Re: [Phys-l] CA mandates 8th grade algebra test

[John Denker <jsd@av8n.com>]

On 07/12/2008 07:40 PM, Teresa Craft wrote:

> I have been following the "CA mandates 8th grade algebra test"
> discussion with interest. I have a few questions. First, could you
> provide the link to the original article please? 

I'm not sure there is any "original" article.

  By way of analogy:  Experts differ as to when (and where) WWII 
  began.  Did it begin in Poland?  In Czechoslovakia?  In China?
  ... Or should it be seen as just a continuation of WWI, which was
  itself a continuation of the Franco-Prussian war????

The current math wars in California have been going on for years,
... and can be seen as a continuation of the math wars of the 1990s
(predating NCLB) which can in turn be seen as a continuation of the 
math wars of the 1960s...........

You can find information on this via
  http://news.google.com/news?q=california+algebra-test
e.g.
  http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/34066
  http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-algebra10-2008jul10,0,4373777,full.story


> That may answer my
> second, main question which is, "What are the consequences of this
> test?" 

As far as I can tell:
  1) There is a three-year phase-in period, so there's no need to panic
   quite yet, and
  2) The usual deal is that unless 95% of the students pass the test,
   the _school_ is penalized.

Beware that the California system is encrusted with multiple layers
of bureaucracy.  For starters, not only do we have the tests, but
we also have the "standards" on which the tests are _supposedly_
based, and also "framework documents" which are supposedly merely
advisory but which quite a few teachers treat as regulatory (or
nearly so).

Some insider information about how the tests are constructed is here:
  http://phyzblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/cst-schoolhouse-rock.html

If you are interested in the physics test (not just the math test),
you might take a look at this critique:
  http://www.av8n.com/physics/ca-test-questions.htm