Lagging Freshmen Reassigned Before Test

Last spring, about 35,000 students statewide failed the algebra/data analysis test -- 46 percent of those who took it. The failure rate was 69 percent in Prince George's and even higher among the county's ninth-graders.

Seeking to improve, Prince George's schools began linking some algebra classes through interactive television this year to help inexperienced teachers work with veterans at other campuses. The county also has intensified its use of quarterly tests to identify lagging students. And Burnett's staff closely tracked algebra grades given after the first quarter in October and the second quarter in December.

There were far too many D's and failing grades (E's), Burnett found. He called an emergency meeting of principals and other senior staff Dec. 22. They decided to act immediately, reorganizing algebra classes at 21 high schools. Students who missed 10 or more days of instruction and failed both quarters or had a D in one and failed the other were designated for reassignment. The result: 110 new Algebraic Concepts classes countywide -- 90 minutes a day at a pace meant to help students catch up. Burnett estimated that at least 2,500 students would be shifted into the classes.

Many teachers and parents cheered the move.

Joseph Sutton, a ninth-grade algebra teacher at Charles H. Flowers High School in Springdale, said too many students arrive at high school with poor fundamentals. "These are kids that got pushed through or socially promoted, and now they're really hurting," Sutton said. "They're just not ready for a course like this."

Ed Hendel, president of the Parent-Teacher-Student Association at High Point High School in Beltsville, said: "This is at least a step. Somebody said, 'Oh, these kids are going to fail. What else are we going to do?' So this is something, instead of just writing them off."

But school board member Abby L.W. Crowley (Greenbelt) cautioned that the action will only postpone an academic reckoning. "I imagine that there will be students who do what the school system recommends and still fail the course or the test in grade 10," Crowley said. "What about them?"

How did the students react? "Some were relieved because it was too difficult in algebra," said Carey Pico, a High Point math teacher. "Others were clasping their algebra books as I have never seen, in hopes of having one more chance to prove their ability to succeed."