By Bridget Cook ‘14

As shocking data first reported on April 30 revealed, failure rates in MCPS on math final exams for the first semester were 61 percent for Algebra 1, 62 percent for Geometry, 57 percent for Algebra 2 and 48 percent for Precalculus.

After multiple articles appeared on the high failure rate in the Washington Post and The Gazette, MCPS Board of Education members and Superintendent Joshua Starr reassured the community that they would get to the bottom of the failures. However, the school district has come under intense scrutiny because of the large number of students failing math exams was brought to light by a concerned parent, raising questions about whether MCPS had a grasp on how students are performing in math classes.

Equally perplexing to some is the school board’s contention that these results do not necessarily signal a serious problem with the math curriculum for the county. Starr was quoted in The Washington Post saying, “Our kids do very, very well … I don’t want people to get the idea that all of a sudden we’ve got this massive, widespread issue that no one has acknowledged or recognized before.” Critics, however, have countered that MCPS was either not aware of this issue, which would suggest that student achievement is poorly monitored, or was aware of the high rate of math failures but withheld the information from the public.

In a statement released shortly after the figures were publicized, Starr offered the explanation that MCPS put more emphasis on course completion than on final exam scores. Some teachers, aware of the county’s lack of emphasis, put their focus into finishing the course than pushing students to review for finals. “I’ll take some of the responsibility as a teacher for not doing a better job of instilling the importance of studying for finals,” said math teacher James Key. County finals count for 25 percent of a student’s final semester grade, but many semester grades are already determined by their two quarter final grades regardless of how they do on the semester final. Thus, student apathy towards exams could explain some of the low scores. “Student motivation—or lack of motivation—to pass the finals is certainly a major factor,” said Key.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, 60 percent of MCPS students who graduate and attend college are forced to take remedial math courses before entering standard credit math classes, which is the result of poor performance in high school.

MCPS promises to look into the issue, and notes changes to math instruction as the new curriculum 2.0 is integrated, beginning with Algebra 1 next school year. The new Algebra program will be the first math course to give teachers professional development in five or six years. “Teachers miss having the professional development days,” said math resource teacher Deborah Hiltner. The effect this lack of development has on teaching and student performance is unknown, though Hiltner speculates that more instructional support for teachers would cultivate better grades for students. “I do feel that if teachers received more instructional support and more time to plan lessons together students would perform a bit better,” she said.

A study group will meet from June until September to reach  the root of math failures. Parents note that it has taken nearly a decade for action to be taken to counter high failure rates since 2004.