Arizona task force reviewing Algebra II to help course better prepare students for college

The state Board of Education has voted to open up Arizona’s Algebra II standards for revision.

A statewide math task force (the Arizona Math Collaborative) wants to make sure the course meets the needs of all students as they consider their post-secondary options.

Members that include experts in both secondary and post-secondary math education looked at how Arizona students' math skills measured up when they got to college.

Eboney McKinney is on the task force and serves at the director of Mathematics and Education Technology Standards for the Arizona Department of Education. In a presentation to the state board, she said the task force found that many students arrive at college with gaps in their conceptual understanding of basic high school math.

"Part of that is because we’re asking teachers to cover too much, and so it is a very shallow understanding that our students are getting versus a really deep conceptual understanding of the mathematical content," McKinney said.

She explained that Algebra II teachers are being asked to cover more topics in a school year compared to other math courses and as a result, students don’t have enough time to study the topics in depth or become fully proficient. In addition, some of those topics are only relevant to students who want to pursue careers in STEM.

“When we think about students who maybe are looking for humanities or liberal arts, something a little bit different, we don’t necessarily need to cover all of that information, which we have verified with our post-secondary mathematicians and math educators at the university level.”

She said a lot of schools are not providing enough preparation in statistics. The task force recommended starting with Algebra II and possibly revising other math courses in the future.