LOOKING IN ON: EDUCATION:

Official asks why all kids must take algebra

Sat, Mar 29, 2008 (2 a.m.)

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Select students at Desert Pines High School put together rap-like lyrics and a base-induced beat to get students to attend proficiency testing.
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Desert Pines High School students persuade the student body to take proficiency tests with creative lyrics and an acoustic melody.
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Some of the students who failed a new math test shouldn’t have been in the class in the first place, longtime educator Bill Hanlon told the Clark County School Board on Thursday.

Up until a few years ago, the only students who took algebra in high school were the ones planning to go to college, said Hanlon, who is director of the Regional Professional Development Center, set up by the Nevada Legislature to train teachers. Now, the School District requires all students to pass algebra, regardless of their individual circumstances.

That’s unrealistic for “special needs” students, said Hanlon, who helped write the test to measure students’ mastery of the semester’s material.

And then, Hanlon said, there are the students who simply don’t value education, “the offspring of parents that probably go to the ‘Jerry Springer Show.’ ”

His characterization drew a mix of gasps, snickers and dropped jaws from the audience.

The district’s curriculum office gave teachers a variety of resources to help them prepare students for the new end-of-semester test, including practice questions that mirrored the real thing. But of the high school students tested in Algebra 1, Algebra 2 and geometry, the failure rates ranged from 87 percent to 91 percent.

It now appears that some teachers (with the support of their administrators) focused on basic math facts, instead of following the more advanced curriculum. The goal was to help students catch up and be ready for the statewide proficiency exam.

That didn’t sit well with School Board member Sheila Moulton. And it has made her rethink a district pilot program that gives principals greater control over daily campus operations in exchange for stricter accountability.

“If we empower principals and teachers without some kind of direction, that’s scary to me,” Moulton said. “I want to do it because I believe a lot of people can be successful with it. But I’m also concerned that the leadership at the school level is not ready for that.”

• • •

To meet federal standards for adequate progress, schools must have at least 95 percent of eligible students take next week’s Nevada High School Proficiency Exam. Getting kids to show up can be challenging because they know they will have additional opportunities to pass before graduation.

At Desert Pines High School, Principal Timothy Stephens has gone to great lengths to ensure his school meets the 95 percent participation requirement. Last year, a student took the test from her hospital room, and others were tracked down at the county’s juvenile detention center.

For this year’s test, Stephens will have a caravan of volunteers on standby, ready to be dispatched to the homes of students who fail to show up on time.

“If we find ’em,” Stephens said with a grin, “we bring ’em in.”

• • •

Of the Clark County School District’s 206 elementary schools, 81 are run by principals with two years or less of experience. Of the 103 middle and high school principals, 40 haven’t held the job for more than two years.

With statistics like that, said Steve Augspurger, executive director of the district administrators union, why encourage seasoned leaders to quit?

Currently, all School District employees eligible for early retirement after 15 to 29 years of district employment if they have accrued at least 110 days of sick leave. Since 2005, about 125 employees have taken advantage of the program.

Facing a $63 million reduction in state funding, district staff wants to end an early retirement incentive program, which costs about $2 million annually. The School Board on Thursday delayed voting on the recommendation until April 10.

Instead of being cut, the program should be revised to reward people who stick around, Augspurger told the School Board.

The bottom of the eligibility scale could be raised to 20 or even 25 years, while the maximum threshold would jump as high as 36 years.

“It no longer makes sense,” Augspurger said, “to encourage your most experienced and mature employees to leave early.”

Discussion: 10 comments so far…

By JimmyJoJo

3/29/08 at 7:02 a.m.

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Yup, lets just "dumb down" the system a little more and make it easier for the future generations to be nobodies. Makes perfect sense to me. they cant pass so why bother making them take it. Dumbing down America one school at a time.

JJ
www.Ultimate-Anonymity.com
By 2zero

3/29/08 at 10:52 a.m.

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CCSD is teaching "culinary arts" as an advanced course. CCSD has determined that teaching auto repair is an advanced course.

Cooks and grease monkeys....
By mgkrebsii

3/29/08 at 1:02 p.m.

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Hanlon needs to go. Nobody knows what the future holds. As adults our obligation is to prepare children to have options. Not learning Algebra takes away a future option.

Consider the following for an ALLEGEDLY non college bound kid who ends up working at Home Depot:

A customer needs a six foot 2 x4. The shortest size is 8 feet. The shortest length of 2 x 4 the company wants to stock is 8 feet. What length of lumber should the 6 foot 2 x 4 be cut from?

What size Hanlon? (Don't use Algebra to figure this out. Wait? You need to use Algebra (and basic math).)

Oh, that kid who didn't think he was going to college because teacher-to-the-teachers Hanlon said "let them take the path of least resistance to a H.S. diploma" now wants to get a college degree--paid for by Home Depot-- which will get him a promotion, allow him to pay higher taxes and keep idiots like Hanlon sucking on the public teat. But, because this kid didn't have the proper guidance and preparation from Hanlon during his FREE education years, he can't go to college! Home Depot learns this and fires him.

Now this kid who in high school was judged by Hanlon to not be college material is also sucking on the public teat (unemployment comp).

