An Addition to the Classroom

"People think that subtraction is simple," she said. But teaching it requires complex understanding. For example, students learn to "borrow" a 1 in some double-digit subtraction problems, but they might not know why or what the 1 represents. "A lot of kids are really confused," she said. "They think it's magic."

The challenge is finding the right word problem, diagram or explanation to help them understand.

Beefing up the math skills of 2 million elementary school teachers presents a "problem of huge scale," according to a recent report from the presidential National Mathematics Advisory Panel. A more practical solution, panelists suggested, could be to turn to math specialists.

Critics point to a lack of proven results in major studies. They cite the high cost of employing math specialists in addition to classroom teachers, as well as the practical challenges of finding enough qualified applicants.

Still, some school districts and states are taking an interest. In Virginia, the Board of Education recommended last year that one math specialist be required at elementary and middle schools for every 1,000 students. But the legislature rejected the proposal, which would have cost more than $20 million a year to implement.

The state is also among the first to develop a graduate program for math specialists, which is now offered at six state universities.

Rodriguez was one of the first to go through the program.

The 25-year teacher said that math was a "weakness" growing up and that she worried early in her career when she saw her students stumbling.

"I decided to take the leap and become a better math educator," she said. She enrolled in extra math courses at night and learned new teaching approaches through the Fairfax County school system. Eventually, she "wanted to teach math all day," she said.

When Rodriguez came to McNair this year as a fully certified math specialist, Cimino jumped at the chance to work with her. Math is not a weakness for Cimino -- she made it through calculus in high school -- but working with a specialist has helped her students go into more depth in lessons, she said.

Rodriguez and Cimino meet weekly to plan lessons and analyze student work. Twice a week, they co-teach. Cimino, a second-year teacher, said her students have made "huge gains" in the way they think and talk about math.

In one lesson on fractions, Rodriguez asked the students to take a paper and fold it in half. Some folded it vertically, some horizontally. She asked if there were other ways to make a half, and one student suggested making a half with triangles -- a step that impressed Cimino.

She credits the coach for pushing her students to go beyond "the standard, basic" responses. "If you don't ask, you won't see" what they can do, she said.

Staff writer Michael Alison Chandler is retaking second-year algebra at Fairfax High School to learn how schools are preparing more students for higher math. To follow her experience, visithttp://voices.washingtonpost.com/x-equals-why.