Elementary teachers’ weak math skills — some can’t even recall Grade 6 fractions — have sent Ontario teachers’ colleges scrambling to launch mandatory crash courses, with some making student teachers pass a math test to graduate.

Teachers’ math phobia, which faculties of education across North America view as a “huge problem,” are seen as one factor in Ontario’s falling student math scores, especially in grade school, where most teachers have a liberal-arts background and have not studied math since high school.

The University of Toronto, Trent University and Lakehead University now require student elementary teachers to write a test of math basics — fractions, decimals, percentages — and then offer help with concepts teachers don’t understand. Other schools are adding compulsory math refresher courses to Ontario’s new two-year teacher education curriculum.

Some professors say student teachers are often in tears when they try to recall their grade-school math, and tell them they’re grateful for the emergency crash courses.

“I’ve got some mathematically brilliant teacher candidates, but I’m also working with some who don’t know how to multiply or divide,” noted professor Mary Reid of U of T’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). “They have no idea what a ‘remainder’ is. They think a remainder of 3 is the same as decimal 3.”

OISE now gives student teachers a mandatory diagnostic math test during orientation week — no calculators allowed — to pinpoint where they might need help.

Here is a problem from that test, based on Grade 7 skills:

Mary has read 120 pages of a novel, which is 40 per cent of the book.

How many pages does she have left to read?

Only 55 per cent of the student teachers got it right. (Answer: 180 pages.)

“Their average mark on that test was 80 per cent, which sounds good except you’re talking about math that’s taught as early as Grade 5 and 6,” said Reid.

U of T showered the others with extra math help, but Reid and others say it’s a problem teachers’ colleges are tackling across North America.

Queen’s Park has unveiled a $60-million math strategy that will require at least one math-savvy “lead teacher” in every elementary school this fall, and provide more training for teachers struggling in class.

Among steps universities are taking:

Trent University launched a 75-minute math proficiency test last fall for all elementary student teachers in the first week of class. Those who need significant help — about 20 per cent — must take an 18-hour course first semester, then redo the test. “We believe everyone can learn math, given the right conditions,” said dean of education Catherine Bruce. “That applies to adults too.”

OISE runs its 90-minute diagnostic test during orientation week. Special software sends each student a personalized report about where they need help and how to get it, from online links to workshops to a new one-on-one OISE math tutor.

Lakehead University gives a two-hour written math-competency exam — no calculators — on numeracy basics like fractions, area, volume, multiplication and division to all student teachers headed for Grades 1 to 10, said associate professor Alex Lawson. About one in three fails and must take a course to understand the concepts, as well as the course everyone takes on how to teach math. They can take the test three more times, but must pass in order to graduate.

Brock University will require all incoming student teachers of Grades 1 to 6 to take an online refresher course in math this summer before classes start, through an “app” that then provides links to help in areas where the person is weak. The St. Catharines university is planning a similar test for teachers of Grade 7 and 8.

Queen’s University is developing a specialized course on numeracy basics for all student elementary teachers that takes a case-study approach, like law school, to math tasks from the Grade 6 curriculum, said professor Lynda Colgan. “I believe you can’t teach what you don’t know.”

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The University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) in Oshawa has launched a mandatory course for student teachers of Grades 1 to 6 on math basics like fractions and decimals — not how to teach them, but what the math actually means, said associate professor Ann LeSage. When a similar course was optional, few teachers took it “because so many are afraid of math,” she said. Now everyone takes it.

“They might know the formula for calculating the area of a circle, but they don’t know why it works. Many students panic and freeze when they even hear the math words.”

The University of Ottawa launched a mandatory 12-week math course last fall called Enhancing Math and Science Understanding, which gives student teachers a deeper grasp of skills they may have learned superficially by rote, says associate professor Christine Suurtamm.

Take multiplying fractions, she said. If you only learned the procedure and have forgotten it, “you’re kind of stuck. But if you actually understand that you can replace the multiplication sign with the word ‘of’ — so 1/2 times 1/4 becomes 1/2 of 1/4, which people do with recipes all the time — it’s easier.”

The course is based on a popular one-week summer “math camp” the university has offered incoming students for 13 years. Were teachers grateful for the new crash course? Says Suurtamm: “I got a standing ovation the last day of class.”