Rosa City Schools, Piner-Olivet Union School District and Roseland School District.

“They have been identified by their teachers as students who have fantastic potential in math, and we really want to spark their interest as they go on to higher education,” said Kelly Bass, community relations manager for the chamber.

The students will receive free transportation and lunch every day and will spend a week at each company.

They will be “working with the different technologies and seeing it being produced and then going back to the classroom and seeing how it applies to algebra,” said Jay Waller, an algebra teacher at Roseland Charter Middle School who has been hired to teach the academy.

“There are going to be lots of hands-on activities,” Mr. Waller said.

The program is based on the idea that algebra is a key subject needed for students advancing to colleges and universities.

“Algebra is a gatekeeper course for college success,” Ms. Bass said. “If a student does well in algebra, there’s a much better chance they’re going to do well in college.”

The program is specifically targeted toward English learners because of the need to improve their academic performance and increase their college enrollment rates compared with other students, according to Ms. Bass. “One of our priorities is helping the schools bridge the achievement gap between English language students” and English learners, Ms. Bass said.

“A lot of English language learners don’t enroll in algebra until the 11th grade, and if they enroll in the 11th grade, they’re losing the opportunity to enroll in a four-year” college or university, she said.

The Cal State and UC systems require applicants to take at least three years of high school math, typically two years of algebra separated by one year of geometry. Mr. Waller said some of the students have already taken algebra in middle school, but the program is designed to help them maintain high performance.

Math courses become more difficult for non-native English speakers as problems become more complex, he said.

“Most of the English learners are more successful with math than other subjects because it deals more with numbers, but you have to get into word problems,” he said. “That’s what the challenge is.”

This year, the academy will cost $15,000 to $18,000 and will be funded mostly by the chamber as well as a grant from the Press Democrat and donations from participating companies. Next year, Ms. Bass said the chamber hopes to expand the program to three sessions, or 90 students, and in 2010 it hopes to hold 10 sessions serving 300 students.

“We’re going to look at what funding options we have,” Ms. Bass said.

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