Reports frequently place U.S. students well below their international peers in math knowledge and performance.

The secret to improving those rankings is no secret at all, if you listen to Dr. Hongde Hu, chair of Cal State Monterey Bay’s math department. It comes down to enthusiasm (which he has in abundance) focus, confidence and simple hard work.

Dr. Hu, his colleagues and teaching assistants, and 52 Algebra I and Algebra II students from Watsonville, Soledad and Seaside high schools are proving that again this summer in his fourth annual Summer Math Academy, sponsored by the Imagine College and CSUMB’s Upward Bound program.

Participants in the three-week academy have had trouble completing their Algebra I or II requirements in high school. Now, they are working at various math activities six hours a day for three weeks. Those who succeed – and most do – receive a year’s high school math credit.

When Dr. Hu talks about his students, his narration is sprinkled with words like “amazing” and “beautiful.” He proudly points to the next day’s lesson plan, which shows two lessons being consolidated, as a sign of how quickly the students are progressing.

“In the first week, it is just amazing to see what they have accomplished,” he said. “So many people struggle with math, we need to find solutions. After one week, the students are doing real math. They find out ‘Math is much easier than I thought.’ ”

The students participate in a variety of individual and small group activities, receive personalized attention and speedy feedback on what they have done right and wrong.

“The whole point is not just to pass a high school class, but to go on to college success,” Dr. Hu said. “Students need to see what college looks like and to develop confidence that they can succeed.” Serving on the teaching staff along with Dr. Hu this summer is Monterey High School math teacher Chris Fowler.

“In high school, students are pulled in so many different directions. They have seven classes, they have social and extracurricular activities. They are not used to being really, really focused,” Fowler said.

Fowler said many students who have trouble in math have had a bad experience sometime during their school years that convinced them that math was not for them. He said he was extremely impressed with the way Dr. Hu gets the students to buy into the class from the beginning. He said students and teachers alike are tired out at the end of the first two days, but the students quickly become more confident of their ability to succeed in math.

Dr. Hu is pleased that this summer he will be expanding the Math Academy concept to a group of students from Harbor High in Santa Cruz. That session will run from July 23 through Aug. 17, with the class sessions being held both in Santa Cruz and at CSUMB.

To learn more about Dr. Hu, click here.