LITTLE ROCK — One in 10 Arkansas students who took last year's multistate Algebra II Endof-Course test scored at the desired "prepared" or "well-prepared" levels.
Eighty-eight percent of the state's approximately 23,840 test-takers scored at a less-than-satisfactory "needs preparation" level on the test that is designed to gauge student readiness to earn an A or a B in first-year college math courses such as college algebra and pre-calculus.
Only 3 percent of the Arkansas students were classified as "well-prepared" based on the test results and nine percent scored at a "prepared" level.
The results come at a timewhen the state is trying to improve on getting students ready for college. A 2009 report from the state Department of Higher Education showed that 42.8 percent of 20,468 tested first-year college students in fall 2008 needed to take a remedial mathematics course.
Unlike the results from the Arkansas End-of-Course exam in algebra I, the results of the algebra II test will have no effect on a student's ability to graduate, nor will the scores be used by the state to determine whether a school or district needs improvement.
http://showtime.ark…">Algebra II test results
Beginning this school year, Arkansas students in seventh-, eighth- or ninth-grades who take Algebra I - and all students after them - must"pass" the End-of-Course Algebra I test to qualify for high school diplomas down the road.
The algebra II test is a much newer test - only two years old - and was developed by a group of 15 states and Achieve Inc., as part of what is known as the American Diploma Project. The purpose of the multistate project is to better prepare high school students for college and careers with consistent and rigorous instruction and testing.
Diana Julian, Arkansas' interim education commissioner, said the 2009 algebra II results give educators a starting place for making improvements.
Beginning this school year, all public school students must take algebra II as one of the necessary math credits to graduate from high school - unless a student's parent waives the requirement for their child.
The Arkansas Department of Education this past summer worked with math professors at Arkansas universities and colleges to provide additional training to algebra II teachers, Julian said, adding that those kinds of efforts to improve instruction will continue.
In the Little Rock School District, 96 percent of the algebra II test takers scored at the "needs preparation" level as did 92 percent of the students in the Pulaski County Special district and 92 percent in North Little Rock.
Other results showed 94 percent "needs preparation" in Jonesboro, 86 percent in Springdale, 100 percent in Pine Bluff and 80 percent in Cabot.
At Ramay and Woodland junior highs in Fayetteville, all students scored at the prepared and well-prepared levels.
The American Diploma Project - a coalition of 35 states - is managed by Achieve, a nonprofit group founded by governors and business leaders.
The 15 states that voluntarily joined the initiative are Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Arizona, Hawaii, Minnesota, North Carolina and Washington.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 13, 15 on 09/23/2009