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Analysis of Regents Math Test Is Ordered After Complaints
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN The New York State education commissioner, Richard P. Mills, yesterday ordered a thorough analysis of this week's Regents exam in mathematics after school administrators statewide complained that the test was far too difficult. Mr. Mills issued a statement saying: "Our goal is that students across the state succeed in math and achieve learning standards. In the past two days, we have heard from lots of people, and I am concerned about reports that many students had difficulty with the June Math A Regents exam." Mr. Mills added: "The State Education Department already collects results for each exam and analyzes performance on each test question. We are moving to get all that information and analyze it as quickly as possible to ensure the test fairly measures student achievement." State education officials have asked schools to report their results as quickly as possible so the data can be assessed. Students must pass the math exam to graduate from high school. Schools across the state reported that failure rates were far higher than expected. In a memo to local superintendents, a deputy commissioner, James Kadamus, said that the state analysis would look at the difficulty of individual questions and the cumulative difficulty of the questions, and would compare student performance the last three times the exam was administered. He said he could offer little guidance to local officials regarding the possibility that large numbers of high school seniors would be barred from graduating because they failed the test. "Some schools have inquired whether the State Education Department has a policy on student participation in graduation ceremonies," he wrote. "This is strictly a local decision; school officials should make decisions on a case by case basis. In order to receive a diploma, a student must meet the state-established graduation requirements." State graduation criteria currently require students to pass the math exam with a minimum score of 55. In New York City, Chancellor Joel I. Klein's office said individual principals would decide whether students who had failed the math test could participate in graduation. |
