A little math help from a peer

While many middle school students dread the idea of going to math class, 20 seventh-graders at Dwyer Middle School not only enjoy math but have forfeited their elective class to help sixth-graders out with their math studies.

Sixth-grade math teacher Debb Clay came up with a program called Students Teaching Arithmetic To Students. She started the program a few years ago, and it has since evolved into a daily peer-to-peer tutoring session with graduates from last year’s advanced math class teaching students who may have struggled with math in fifth grade.

Clay recruited these student teachers -- who all agreed to forfeit one semester of an elective -- to spend one class session a day assisting one or two sixth-grade students with their homework. Two math intervention class sessions are held each day to accommodate all the sixth-grade students who need help. These math intervention class sessions were created just for the tutoring program and are in addition to the students’ regularly scheduled math class. Clay said she couldn’t have made it happen without the blessing of Asst. Principal Claudia Ross, who is in charge of class assignments and scheduling, and the Huntington Beach Educational Foundation, which supplied a grant to purchase study tools for the program.

The student teachers were all recently recognized by the school board for their hard work and for forfeiting a fun class to help other students.

Clay’s vision is that the students who are being tutored overcome whatever obstacles that have been holding them back and return next year to act as student teachers to the incoming sixth-graders.

“If that happens,” Clay said, “then the program is successful.”

The tutors help the students with their math homework and also provide them with additional tools for solving problems, such as shortcuts they may have picked up along the way.

“Mrs. Clay taught us a lot of tricks to help us out,” said student teacher Emily Davis, 12, of Huntington Beach. “So I’ve been kind of teaching her.”

Emily’s assigned student, Jessica Rademaker, said the daily sessions have helped her better understand math.

Right now the sixth-graders are studying fractions, which Jessica said is pretty difficult. Emily showed her a shortcut she learned in Clay’s class last year to help determine the lowest common denominator.

The students are also provided with additional notebooks and study guides, in case they need extra practice in any area of math.

Eleven-year-old Marisa Brown of Huntington Beach said she usually does better in language arts class, but on her last report card she earned a B+ in math and a B in language arts. She said it’s because of the extra help she’s been getting from her tutor, Mariah Clayton.

Many of the students said the extra help has made them feel more comfortable answering questions in front of the class and has helped them improve their math scores.

“It’s actually helped a lot,” said 11-year-old Eli Saavedra of Huntington Beach. Eli said before taking the intervention class, he just didn’t understand math. Now that he does, he enjoys doing his homework. He said his math score went from a C- in the beginning of the year to an A.

Principal Don Ruisinger said the intervention program is great, not only for the students receiving the help but for the student teachers as well.

“Providing a service is a good way to learn,” Ruisinger said. “If you have to teach something, that’s when you really have to learn it. This is just an awesome program -- I wish I’d thought of it myself.”

Ruisinger said he stops in on the class as often as he can to see how things are going, and each time he is impressed with what Clay and the students are doing.

“It’s clear whenever you walk in here that learning’s going on,” he said.

* LINDSAY SANDHAM covers education and public safety. She can be reached at (714) 966-4625 or lindsay.sandham@ latimes.com.

20060112iswlejncDOUGLAS ZIMMERMAN / INDEPENDENT(LA)Nicole Allen, left, a seventh-grader, helps sixth-grader Hannah Higginson with her math homework in Debb Clay’s classroom at Dwyer Middle School. Tutors forfeit an elective to help their peers.