Why Pythagoras staggers us

Recommendations for Math A exams

By DAVID HULSE

ALBANY, NY — Current state requirements for high school graduation include passing the Math A test, but last June about one-third of those taking the exam failed it, even after the passing grade was lowered from 65 to 55.

The test played havoc with students’ plans and school district graduation ceremonies. Exam scores were set aside and the state was forced to admit there were problems with the exam.

On October 8, the state Board of Regents released a report by a panel of math educators who examined the June disaster.

Their report quoted an earlier 1998 State Education Department (SED) report, which then warned of problems in changing math graduation requirements. Math A is a combination of portions of the older Course I and Course II math programs, but educators felt it had a higher difficulty level.

That 1998 report stated that “until the standards are clearly stated and communicated to teachers, students, parents and other interested parties…and proper support systems are put in place,” for both students and teachers, “it may be unfair and unrealistic to expect the passing of the Mathematics A exam to be a requirement for a high school diploma.”

The SED went ahead with the new testing anyway.

The math-educators panel report released last week “concluded that the standards are not clear, and that the necessary support systems for students and teachers are not in place.”

The panel found that, “such a failure rate on an adjusted exam points not to a single problem or a few simple problems; it points to a systemic problem.”

The panel came up with 41 recommendations for changes and improvements in testing. They found that SED is unable to predict performance on the new exams and that test performance standards have not been consistent. In addition, the June “exam was harder than past Math A exams,” they stated.

The SED was also given low grades in its handling of data. Final test results were not available until three months after testing.

“While the most important use of student performance data is to inform instruction, statewide data mining models that would enable local schools and teachers to use these data effectively are not generally available,” the report charged.

The panel also called for better and continuing training for teachers teaching math solely and for those teaching math among other subjects. “The mathematical background of teachers delivering math instruction varies widely; yet, raising almost three million children to higher levels of math achievement will be impossible without highly skilled teachers.”

Other recommendations call for an increased public information effort by the SED to emphasize the importance of math; more cooperation in program planning between educators at various levels and between educators and SED officials; standards on the use of calculators during testing.

The panel also recommended considerable care in setting scoring standards until their primary changes are implemented.

SED Commissioner Richard Mills recommended the report to the regents.

“In my opinion, the panel report is wise, it is right and we must implement most of the major recommendations immediately,” he said.