BY JULIE O’CONNOR
NJ Spotlight
New Jersey officials often brag about the state’s average high school graduation rate of over 90%, leading parents and the public to believe that students are doing just fine.
But it’s a mirage, says education analyst Chad Aldeman. In his new report, “False Hope: New Jersey kids aren’t ready for college,” he says the state achieved this milestone by weakening diploma requirements—lowering the passing score on the state exit exam and expanding alternative pathways to graduation.
This masks the troubling reality that nearly 40% of the kids who earn diplomas can’t do basic high school math, says Aldeman, a specialist in K-12 policy who formerly led an education finance research center at Georgetown University.
Unaddressed math gaps start early, he says — around 2nd or 3rd grade — and only widen over time. To address this, he’s calling on New Jersey to raise its graduation standards and release state test scores sooner.
In the meantime, Aldeman notes, universities like Rutgers are being forced to pick up the slack. After interviewing its professors for his report, he spoke to Julie O’Connor about his findings. Here is a lightly edited transcript.
NJ Spotlight News: Why aren’t students entering schools like Rutgers ready for college-level math?
Chad Aldeman: It goes deeply back into K-12. In the report, I cite a Rutgers professor talking about the importance of core mathematical skills. Math is a very sequential subject, so if students struggle with basic numeracy—they might struggle with multiplication—then they’re going to struggle with fractions. If they have trouble with fractions, they’re going to have trouble in algebra. And that just adds up over time. If students are having problems with math, the gaps get exposed the higher up they go.
NJSN: How has New Jersey diminished what it means to earn a diploma, in your view?
CA: We talk about several steps New Jersey has taken over the last decade-plus to weaken standards. Some of this comes from school-level accountability, but a lot of it is student-level changes and things like lowering cut scores on the state test and making it easier to graduate.
On paper, all New Jersey high school graduates have to complete algebra, geometry and another math course, but in reality, almost 92% of students are graduating with a diploma, yet 40% of the graduating class isn’t proficient on the state’s math exam. That disconnect is filled by students who aren’t proficient in math that are somehow meeting the diploma in other ways.
There are different pathways to a diploma, alternative routes. Students can score at a lower level on the ACT or SAT to demonstrate that they are “graduation ready.” There’s also a portfolio option, which is for students who can’t pass the normal math state exam.
NJSN: Some experts in New Jersey say the portfolio option can be closer to a few sheets of paper than what you might envision, a folder full of work. Do you know anything about that?
CA: I don’t know the details. My sense is, it is not standardized or verified across the state, so the standards for what might count will vary. There’s almost nobody checking to make sure it’s rigorous in the way that we would think a state-approved diploma should be or would be.
NJSN: New Jersey lawmakers looking to eliminate the statewide exit exam argue that grade point average is a better predictor of college success than standardized test scores, leading many states to move away from graduation exit exams. Your response?
CA: Well, the research suggests that both high school GPA and standardized test scores are useful predictors of college success, and they complement each other rather than being replacements for each other. High school GPA suggests something about persistence and grittiness, while test scores measure actual knowledge and skills better, and all of those things matter for college success. For more prestigious institutions like Rutgers, test scores and academic achievement are especially important.
At the high school level specifically, I think it’s a bad idea to remove the one common metric that can evaluate all students and schools on equal footing. Especially with the rise of grade inflation in high schools, the state test serves as an honest check for what a student actually knows and can do.
NJSN: Was it concern over lowering graduation standards that inspired your report?
CA: Originally, we were motivated by some of the news coming out of California and a few other higher education institutions suggesting students were arriving on campus with math gaps. We wanted to know how broad that was, so we picked New Jersey as another test case and focused on its flagship institution, Rutgers. Then we started unpacking some of the K-12 issues that are feeding into the challenges Rutgers is facing.
NJSN: What’s the problem with all these students taking remedial classes in college?
