by Ketki Chauhan ‘16

MCPS has begun examining the results of a study that involved 400 math teachers across Montgomery County in regard to the high failure rates on countywide exams for the last five years, according to the Washington Post. The teachers involved in the study shared their opinions and any suggestions they had about the alarming numbers of students failing their math finals.

“The exam should count for more than what it counts now towards the semester grade so that there is more at stake. That would drive the students to work harder and aim well for the exam,” said math resource teacher Sapna Chaudhry, who participated in the study.

Honors Geometry and Algebra 1 teacher Deloris Martin also provided input to the study and identified multiple factors that may have caused the startling failure rates. Martin cited the lack of basic skills, motivation and responsibility of some students, as well as inadequate support outside the classroom and the fact that students may be pushed too quickly for classes they are not ready for. “There is no one solution or fix to the problem,” concluded Martin.

A common issue that Chaudhry, Martin and fellow math teacher Randy Thompson have noticed is student apathy. The MCPS exam grading system is public and known to many students. Therefore, they are able to calculate the final exam grade they need to pass the class ahead of time and consequently base their study time off of that. Reportedly, more than half of 600 students in a survey admitted to studying for an hour or less for their midterm.

“Students who are not in danger of failing the semester [sometimes] think ‘I don’t have to pass the test to pass the class,’” stated Thompson. “You can’t fix apathy.”

Other possibilities for the high failure rates include the curriculum and overall exam preparation. Questions have been raised as to whether or not the exam should be made more about math and less about reading, or whether the exam should be made easier.

“The language used with some of the problems on the final exam has proven to be challenging for students,” said Martin while specifically noting ESOL students. However, Chaudhry said she doesn’t understand how math and reading can be separated.

All three math teachers remained firm that the math exams should not be made easier and agreed that students do have enough time to prepare for exams. “The math department does a great job with offering students various opportunities to prepare for final exams. [However], many students are not taking advantage of those opportunities,” said Martin.

The high percentage of failures first became a major concern in MCPS after the Washington Post and other local newspapers began reporting on the topic last spring. Other subjects largely have escaped such scrutiny.”I don’t think [the problem] is only in math. Look at science, history and English, and compare. Math may be higher than the others, but the failing numbers are up in all subjects,” Thompson said.