Perhaps the second time’s the charm.
Georgia students are expected to fare well on the end-of-course test for analytical geometry, the second math course tied to the national academic standards called Common Core. Final results will be released early next year.
Based on scores that have come in so far, the state Department of Education expects 67 percent of test-takers to meet or exceed state standards.
That’s a far cry from the 41 percent who met or exceeded the state standards on the end-of-course test given a year ago for coordinate algebra, the first math course offered in Georgia that was tied to Common Core.
Analytical geometry and coordinate algebra are high school courses. Coordinate algebra replaced math I, and analytical geometry is replacing math II.
Georgia students need four math credits to graduate from high school, and with the end-of-course tests in coordinate algebra and analytical geometry accounting for 20 percent of a student’s grade, the stakes are high.
Matt Cardoza, a spokesman for the Georgia Department of Education, said there are a couple of reasons for the higher pass rate on the geometry test.
“Many of the students who did not pass coordinate algebra are taking that class again,” he said.
That means many of those who took analytical geometry this year were stronger students who got through coordinate algebra on their first try.
Secondly, Cardoza said last year’s weak performance on the coordinate algebra end-of-course test was a “wake-up call” for students, teachers and parents.
“The coordinate algebra results were a little bit of a wake-up call where school districts, building leaders and down to the teacher level, it was impressed upon them the importance of maybe changing instructional practices,” Cardoza said. “People saw those results and saw that the rigor was there.”
Not only are the new geometry and algebra courses tougher than the math I and math II courses they are replacing, it takes a better performance to meet state standards.
On the math I end-of-course test, for example, a student needed to answer 27 of 54 questions correctly to meet the state standard. The student needed to get 42 of 54 correct to exceed the standard.
But on the coordinate algebra end-of-course test, a student needs to get 31 of 54 correct to meet the standard and 45 of 54 correct to exceed the standard.
In math II, it took 23 of 54 correct answers to meet the standard and 39 of 54 to exceed the standard. To meet the state standard in analytical geometry, a student must get 29 of 54 correct. To exceed the state standard, a student must get 43 of 54 correct.
“Not only did the bar go up, but so did the complexity of the questions,” Cardoza said.
The Common Core standards, now being followed for the second academic year in Georgia, have become something of a lightning rod for some political conservatives who see them as a federal intrusion into local control of K-12 public education.
Others, however, argue that the standards will improve the nation’s education system by making sure students get a deeper understanding of academic concepts and by exposing them to those concepts at the same grade levels across the country.
Verdaillia Turner, president of the Georgia Federation of Teachers, said teachers in Georgia are more than able to help students handle a more rigorous course load.
“If the state would settle down and stop playing politics depending upon who is in office and who wants to control the education pot, teachers can do their jobs in all areas,” she said.
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