New algebra policy under construction

INDIANAPOLIS -- An eight-member panel of the Governor's Education Roundtable is recommending that Indiana students be required to take algebra by the ninth grade and that the graduation qualifying exam include algebra questions beginning in 2004.\nThe panel on Monday debated how to test first-year algebra before agreeing that the exam should include a sampling of questions from instruction from the entire year.\nThe panel's recommendation goes to the full 29-member roundtable on Oct. 8 and then to the State Board of Education.\n"We worked so hard to have world-class standards," Indiana Higher Education Commission Stan Jones said. "We need to test all of them."\nAbout 70 percent of Indiana students currently enroll in algebra in the eighth or ninth grade. Roughly half of the remaining students take it later.\nThe state currently does not require ninth-graders to take a certain math course, nor does it have specific math standards for that grade, said Wes Bruce, director of assessment for the state Department of Education.\nRequiring students to take algebra by the ninth grade would require the state Board of Education to approve a new state rule.\nBruce recommended testing 18 of the 54 standards covered in first-year algebra. Testing more could be challenged legally, he said.\nPre-algebra questions currently make up 18 percent of the math section of the exam. Regardless of the amount of algebra covered, the subject would make up 30 percent of the math section. The rest covers math taught up to the eighth grade.\nSome state and local educators worried that students would be tested on material not covered in class and that teachers would not be properly trained before the fall of 2004.\n"I'm still at a level of discomfort," said Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, a former teacher. "I think it's unfair to students and teachers."\nSuperintendent of Public Instruction Suellen Reed, who supports testing the full year of algebra, stressed that math teachers must receive training and that students needing remedial help in math must receive it.\nOthers raised concerns about paying for the extra training when education funding is being cut.\nNew math and language arts standards are being tried this year on ISTEP-Plus tests for the third, six and eighth grades.\nRoger Thornton, executive director of the Indiana Association of School Superintendents, said he does not believe evidence exists that the state has equipped teachers for the new standards.\n"It's a significant need, particularly in the area of math," he said.