Reply to Algebra I in MS ... standard reqs?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I taught algebra 1 for years.  Kids ALWAYS did poorly on the final.  Always.  Even when we made it multiple choice, even when we made it open notes, even when we gave study guides that were nearly identical to the final.  They really struggle to retain things, which is why the first quarter is always review of prior years' content.  I don't know what the solution is--we tried a lot of things over the decade I taught the course, and nothing seemed to make a difference.

Now I'm teaching algebra 2, and seeing the exact same phenomenon.  Zero retention.  I'll incorporate last week's content into this week's warm up and get blank stares.  Their brains evaporate over weekends.

The final is the basics from the year--2 or 3 questions from every unit.  Multiple choice, open note.  Average scores so far are in the 60s.  Lots of 90s, but also lots of 20s.

Are finals antiquated because today's kids don't retain things?  Or should we still hold them to that standard and see some collateral damage as they learn how to study for big exams?  We've opted for the latter and tried to teach kids how to study, incorporating review throughout the year, but it's painful.[/quote]

PP here.  Thank you for this.  You have been teaching for a lon gtime including before laptops/ipads and when there were textbooks and graded and/or daily homework on paper?  There has been no change in students' retention (or lack thereof) over all the time you've been teaching, whether for 7th or 8th or 9th graders in Algebra I or for 8th or 9th or 10th graders in Algebra II?

DS has a B+ in the class, pass advanced on SOL, and got a B- on the final.  He studied a lot for the final, fwiw.  So not terrible but also not great.  [/quote]

Yes, back in the days of textbooks and paper homework.  No difference.  Your DS is exactly what I would expect to see.  High achieving kids generally score slightly worse (half a letter grade?) then they did on unit tests.  Middle of the road kids scored a letter grade or two below what they got the rest of the year.  Kids with Cs and below almost always fail it.

Remember that a pass advance on the SOL could be as low as 44/50 (a B+ in traditional grading).  They get access to desmos on the entire test, so questions they are unsure of (even ridiculous things like simplifying radicals) can be typed into the calculator to find graphs that match a multiple choice value.  I don't take too much stock in high SOL scores, only low ones (as weird as that sounds).

Algebra 1 is the first final exam any of these kids have ever had. This exam is very much a learning experience.

And I obviously have no idea what is on the final exam at other schools--maybe it is completely inappropriately difficult.  My finals are very simple.  They are harder than the SOL (because no desmos allowed), but otherwise not all that different. No trick questions, no combined standards.  Just a straight forward multiple choice question. Kids still regularly fail them.[/quote]

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