Hanlon shows he has no understanding of the law of unintended consequences. He's a jerk! Fire him!
By ITeach

3/29/08 at 7:42 p.m.

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What the articles aren't saying are the following points (and I know these because I teach next door to the Math Department Chair in my high school):
1. Giving the math teachers 10 questions from a 30 questions test in September does not help them in January. Would you be able to pass a test on a novel of which you only read a third?
2. How do you teach a more rigorous curriculum when it requires a mastery of the basics?
3. When the test was given to the math teachers prior to the testing date there were questions that were unclear, had more than one right answer, were out of the scope and sequence of the curriculum and innapropriate. When this information was passed on to the "powers that be" it was dismissed. Some higher ups believe all teachers are idiots and treat us that way. How on earth could we possibly know what's going on? We're only with the kids day in and day out, after all.
4. The people who wrote the test haven't been in a classroom in a number of years. How do they know what today's teachers are up against? The answer is they don't. They sit in their office and tell those of us on the front lines what we should be doing because the district spent my tax dollars (yes teachers pay taxes too!) on some stupid training that won't work anyway.
5. What about the "lowest common denominator" factor? Different teachers, different kids, same test. Hmmmm... the only common factor is the test! Sounds like Mr. Hanlon and his cronies are just trying to pass their screw up on to the teachers. Oh, well. We're used to it.
By Johnathan_Abbinett

3/30/08 at 2:26 a.m.

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I recall struggling with Algebra as a High School student as well (though I was a whiz at Geometry) and asking why? The only answer I got was "because you have to" or "because it's required" - which didn't answer my question.

In college I was finally told the real answer was, because there are not enough teachers qualified to teach logic beyond the Philosophy instructors. Later a professor of World Religions and Philoshopy confirmed the same answer (after a long litany of the history of establishing land grant colleges and developing them into legit university systems).

This should not be about passing a particular test or lamenting the sad statistics that reveal we have been "dumbing down" generation after generation for decades - it should be about the reality that we need, and must, reform the basic core curriculum of our public school system so every child gets the same established standard of education as a foundation for further education (whether they don't attend past High School, go to a Vocational/Technical Program, College or University) - we must establish a basic standard for all FIRST!

As my Dad used to say, "The worst lies we tell are the lies we tell ourselves - and no matter how bad the truth is - the truth is not as bad as a lie!"

I'm shocked that I can't find hardly anyone under the age of 50 that can describe, in their own words, the difference between a Just War and Unjust War as delineated by the Founders! Why? Because my generation did not see to it that our kids and grand-kids got the same quality civics education we received - and that's the truth!

Same goes for all of the arts, health and hygiene and physical education - all have been cut out to save money...shame on us!

So, while some want to blame the teachers, or the principals, or the administrators, or the parents - the real blame lay with all of them and all us as taxpayers!

If I could change only one thing it would be reforming the American educational system: we'd have national standards for all; Pre-K for all (including special needs); Elementary School and Junior High and High School classes would go from 7:30am to 3:30pm, then there would be two hours dedicated to tutoring supported "self study" from 3:30pm to 5:30pm (when most working parents could then pick up their kids).

But, hey, what do I know - I'm just an idealist that loves to dream right? That's the easy way to continue to avoid responsibility or any degree of accountability by any adult! Then again, what if we all started to dare to dream and ask "Why Not?"

So, instead, those of us who can, send our kids to the best private schools, provide for the best tutors, and let the rest linger and languish in an old beaten bureacracy in crumbling buildings - SHAME ON ALL OF US!
By mikeg

3/30/08 at 8:11 a.m.

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Why teach kids algebra if they're never going to use it?

I haven't heard a logical or thoughtful explanation here or anywhere for why the majority of working adults need to be familiar with arcane math equations. It's unnecessary for most people.
By sweetchuckd

3/30/08 at 1:27 p.m.

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Check out http://detentionslip.org for all the crazy stories around the country in public education.
By 1041

3/30/08 at 6:28 p.m.

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If a career choice does not include a need for algebra, I think a basic level would suffice. Now, that is not to say that I think that we shouldn't encourage our youth because obviously we want each and every one to achieve his/her maximum potential. http://TheNewsScrews.com
By ZeddyBear

4/4/08 at 6:29 a.m.

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Hanlon and his ilk are ex-administrators ponying up to the CCSD trough to embellish their hefty retirements.... Funny that math teachers can't be classified as consultants.... That's the realm of administration...... These so-called experts would NEVER consent to enter the classroom as math teachers --- that would be beneath their station in life......
By lvmachead

4/4/08 at 9:14 a.m.

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Reality check time. In the 70's when I went through high school, there were business and general math courses that were required but Algebra, Geometry, and Trig were only necessary if you planned on going to college. How is it that we are somehow dumbing down the curriculum by not making every student take and pass Algebra. I know it's on the farce they call the Proficiency Exam, but there are students with outstanding SAT scores who can't pass that and the state only wants to make it harder.

Somehow we've come to the point where schools only cater to those planning on attending college and demeaning those without those ambitions. We put unreasonable expectations on students and teachers, then wonder why we have high drop out rates and poor test scores. Let's get back to offering classes to prepare students to be carpenters, electricians, plumbers and auto mechanics if that's what they want to be and only make those who want to go to college take the higher level classes.