This article is not primarily about gifted students (but note the sentence citing acceleration as a cause of the problem). I wonder how someone can fail a final exam and pass a course. If anything, the weighting should be reversed -- if a student is noncompliant and fails to turn in homework but aces the final exam, he should still pass (and arguably get an A) because he learned the material. Students who flunk an Algebra I final exam in June likely know even less algebra in September and are probably not ready for a real Algebra II course.
Political pressure to require Algebra II for high school graduation while maintaining high graduation rates may lead to passing students who have not learned the material.
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/...am-montgomery-blair-high-school-studentsMontgomery considers multiple factors in math exam failure rates
By Donna St. George and Lynh Bui
Washington Post
May 19, 2013
Both students are part of what has become a startling phenomenon in Montgomery County’s high schools: High rates of failing and near-failing grades on math final exams.
In a suburban county far more accustomed to the glow of success and national accolades for school performance, parents and elected leaders are demanding answers: Why did 62 percent of high school students flunk their geometry finals in January? Why did 57 percent bomb their Algebra 2 exams? Why did 48 percent falter on the final test in precalculus?
Those questions intensified late Friday, when school officials released detailed data showing the high failure rates were consistent across five school years and that some Montgomery high schools had particularly poor results. The math exams are countywide and uniform across all schools.
“I’m just amazed this hasn’t blown up a long time ago,” said Mel Riddile of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, where Montgomery’s latest exam results have left many wondering whether similar problems are hiding in other districts.
School leaders, experts and teachers offer several possible explanations for the poor exam performance, which dates back more than a decade in algebra, according to school system reports and board minutes.
They say it could be that the longtime push in Montgomery to accelerate students in math has moved too many students too quickly and left them with an understanding of the subject that isn’t deep enough.
It could be that the day-to-day classroom instruction is not preparing students for what awaits at semester’s end.
Or it could be — for some, like Sergio — a choice: Many students make their own calculations about whether revving up for the big test makes sense, given the grades that precede it can render the test moot.
Montgomery students said they often refer to a chart, posted on an archived county PTA Web site, that details 125 grade scenarios, only four of which would lead to failing a course because of failing the final exam. Schools officials confirmed the chart’s accuracy.
For example, with C’s in each of a semester’s two quarters, an E on the final exam would still result in a C for the course. A student with two B’s going into the final exam needs only a D or better on the test to maintain a B for the course, according to the chart. The exam, worth 25 percent of a course grade, holds sway but can be greatly outmatched by daily classroom performance over time.
