From yesterday’s Las Vegas Review Journal:
“Higher math failure isn’t just a high school phenomenon in the Clark County School District. End-of-semester exam results show that most district eighth-graders also lack the necessary skills to show competency in algebra. Districtwide, 79.2 percent of the 14,104 eighth-graders tested in pre-algebra earned grades of F. In Algebra 1, 54.1 percent of 5,976 eighth-graders scored a 59 percent or lower.
“…(F)or the most part, the middle school results parallel the majority testing failure of district high school students on their end-of-semester exams:
* In Algebra 1, 90.5 percent of students tested flunked.
* In Geometry, 87.8 percent of students failed.
* In Algebra 2, 86.6 percent of students were unable to score a passing grade.“…In the wake of the poor results, classroom teachers and school administrators have questioned the fairness of the test.”
Ah, yes. It MUST be the test. It couldn’t possibly be the fault of the “highly qualified” teachers, could it?
Commenting on the initial reporting of those lousy math test scores (see above), Lauren Kohut-Rost, Deputy Superintendent of Instruction for the Clark County School District, said, “Quite honestly, we were not looking for stellar results.”
Well, you certainly can’t find what you don’t look for. And I wonder if parents were similarly expecting such lackluster results from the “highly qualified” educators the district employs?
Posted on April 21st, 2008 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: Nevada
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