Officials to place emphasis on exam
Posted on Monday, March 27, 2006
Arkansas educators are joining a growing number of school officials nationwide who want to tie performance on high school assessment tests to college course placement.
The development reflects a trend to make positive performance on the state's end-ofcourse exams more important for students, which educators say is key to higher test scores.
Arkansas Department of Education Commissioner Ken James said last week in a telephone interview that he wants to create a new Algebra II end-of-course examination that public colleges and universities could use to decide if students are ready for collegelevel math classes.
Most schools currently use the math portion of the ACT or their own in-house placement tests to decide.
James is collaborating with counterparts in other states to develop a shared Algebra II end-of-course exam.
A shared exam would decrease the cost of administering thousands of new tests annually, James said.
"Algebra II should be Algebra II whether it's given in Arkansas, Missouri or Georgia,"he said.
Though officials have not disclosed the other states involved, they all belong to a coalition organized by Achieve, a nonprofit organization that pushes for increased secondary education academic standards.
A number of prominent CEOs and state governors serve on Achieve's board of directors, and the group receives part of its funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Ohio Gov. Bob Taft and Prudential Financial CEO Arthur Ryan co-chair the board. One of Achieve's main initiatives is to align high school and college assessments, said Matt Gandal, executive vice president of Achieve.
Gandal said there is a gap in most states between the knowledge tested by high school assessments and the skills needed to succeed in college.
The group's research shows that high school assessments nationwide typically measure eighth-, ninth- or 10 th-grade skills, and only six states currently have assessments that colleges use for admissions or placement. Only half of states bother to report test results on students'transcripts. Arkansas does not report results on transcripts sent home or to colleges.
The Arkansas Department of Education currently requires high school students to take three assessments: the 11 th-grade Literacy, Algebra I and Geometry end-of-course examinations.
"In Arkansas, there certainly is a disconnect in math"between the knowledge tested by the exams and the skills key to success in college, Gandal said. "That really ought to be the floor, not the ceiling, for kids."
Because most high school assessments, like the Algebra I and Geometry exams, gauge fundamental skills, Gandal said, colleges and universities typically ignore the results.
Consequently, the first barometer many graduates receive of whether they are ready for college-level courses comes when they take post-secondary placement exams.
This is one reason professors believe 40 percent of high school graduates are not prepared for college-level courses, according to Achieve research.
Public colleges and universities in Arkansas spent $ 48 million on remedial education during the 2003-04 school year, according to figures provided by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education. State general revenue paid for $ 18 million of that total.
Nationally, Achieve estimates that higher education institutions, businesses, and students and families pay more than $ 17 billion annually on remedial classes that rehash knowledge that should have been absorbed in high school.
If students took high school assessments before their senior year that better measured college readiness, Gandal said students could spend their final year of high school "filling in the gaps"instead of "slacking off."
James said Achieve is currently negotiating with testing vendors, including ACT, about developing a common, multistate Algebra II assessment.
He had hoped to roll out a pilot testing program in Arkansas this spring, but he said that now appears unlikely.
The goal is to have the program initiated statewide by the 2008-09 testing cycle, James said.
"I'm confident that with Achieve's help, this conversation can be taken to the next level, with a common assessment in Algebra II,"he said. "It's one of the strongest gatekeepers and strongest predictors of college readiness."
Department of Higher Education Director Linda Beene said at a Feb. 28 Achieve forum in Springdale that colleges could start using the Algebra II exam to determine course placement rather than the math section of the ACT.
"The higher education community is committed to considering the use of the Algebra II end-of-course exam for this purpose,"said Steve Floyd, deputy director of the Department of Higher Education, in an e-mail message. "The issue to be resolved is whether or not this exam is as comprehensive as the ACT math sub-test that is currently used for placement purposes."
Such a move could ultimately reduce college-level remediation spending, Floyd said, by providing "positive motivation"for students to do their best on the test.
It would also further a trend in Arkansas to put more weight on end-of-course exams that educators say have meant little to students in the past.
Just this year, the state mandated that all students who score below proficient on the tests must undergo remediation the following year or lose credit for the corresponding courses.
Beginning in 2009-10, students will have to pass the exams to earn a diploma.
Bentonville Superintendent Gary Compton said he supports raising the stakes of the tests for students, but he doesn't support the trend toward more state authority over local school district operations.
"This is one more step toward state, and eventually, national control of the industry,"he said. "That's the way we are marching."
To contact this reporter: jkrupa@arkansasonline. com
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