College algebra challenges LaSalle Academy eighth-graders Students get special weekly lessons on two campuses

Though only an eighth-grader, Caroline Baldwin already has had ataste of college -- as have most of her classmates at LaSalleLanguage Academy.

Caroline is among 32 LaSalle eighth-graders who travel to theSouthLoop every Wednesday for a special algebra class at Robert MorrisCollege.

LaSalle's eighth-grade math scores in the algebra-heavy IllinoisStandards Achievement Tests were the sixth-highest in the state lastyear, according to a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of School Report Carddata released Wednesday.

At LaSalle, all eighth-graders get two hours of special algebraclasses every Wednesday, Principal Amy Narea said. The top quarter ofthe class travels to the University of Illinois at Chicago; themiddle half goes to Robert Morris, and the bottom quarter stays atLaSalle. Located in affluent Old Town, LaSalle is a magnet schoolthat picks its kids by racially based lottery, not test scores. Onein five students is from a low-income home.

'So cool'

For the Robert Morris class, the LaSalle students start at 8:30a.m. And they have to make their own way to 401 S. State. Most kidsshow up even earlier, around 8 a.m., to check homework with a tutor.

"I think it's so cool we get to go to a college campus and takealgebra," said Caroline, 14, who also figures the class will help herget into a selective-enrollment Chicago public high school.

LaSalle students tackle the same algebra book Robert Morrisfreshmen get if they are struggling with math -- supplementing twoother LaSalle books. They are taught by Robert Morris math instructorGhazi Sarhan, a Jordanian native with a bachelor's in civilengineering from Southern Illinois University and a master's in mathfrom DePaul University.

"He's really good at explaining things," says Lena Lazar, 13.

Sarhan uses fewer lectures and more group work than with histypical college class.

Students make huge gains

During one recent class, Sarhan began by explaining inequalitieson the white board in standard lecture fashion. Later, he challengedstudents to work on inequalities in groups of four. "Everyone mustparticipate," Sarhan warned.

In their small groups, some students turned into teachers.

"You gotta do to one side what you do to the other side," CameronMitchell, 13, told his teammates.

Last year, Robert Morris testing indicates, LaSalle eighth-graders made huge algebra gains, catapulting during the program fromas little as 2 to 19 on 20-point algebra tests, said Deb Brody, thecollege's outreach coordinator. Many students reported that theconfidence they gained in algebra spilled over to other classes.