by Brian

I teach math, but it's football season, so here's an analogy from the gridiron.  It's just the start of the second quarter, and we're getting our butts kicked.  And it looks like the refs want us to lose; we just can't get a call!

By second quarter I am referring to the fact that the class of 2014 has entered our high schools and joined the class of 2013 as the first students who will have to pass End of Course exams in Algebra and Geometry in order to graduate.  And by getting our butts kicked I mean that we are behind 42% to 58% ( that's students who passed the HSPE last year vs. those who didn't.)  And by the refs I mean the State Legislature, The State Board of Education, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, who have collectively not yet even figured out what the End of Course exams are going to look like. 

Today we got a look at Item Specifications that showed which standards would be included in the EOC exams.  A quick check against the Algebra 1 Crosswalk, which also claims to show which standards will be tested, showed some glaring inconsistencies.  Will quadratic factoring be on the test or not?  It matters.

I also teach Algebra 2, and recently signed up to have my classes pilot test questions for the EOCs in Algebra and Geometry.  Sometime in October we will take a class period to answer potential items for the EOCs which will be given next spring (within 3 weeks of the end of school). Obviously, the tests have not even been created yet, or field tested, or validated, yet they will be used to determine whether or not our students will be able to graduate.

Wait, it gets more crazy.  You see, students who passed Algebra last year are in Geometry this year, so they will take the Geometry EOC exam.  But the state law says they have to pass an EOC exam in Algebra too, and there was no EOC exam available for Algebra last year when they took the course.  So they have to take something called Comprehensive, Part 1.  No wait, that was last week. (I'm not making this up!)  This week it's the EOC Retake.  The sophomores in Algebra 2 this year (they're the reason we keep leading the nation in SAT scores), well they have to take Comprehensive Parts 1 and 2, or maybe it's the EOC retakes for Algebra and Geometry.  That's not clear either.

Last February I went to Olympia to testify before the Senate Education in support of a bill postponing the requirement that the class of 2013 and beyond pass EOC exams that had not even been written.  They listened politely, kind of, but the bill died in committee.  I plan to go back when the legislature convenes next year and try again.

You see, it's kind of embarrassing to teach a subject based on logic and reason to students who are being treated so badly by adults acting irrationally.