As we’ve seen, there’s reason to suspect that Arkansas benchmark tests may have been subject to some shenanigans in recent years — at least the Arkansas Department of Education hasn’t shown otherwise. Now comes a New York Times story that highlights criticisms of Arkansas’ high school algebra exam:
Also among those states using end-of-course exams is Arkansas, where seventh, eighth or ninth graders will this year for the first time be required to pass the end-of-course Algebra I test to qualify for a diploma.Critics of Arkansas’s system say it fails to show true math proficiency because students have only to score 24 out of 100 to pass the test and those who fail will be granted two additional chances to take the test. After that, they can take a computerized tutorial that is followed by a test.
Tom W. Kimbrell, the commissioner for the Department of Education in Arkansas, rejected that criticism.
“The alternate options are not some escape valve that everyone gets to use,” Dr. Kimbrell said. “They are mechanisms that require the student and teachers to go back and actually learn the material.”
On the other hand, while I’m all in favor of making sure that (say) fifth graders learn all of the basic math skills, I’m a bit more dubious that all high schoolers really need to know algebra (let alone geometry). For example, I’ve never even heard of an actual adult who needed to use the quadratic formula — other than high school math teachers. So maybe it’s no great harm if the high school exit exams are dumbed down.
I agree that most students don’t need to take advanced math classes, although, I don’t consider algebra and geometry advanced since many people unconsciously use the skills from these classes in their daily lives. But, just because you don’t need algebra II, trig, or calculus doesn’t mean your algebra class should be “dumbed down”. Unfortunately, the Arkansas Department of Education has opted to bump up its NCLB test results by setting a ridiculously low threshold for mastery of algebra.
I think this is a major failing of tracking systems. Students who are not college-bound are put in easier basic classes because it is assumed that since they don’t need advanced skills then they don’t need strong basic skills.
Americans need to take a hard look at what classes we require all students to take, but whatever classes we do require need to be high quality. That means they must be rigorous.