By JEFF LIPTON
As school districts across the state will begin next fall to phase in integrated algebra, to replace the math A course for eighth- and ninth-graders, Island Park school officials are upset over the proposed scoring system, which would delay the grading of the Regents.
The state wants to ³post-equate² the integrated algebra Regents ‹ develop a scoring standard or passing grade after the test is given, not before, as is done with all other Regents. As a result, students who perform poorly on the June exam would not know their scores until late summer, which would mean they could not take the course and the exam again during the summer. In many cases, this would push students further behind during the fall term.
To show their outrage, Island Park school board members passed a resolution on March 26 strongly urging the Board of Regents to adopt a pre-equating scoring system. This would allow students to get their Regents results soon enough so that if they failed, they could enroll in a summer preparatory course and re-take the exam in August. If they passed the second exam, they could continue progressing in math without falling behind.
Beginning next fall, the state will offer a new math sequence, starting with integrated algebra, followed by geometry, algebra 2 and trigonometry. The integrated algebra Regents will be given to students for the first time in June 2008. School districts still have the option next year of offering math A, but will have to make the transition to integrated algebra thereafter. Math A is a three-semester course, while integrated algebra lasts just two semesters.
³We are concerned that the procedure adopted by [state] education department officials will have a negative impact upon future plans of children who do not perform well on the June assessment,² said Dr. Edward Price, superintendent of Island Park schools. ³We¹re saying it just isn¹t fair. The kids are going to get shafted. For those who will do very well on the test, it¹s not an issue. But kids on the borderline will be greatly impacted.²
Nassau County school district officials are spearheading the effort to persuade the state to reconsider the way the exams are scored. Dr. Bill Johnson, superintendent of Rockville Centre schools, is leading the opposition to post-equating the exams and has urged all school districts to voice their outrage. Johnson fired off a letter to the state¹s education commissioner, Richard Mills, in January, voicing his displeasure with the state¹s plan.
Johnson said that the Rockville Centre school board is in the process of drafting a resolution similar to the one approved by the Island Park board, and that several other districts are expected to follow suit. ³It is very unfair,² Johnson said of the proposed scoring system. ³When you took the Regents, you knew how you did in a day or two. You did not have to wait for two months to find out your score. It throws off your ability to do something about it if you fail.²
Johnson said that between 50 and 75 percent of the students who failed the math A Regents last June and took the course over the summer passed the test in August.
³We¹re saying that the [scoring] standards should be established beforehand, not after the test is given,² Johnson said. ³The passing grade should be established before administering the exam.²
Johnson said that 260 eighth-graders in Rockville Centre will take the exam in June 2008. From then on, the integrated algebra Regents will be given each August, January and June.
Steve Foster, president of the Island Park school board, said that post-equating is another example of ³sloppy planning² by the state education department under Mills¹s leadership. ³We are very angry with the disorganization during Mills¹s tenure as commissioner,² said Foster. ³His poor planning and sloppy planning is not unusual, with him and the state education department bent on ramming the test through the districts without thinking ahead of time what the consequences might be.²
State education officials could not be reached for comment. But in a March 12 written response to Johnson, David Abrams, assistant commissioner for the Office of Standards, Assessment and Reporting, wrote that post-equating the integrated algebra Regents is necessary for the first year of testing ³to ensure that the standard does not change as school districts make the transition into the new testing program.²
He added that over the past three years, the state has taken many steps to improve the development of tests. ³Developing a new testing program that ignores all we have learned over the past three years is ill-advised,² Abrams wrote.
Comments about this story? JLipton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
