Report: High School Math Failures Not 'Massive, Widespread Issue'

The majority of high school math students failed their final exams last semester, several news outlets reported earlier this month, but at Tuesday's meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Education, Superintendent Joshua Starr cautioned against jumping to conclusions, The Washington Post reported. 

"Our kids do very, very well. So the idea that somehow it’s like this beautiful house that exists and you open the door and it’s termite-ridden ... the exams don’t tell us that," Starr said. "It doesn’t mean you don’t have to fix a couple of broken pipes, but I don’t want people to get the idea that all of a sudden we’ve got this massive, widespread issue that no one has acknowledged or recognized before."

Math final exam passage rates were released after parents at Rockville High began anecdotally comparing test scores, according to WAMU. The numbers showed that students had struggled in fundamental mathematics courses like algebra and algebra II, geometry and precalculus. 

Course

Algebra

Algebra II

Geometry

Precalculus

Final Exam Failure (%)

61

57

62

48

One member of the school board said the numbers may be a "persistent problem," citing a 2004 report that surmised about half of Algebra I students had failed that year's final. Another school board member called the failure rate "pitiful."

A mathematics work group will begin meeting again to focus on why the failure rates are so high, The Post reported. Starr also said two MCPS administrators will lead a second work group to discuss "supporting students." 

Read more on The Washington Post's website.