Long Island high school students generally scored well on a new Regents algebra exam - too well, many teachers say.
Eighty-five percent of the Island's teens initially tested have passed the new Integrated Algebra exam, the state reported Wednesday. Results are for the last year - the first time the exam was offered statewide.
Results were issued as part of a school data package, which did not include the usual graduation rates for last year's senior class - the second consecutive year that such figures have not been delivered on time. Tom Dunn, a spokesman for the State Education Department, said those rates should be ready in late May or early June. He attributed the tardiness to a department decision to add August graduation figures to the data and additional checks for accuracy.
As usual, results vary widely. More than 95 percent of students tested in algebra passed with scores of 65 or higher in such districts as East Williston and Great Neck, while less than 65 percent passed in districts such as Brentwood and Roosevelt.
Results reflect the state's return to a traditional high school math sequence, with first-year instruction in algebra, followed by geometry and trigonometry. The new algebra course replaces a course known as Math A, which typically required three semesters to complete and produced high failure rates initially.
"We're doing fine - and with eighth graders, said William Johnson, superintendent of Rockville Centre schools. Virtually all students in his district now complete an accelerated algebra course in eighth grade, and that approach increasingly is being adopted elsewhere on the Island.
"I believe the state made the right decision," added Phyllis Palma, an assistant to the superintendent in the William Floyd district. About 150 of that district's 780 eighth-graders took and passed the new algebra exam last year, she added.
While they may like the exam's format, many educators question the rigor of the state's scaled scoring system. As on other Regents exams, answers on the algebra exam are "weighted" in such a way that students get extra points on questions considered especially difficult.
State Education Department officials contend weighting ensures equal difficulty from one year to the next. Many teachers and school administrators say weighting has made exams easier to pass. The algebra exam administered in January required 31 points out of a possible 87.
"It's a feel-good grade - that's all it is," said Robert Shulha, a former math teacher at Longwood High School. He contends easy scoring on the algebra exam leaves students poorly prepared for the subsequent course in geometry.
Roosevelt's superintendent, Robert-Wayne Harris, said he would like to have seen a higher passing rate on the algebra exam than his district's 47 percent, but remained "encouraged by the gains that our students have made thus far." A Brentwood spokesman, Rick Belyea, said his district was encouraged by its 61 percent rate, but realized "we have work to do to move those numbers upward."