CA: It’s demoralizing. A student takes algebra or geometry in high school, maybe earns A’s or B’s in those classes – maybe they’re even designated as honors classes – and yet, shortly after they graduate from a New Jersey high school, they take a placement exam into Rutgers and Rutgers says, “Oh, you have to retake some of those same types of classes with a similar name on them.” It can also cause students delays. If they want to major in biology, animal science or sociology, it requires them to take some math sequence, and if their math skills are not up to Rutgers standards, that can delay their ability to pursue those careers.
NJSN: Is this a national problem? How much of it is specific to New Jersey?
CA: I suspect it’s broad and national. That’s one of the reasons we wanted to do this deep dive into Rutgers, a well-regarded national institution and the flagship of New Jersey. If it’s happening at Rutgers, it’s probably happening at the other regional colleges around New Jersey. It’s definitely happening at some of the community colleges; we talked to some of the faculty there, and they’re seeing similar challenges.
NJSN: How are the faculty at New Jersey’s public colleges adapting to this?
CA: I think that’s important to say outright: Because the faculty see that students are coming in with gaps in their mathematical abilities, they have to adapt. They’ve done things like move their assessments early in the fall so students can get an early warning of how they’re doing. They’ve changed their assessments; they’re doing a lot more to try to get students to practice more. They’ll do short quizzes. They’ve changed their instruction. I think that’s all to their credit.
The faculty I’ve talked to all want students to be successful and learn the material; it’s just a challenge for them to keep a consistent bar over time when they’re dealing with students who aren’t as strong as they probably could or should be.
NJSN: What do they think should be done about this? What do you think the solution is?
CA: There’s a lot of different perspectives—I don’t want to speak for them—but I think there’s some interest in restoring the ACT or SAT as an entrance examination for Rutgers to at least ensure students are meeting the floor of mathematical ability. My own opinion: I think a lot of the issues trace back to K-12 and decisions that happened much earlier in the student’s life. To me, it can be boiled down to urgency, transparency, and honesty. I’m not sure that New Jersey policymakers are leveling with New Jersey students and their parents about the actual mathematical abilities of New Jersey children.
NJSN: Are students in less wealthy communities particularly affected by this? Are they more likely to show up behind, or not?
CA: I think it is a pervasive issue, so it’s not just that certain inner-city schools are sending students that aren’t prepared. I think it’s broader than that. But at the same time, the evidence suggests that some of the test scores are not as strong there. If students are not mastering algebra, yet they’re passing algebra and teachers say they’re fine – but the test scores suggest they’re not – that is an issue of a lack of consistency. That’s why we have standardized test scores. They set a standard, common benchmark across an entire state.
NJSN: You say there’s a split in K-12 mathematical abilities across the state. Can you explain?
CA: It was eye-opening to me to see these issues play out at Rutgers. Some students are fine—Rutgers actually has slightly more students being placed into Calculus 2 and 3, higher level math. Those students are doing well. But the bottom end is troubling; the fact that more students are being placed into intermediate algebra and other classes below the calculus level.
NJSN: What do you make of that? Why are students filtering into the top and bottom classes more often?
CA: Some of it comes from high school: If students are successful in AP Calculus and pass the AP test at a high level, they may be able to test out of their math requirements in college. The rise of AP or dual-credit courses has facilitated more students taking care of those classes earlier, which helps them advance farther.
But not all students have access to those classes, are taking them or are ready to be successful in them. That’s where the bottom end comes in: There are more students with a lot of need, and the weakening of standards really hurts those students by not being clear about how far behind they are and what they need to do to be ready for college-level material.
NJSN: You are also calling for the state to release results from standardized tests for public school students earlier. Why?
CA: This goes back to my point about urgency. I suspect some New Jersey parents might think their child is doing fine, yet the state scores are suggesting that they’re not fine and may be behind or not proficient in meeting state standards or targets. Having the test results come out in October or later diminishes the urgency.
All the information parents have to act on in the late spring or summer is their student’s grades. And if students are getting good grades and the teacher says everything’s fine, parents might believe that. We see this perception gap where a lot of parents think their own child is doing better than the objective standards say they are. I think this timing issue is part of that problem of not giving objective results much quicker.
